- Joined
- Oct 27, 2010
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Ok, I have my favorite writing instruments and was tired of using a traditional pencil because I was worried about breaking my trusty Staedler MARS 780 lead holder. It is longer than a typical pen, so breast pocket carry is out. I needed a lead holder that was small and durable for in the pocket carry. This is what I came up with and how I did it. This is it with my Zebra F-701 (modded).
I picked this retractable point scribe up at Harbor Freight for about $4.00 a while back (item #97336). It is a click type, all stainless but with a junky pocket clip. Next to my lead holder...
After having it and using it for a few weeks I decided to pull the scribe point out to see what it was. Well shoot, it is a 2mm click type action! I quickly grabbed a lead and tried it out, worked perfectly! It even has a sharpener under the cap. Disassembly is straight forward, unscrew the nose cone and the mechanism pulls out the back. To figure out how short you want it to end up there is a small ridge just above the nose cone threads on the transmission that rests inside the knurled grip. Line these up and figure out how short you want it to be.
I used a small pipe cutter to trim the barrel to a length I liked. To figure out how short to trim the magazine tube, the (new) end of the body should end up about halfway up on the cap. To trim the magazine tube I used an exacto blade pressed firmly onto the tube and rolled it back and forth on a hard surface being sure to keep it straight. This tube is tapered, so the cap will not go into the tube at the new location. To fix this heat it ever so little with a lighter (a hairdryer might even work) and stretch it with closed needle nose pliers. Insert the cap and heat again working it until it is secure but can be removed easily.
There is a small insert on the end of the barrel pressed in that reduces the slop in the barrel. It is pretty delicate, I tried to insert it into the new end and it split. It is mostly decorative, so no big deal.
Now just insert the new shorter mechanism into the shorter body, screw on the nose cone, and your done! For a clip, you can rob a clip on type like on the Staedler Mars from all kinds of junky pens.
This little pencil rides quite nicely in my pocket without a clip. I don't think I will be putting one on for now. With a short enough lead you can have the capability of carrying both the scribe and 2mm lead for quick change out. The nice thing about this is you are not restricted to set length by a pen refill, it can be customized however you like! One advantage of the click type versus gravity feed is one handed operation without losing the whole lead.
Start to finish, it takes maybe 15 minutes. Hope you like it!
-Xander
I picked this retractable point scribe up at Harbor Freight for about $4.00 a while back (item #97336). It is a click type, all stainless but with a junky pocket clip. Next to my lead holder...
After having it and using it for a few weeks I decided to pull the scribe point out to see what it was. Well shoot, it is a 2mm click type action! I quickly grabbed a lead and tried it out, worked perfectly! It even has a sharpener under the cap. Disassembly is straight forward, unscrew the nose cone and the mechanism pulls out the back. To figure out how short you want it to end up there is a small ridge just above the nose cone threads on the transmission that rests inside the knurled grip. Line these up and figure out how short you want it to be.
I used a small pipe cutter to trim the barrel to a length I liked. To figure out how short to trim the magazine tube, the (new) end of the body should end up about halfway up on the cap. To trim the magazine tube I used an exacto blade pressed firmly onto the tube and rolled it back and forth on a hard surface being sure to keep it straight. This tube is tapered, so the cap will not go into the tube at the new location. To fix this heat it ever so little with a lighter (a hairdryer might even work) and stretch it with closed needle nose pliers. Insert the cap and heat again working it until it is secure but can be removed easily.
There is a small insert on the end of the barrel pressed in that reduces the slop in the barrel. It is pretty delicate, I tried to insert it into the new end and it split. It is mostly decorative, so no big deal.
Now just insert the new shorter mechanism into the shorter body, screw on the nose cone, and your done! For a clip, you can rob a clip on type like on the Staedler Mars from all kinds of junky pens.
This little pencil rides quite nicely in my pocket without a clip. I don't think I will be putting one on for now. With a short enough lead you can have the capability of carrying both the scribe and 2mm lead for quick change out. The nice thing about this is you are not restricted to set length by a pen refill, it can be customized however you like! One advantage of the click type versus gravity feed is one handed operation without losing the whole lead.
Start to finish, it takes maybe 15 minutes. Hope you like it!
-Xander
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