The 3DSimo Mini pen can burn designs into wood, forge sculptures out of plastic, solder metal, and shear through foam.

The solution? A Mini Spool System for 3D Printing Pens, with which you can use your 3D printing pen to weld together the parts after printing them.

There's little doubt that 3Doodler's 3D printing pen is fun, but it's not strictly a precision tool; it's big, and mid-air drawing can get messy. Lix believes that pros need something more ...

3D printing has had loads of media attention, with advances in the technology producing ambitious - even lethal - things. But 3D pens have a way to go. And the first may yet come from Europe.