UPSB v3

Tutorials Pending Approval / Front-twisting MX

by GRSBMD

  1. grsbmd
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 22:56:07

    Front-twisting MX by Grsbmd


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    Stats
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    Name: Front-twisting MX
    COG:     COP
    Length:     About the same as MX2
    Weight:     About the same as MX
    Style:     Single-sided
    Writing-Mechanism:     Twisting retractable
    Ink-Type:     Ball Point
    Estimated-Cost:     $1.50 to $2.50
    -------------------------------------------------
    Materials List:
    Pentel RSVP – {Cap, grip, body}
    Crayola Twistable Colored Pencil – {body, twisting mechanism}
    Papermate Profile – {grip}
    Pentel HGG – {tip}
    -------------------------------------------------
    TUTORIAL


    Spoiler:

    1. Cut the twistable pencil and the RSVP body along the lines indicated in the pictures



    After you cut the crayola body, you should have something that looks like this:

    2. Pull the lead out of the holder and try to break off the long plastic thing about where it’s broken off in the picture. (I haven’t found a great way to do this yet. Maybe someone else knows one?)


    3. Twist the end of the pencil until the sliding mechanism comes out. Drill a hole in it just large enough for an RSVP inktube to fit tightly. (1/8 inches if you use English measurement). Then drill a slightly larger hole in the end of the pencil (so that the inktube can slide freely). After inserting the inktube in the sliding mechanism, twist the sliding mechanism back into the pencil, and you should have something that looks like the following picture.


    4. Sand (or file) down the thin part of the RSVP body until it fits snugly into the Crayola pencil.


    5. Attach the crayola pencil to the RSVP and attach a tip to the end of the pencil. Now twist the top of the pencil as far counter-clockwise as it will go and adjust how far the inktube sticks out, so it looks like the picture below. If you cut everything approximately correctly, it should be able to fully retract when you twist it the other way.
    HINT #1: To get the tip firmly attached, you may have to file the end of the pencil a bit.
    HINT #2: To get the most firm attachments, I would recommend that you also glue the the tip to the end of the pencil (this is so it doesn’t move around when you try to write) and glue the pencil to the RSVP.


    6. Slide the grip on over the pencil. Make sure that you are able to twist around the top part of the grip for retracting. I like to use a profile grip, since it is divided into sections. The top three sections in the picture below can rotate relative to the rest of the grip and retract the pen.


    7. Finish off making the rest of the pen to your MX-satisfaction (RSVP grip in the cap, insert…)


    -------------------------------------------------

    Pros:
    1. It’s an MX that twists from the front
    2. It weighs and feels like a regular MX
    3. All the pens needed should be easy to get

    Cons
    1. It does take a little bit of work to make (but it’s not that hard)
    2. The direction of twisting is counter-intuitive (at least for me). Twisting counter-clockwise brings out the ink, and clockwise retracts it.
    3. It might be fragile (though I haven’t had any problems, and I drop my pens as much as anyone)

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Questions:
    Q: Can I use a different grip and tip if I want to?
    A: Sure. Nobody’s making you do anything. I just use profile grips because they’re easy to cut into different sections.

    Q: Can you take better pictures?
    A: No, sorry. I don’t have access a camera, so I had to use my scanner for all of these.

    ------------------------------------
    Edit: Here's a video

  2. Eric
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 22:58:28

    Looks nice, well done. clap.gif

    so if I use an HGG grip, I'll have to cut it in to sections?

  3. sangara
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 22:58:36

    Ah dude that looks great, the only thing that I want to request is measurements on where to cut, otherwise awesome =].

  4. Shimo
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 23:13:03

    hm... can you do this with crayola twistable crayons?
    measurements would be nice

  5. grsbmd
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 23:14:53

    QUOTE
    so if I use an HGG grip, I'll have to cut it in to sections?


    You'll need to have about 1 cm of the HGG grip cut from the rest. This will go near the tip of the pen and twist while the rest of the grip remains stationary.

    QUOTE ( @ Feb 21 2009, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Ah dude that looks great, the only thing that I want to request is measurements on where to cut, otherwise awesome =].


    I've just eye-balled it when I've made it, so I don't think the measurements will be super important, but I just measured and this is what I came up with:

  6. Shimo
    Date: Sat, Feb 21 2009 23:24:54

    Aren't cyl twistables thicker than rsvp barrels? So... if you added grips wouldn't the front grip part be thicker than the barrel?

  7. Kuma♥
    Date: Sun, Feb 22 2009 00:53:00

    Nice mod and to remove the stick in the crayola you can pull the whole mech with pliers or rubberband, only thing i don't like about this is the fact it really isn't that stable i made 1 it kinda fell apart... overall good mod

  8. BlacknWhite
    Date: Sun, Feb 22 2009 01:14:04

    If im not wrong, u used a Signo tip instead of a HGG tip for the mod?

  9. NitriX
    Date: Sun, Feb 22 2009 03:51:51

    amazing! but it looks hard from all the cutting illl make it anyways

  10. watching
    Date: Sun, Feb 22 2009 05:45:53

    Looks VERY great.

  11. Escorpio123
    Date: Sun, Feb 22 2009 05:48:19

    you are a genius!! It looks pretty comfortable

  12. grsbmd
    Date: Mon, Feb 23 2009 03:47:12

    QUOTE (Shimo @ Feb 21 2009, 06:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
    Aren't cyl twistables thicker than rsvp barrels? So... if you added grips wouldn't the front grip part be thicker than the barrel?


    They're slightly thinner, so with a grip, it's a little bit thicker, but not much.

    QUOTE (Kuma)
    Nice mod and to remove the stick in the crayola you can pull the whole mech with pliers or rubberband, only thing i don't like about this is the fact it really isn't that stable i made 1 it kinda fell apart... overall good mod


    Have you tried gluing the two barrels? I had some stability problems before I tried glue, but no problems since then.

    QUOTE (BlacknWhite)
    If im not wrong, u used a Signo tip instead of a HGG tip for the mod?


    Actually, I have some no-name gel-pens with tips that are almost exactly the same weight and size as HGG, so I used that tip for this pen. But both the HGG tip and the signo tip will work fine. (although you'll have to pull a few tricks to get it balanced with a signo tip)

  13. Kuma♥
    Date: Wed, Feb 25 2009 02:54:40

    Well i tried gluing it its ok but it still moves a bit, i might try super glue but for now hot glue works