Cleanest 3D Print I've Ever Seen - HEX Pens DNA Lucent Fountain Pen

[@hiltonprice2625]

Thanks!

[@Doodlebud]

Hey thanks!

[@arlenealennox3136]

Ordered it immediately in memory of my biologist/geneticist late husband. He liked fountain pens, too, so this would have been his Christmas present, but now it is mine and I will think of him when I use it.

[@rahulshah1408]

That’s how want to be remembered. I’m sorry for your loss.

[@Doodlebud]

Great you'll have something you can use all the time to have a reminder of your husband right there with you.

[@bryanmarsh9886]

When I spoke with the people at Hex about an issue with my pen, they made it clear that the only part of the pen that was 3 D printed was the helical barrel. The cap, section, and finial are machined from acrylic. Unless something has changed recently, this is just like my pen.

[@Isissa125]

95% of 3d printed products are like this ngl

[@Doodlebud]

Ahhh ok, I wasn't aware of that by the time I did the review. Thanks for the ink. No wonder the ends were so clear! LOL

[@TheLaXandro]

@@Isissa125 that's the right way to do 3D printed products. Not everything should be printed, it's often both cost and design effective to use parts bin furniture and only print what can't be made easily.

[@AtilioEscobar]

This is the only CLEAR demonstrator pen that I like.

[@luckyoleary9626]

Mate, these reviews are phenomenal. Genuinely love the writing samples too. Thank you.

[@Doodlebud]

Glad you like them

[@mandoaddict7154]

DB. Great review as usual. I love demonstrators, & this one looks fantastic. It will be my first 3D pen. Thank you!

[@Tom_Samad]

They did a fantastic job with this Hex pen! Love looking at that beautiful green colour!

[@sunnycharacter]

What a delightful looking pen, and I would totally put red ink in that one for Christmas ! Great price too! And that box…amazing!

[@K_rye]

Wow! That's a fabulous pen. Top of my wishlist for sure.

[@jacobpedersen8661]

Been watching this pen since the initial iteration. Seems they have nailed it, and I will happily add the DNA to my wishlist! Congrats Hex Pens!

[@arcboy2011]

Great pen, great review, love the background music from the writing sample as well.

[@karenholden4740]

Great video love this box and the pen I think I my buy.

[@Bodhranbelle]

Thanks for the review. I have ordered this today. really looking forward to getting it.

[@Doodlebud]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@InksplatOops]

I’ve seen photos of helix pens like this, it’s fun to see it in a video. Very cool pen.

[@santauxia]

Really cool pen.

[@Doodlebud]

Super cool

[@NavaNava-bt8kn]

Thanks for the wonderful presentation. I ordered my Hex Pens DNA Lucent yesterday, which will make it the third pen I have obtained due to your reviews. The first was the Nova Titanium pocket pen, then the second was the Ensso Bolt. Both of which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to more reviews.

[@brodor6277]

It took me almost the entire video to realize that the INK was that stuff sloshing around inside the helix, that’s a cool design!

[@MexieMex]

Oh, I like this one a **LOT**

[@paulmchugh1430]

OMG! I would be constantly looking at it slosh in the helix, looking for bubbles and forgetting what I was writing! Beautiful pen. The transparent body is a joy. I will have to go to the website. I thought about getting a Platypus pen but this may jump to the top of the list.

[@zeus52452]

This pen will have to go on my short list. I also have the Platypus Model 20 - The exact same color pattern as the one in the video. It is a fantastic writing pen.

[@quinnobi42]

I just recently had some ink misers printed by PCBway in their clear 8001 resin (I think) with oil spray finish. Price was pretty reasonable, though shipping cost more than the parts. But they came out just as clear as that pen. I was also shocked at how transparent they were. It looked like turned and polished acrylic.

[@theprof_001]

Cool pen! Enjoyed your video. Nice review. Thanks. 👍

[@JefferyHall-ct2tr]

Hi DB! What a fascinating and well made pen! The price is not out of line for what it is and how it is made. VERY NEAT!

[@Doodlebud]

Works great and awesome visual aspect to the pen

[@Bodhranbelle]

Nice!

[@Mirro18]

2:55 Don't worry, Bud. You are not alone. PeterDraws reviewed this pen years ago (not that specific model I think, but basically the same filling) and also made a mess at first! So yeah you are not the first! You won't be the last either :P But i have been eyeing this pen for a long long while. Maybe I will get it at some point when things align

[@slo_carry]

Very cool pen. Eventually I'll try one of their pens. The case is super cool as well. Thanks for the review!

[@Doodlebud]

Love the work they did on the packaging. Really great job overall

[@johnrobie7444]

Coincidental timing - I bought one of these the minute it dropped (I'd missed their previous models) but only inked it up last night. Blown away by how good it looks, and moreso by how well it writes. Super cool.

[@Doodlebud]

Good to hear you're enjoying it. Its looks good inked up!

[@bethg7026]

Such a beauty!

[@Doodlebud]

@@bethg7026 they did such a great job 👍

[@melissam0ss]

I love this! So impressive! The writing sample looked great. I’m so glad to hear they listened to your feedback and made some good tweaks…I really wasn’t expecting to want to buy a new pen (vintage lover) but…this is very cool and looks like a solid writer so you sort of penabled/penfluenced me with this ;) Thanks!

[@Doodlebud]

@@melissam0ss Such a unique pen and smart design taking advantage of what a 3D printer can do

[@puppetaccess]

I've never seen any resin printer resin get anywhere near that level of clarity. I'm floored. Also, Plus 4 - Great choice for an FDM printer. I have the same :D Best bang per buck right now imho.

[@Doodlebud]

Been loving the printer! I'm wrapping my footage for the review

[@RealHogweed]

They even got the major and minor grooves, that’s attention to detail

[@Doodlebud]

Yup, they could have done a simple spiral but they really took it all the way

[@ichirofakename]

Whoa. Here come the 3D-printed pens.

[@Doodlebud]

Love how they take advantage of the things you can only do with 3D printing

[@jacobus57]

They have come such a long way from their first offerings. This is beautiful and the price is very reasonable, unlike a similar, not nearly as nice pen that a competitor was "inspired" to make ;)

[@darren.66]

Such a cool design! Adding it to my wish list for sure. I'm still relatively new to fountain pens so this may be a silly question: would you call that Broad nib on the thinner side? I expected it to write a little wider, but looked closer to a medium. Is that just a result as in the Bock nibs are thinner in general?

[@Doodlebud]

@@darren.66 I would say it's pretty much in line with other broad nibs. Maybe a hair thinner but pretty close to my other board nibs

[@darren.66]

@@Doodlebud OK, thank you!

[@RainmanP99]

You're killin' me, Smalls! I have been doing so well on my pen buying fast, and then you show me this one! Fortunately for me, it is just pricey enough that I would have to think about it a while anyway, but this is one of the most interesting pens I have seen. What a beauty! Is the ink channel actually printed into the wall of the body so that it is all one piece? It makes me wonder if they could do other patterns with the ink channel - a tighter spiral, diamond grid, square grid, straight tubes, etc. I suppose some patterns might be present technical issues or structural limitations.

[@Doodlebud]

Not sure about swapping the Bock & Jowo. They take different feeds and housings

[@RainmanP99]

@@Doodlebud This reply must have been intended for another comment. I did not mention the nib unit.

[@Doodlebud]

@@RainmanP99 oh shoot LOL! Too many comments to reply to sometimes lol

[@RainmanP99]

@@Doodlebud I completely understand and figured as much. I just thought you might want to get it to whomever it was meant for.

[@clintgc]

The pen looks fabulous. Did HEX give any feedback on UV stability e.g. ISO 4892-3 testing? This would help determine if the clarity get diminished over time. Some of the UV printed materials I am familiar with can go opaque or yellow.

[@Doodlebud]

They say on the website to avoid UV or direct sunlight exposure. So use it as an office pen

[@bigaspaulo]

Reminds me of an Opus 88 Jazz.

[@Matt-dd1zr]

Another great review, but I do have to point out that *only* the DNA shape is 3d printed (SLA, hence the warning for UV light). All the other clear parts are machined acrylic.

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah I found out about the acrylic parts after the review. Makes sense since its so clear! LOL I was baffled how a print could look like that!

[@cakestealer5983]

Looks like a nice pen. I’ve seen they have titanium nibs on their website but haven’t been able to find much information.

[@Doodlebud]

Maybe send them an email

[@Mr_Boston_]

Amazing quality! And huge boxing improvement! Is section slippery? The previous pens were a bit slippery for my fingers.

[@Doodlebud]

I think the section was a different material in the other one. This one is nice for a grip

[@Mr_Boston_]

@@Doodlebud thanks!

[@iiisaac1312]

Very impressive. Resin is tough to print. Yes it is good for details but getting parts dimension accurate is an art. The resin doesn't stop curing and continues to shrink over UV exposure time. Plus some of the clear resins start turning yellow. That pen also looks like a good way of having an eyedropper pin with lower capacity in order to minimize the air pocket that will warm in your hand and cause a burp.

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah the mention to avoid direct UV sunlight with the pen. I keep my pens in a case when I use them so I haven;t had any issues with this one or my other hex pen.

[@HumanStealth]

When I have some good disposable income (tax season is coming up) I'm likely grabbing one of these. It looks like such a fun pen and can already see myself playing with the ink inside. I don't own an eyedropper or a Bock nib so it's going to be an excellent addition to the collection.

[@Doodlebud]

Im usually not into eyedropper pens, but I really enjoy this one

[@SouthWind96]

Wow, love the design! But do I need another pen?!?! I’m thinking now that I do… thanks, Doodlebud 😭

[@Doodlebud]

LOL, no rush on the pen buy. They keep making them so when you want one they will be available

[@zeus52452]

Nice review DB, this pen will have to go on my short list to acquire!! I'm still loving the Platypus Model 20. Did you get the e-mail about the rattle problem?? Knock on wood, so far I've not experienced the problem!!

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah I saw the email but haven't had any issues with min at all

[@karma13612]

Awesome looking pen! Its on my Christmas wish list for sure! Can I swap out the Bock nib with a Jowo if I wanted? Thanks!

[@Bunnyisms]

Bock and JoWo 6 nibs are not cross compatible. Aside from having a different collar, the nibs have a different curvature underneath so they don't fit each other's feeds properly. If you have skills in repairing fountain pens, pulling nibs and setting feeds, there are ways, but for most people this is not an option

[@karma13612]

@ thanks! That’s really helpful!

[@iangordon5354]

I’m going to buy one of those, when I have the discretionary money available. Not sure what ink I’m going to put in it, and I have yet to decide whether it will be one of my few pens that always has the same ink in. I’m wondering about “Writer’s Blood”, but your comment about inks with fun properties makes me wonder whether that would be better avoided.

[@Doodlebud]

Yeah I just avoid really saturated inks or super sheening inks. I treat it like a vintage pen where I put in good reliable simple to clean inks

[@iangordon5354]

@@DoodlebudI couldn’t wait any longer, so I ordered mine today even though the discretionary money won’t land for another four weeks (it will be a Christmas present from my parents). Also ordered some pen storage (but not enough!) from Rickshaw Bags.

[@mjl1958]

How do the size, materials (and polish) and function compare with an Opus 88?

[@Doodlebud]

Well all depends on which Opus 88 model, they have lots of pens. Pen is well made, well finished, and works great

[@mjl1958]

@@Doodlebud I was thinking specifically about the Demonstrator and Omar models that look most like the DNA Lucent, and if the eye-dropper stopper works as well. Opus 88 pens are significantly cheaper, so is the DNA Lucent worth the extra?

[@ArjanD78]

I'm curious: My collegue has a pen from Hex Pens and he inked it with an orange ink. It stained the plastic and it reacted with it. The ink became cloudy/murky. It kept me from purchasing one...

[@Doodlebud]

Hmmmm, there are just so many inks out there. Some react differently with materials. I haven't had any issues with this pen or my other hex pen with inks. But I use fairly basic inks in them that don't have any strong properties or are super saturated.

[@ArjanD78]

@Doodlebud oh wel. It was an older model. I pretty sure he uses Akkerman Oranje boven.

Is there any relation to Additive pens? The design is pretty identical.

[@manuelsalazar3938]

I was thinking the same, I was pretty sure he also presented the pen from Additive... But not quite sure 🤔

[@Doodlebud]

Nope different company. Additive has a simple spiral design inside. This DNA strand is much more complicated from a design perspective. The spiral design is a couple simple commands in CAD, but this design is much more complicated. Not taking away from additive pens as they look great tool, but this is more complicated from a design and printing perspective.

[@manuelsalazar3938]

This pen would be almost perfect if they did a clear nib housing and feeder, if Jinhao can, they can too 😅 And yes, I'm curious if they copied the design (or at least the idea) from Additive pens 🤷

[@Doodlebud]

Not sure who did it first but it doens't really matter. The shape on the Additive pens is actually pretty simple to draw up in CAD. The DNA strand is more complicated from a design perspective

[@philnaunton7181]

I don't know about this one..... It seems that the "cool factor" costs quite a lot in the ink volume possible. Maybe that is why the pen is so long.

[@bigaspaulo]

The Opus 88 Jazz, which looks almost identical on the outside to this pen, has a *massive* ink capacity in comparison.

[@Doodlebud]

I don't think max ink capacity was the objective with this one. More doing things that can only be done with 3D printing. Just making a hollow barrel wouldn't make this any different for any basic cigar pen out there so it couldn't really compete with those. This one is having fun and taking advantage of the unique properties of 3D printing. No way to machine that DNA strand inside of a pen body

[@venugopalgopinath7417]

THE.PROBLEM WITH.NECK FILLING PEN BARRELS IS THAT AFTER 100 OPERATION THIS PEN..MADE OF POLYMERS. WILL.LEAK..INK AS THE THREADS LOSE ITS TIGHT FITNESS AS THEY WEAR OUT....THE BEST OPTION IS PISTON.FILLER. OR THE INTERNAL.RUBBER.TUBE.AND.LEVER OR CLIP.TYPE

[@Doodlebud]

POLYMERS IS A HUGE BLANKET MATERIAL CLASSIFICATION. THINK ABOUT ALL THE PENS (COUNTELESS) THAT ARE "PLASTIC" WHICH HAVE SCREW CAPS THAT WORK FOR DECADES WITHOUT ISSUE. THESE ARE EQUIPED WITH ORINGS (ALSO A POLYMER) TO KEEP THE PEN BODY TIGHT AND SEALED. THE LAMY 2000 IS MOSTLY ALL MADE OF....... POLYMERS AND THAT THING HOLDS UP INCREDIBLY WELL. AND THE PISTON FILL SYSTEM ON THAT ONE IS MADE UP OF.... POLYMERS. SIDE NOTE, YOU SHOULD GET YORU KEYBOARD/PHONE CHECKED OUT. YOUR ALL CAPS ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE STUCK ON.

[@calvinreeder7580]

Shame that it doesn't post.

[@Doodlebud]

Its plenty big so even if I did, I wouldn't post it anyways. But I hear ya, for some if it don't post its a no go pen

[@HomerIncognito]

I really like it, but this is not a good design for shimmer inks.

[@Doodlebud]

Nope, they mention to avoid those on the site. I tread this one like a vintage pen... just avoid troublesome inks