17 September 2012

DIY Toothpick Pod Tutorial (031/365)

I decided to make a toothpick pod this morning.  This was also posted on EDCF, btw.  :D

I have a habit of chewing on things.  Pens (though not since elementary school), gum, mints, toothpicks... if they made rawhide (you know that stuff that dogs chew on?) for human consumption, I'd probably be all over it.  Until then, I've always got a toothpick.  It's usually either Thursday Plantation's Tea Tree or Cinnamon ones; I've yet to dabble into making them myself.  

Anyway... on with the tutorial.

I marked the pen barrel where the cap would have stopped with it on.  This one happens to be 0.5" on a Bic Stic (between the purple mark and the yellow arrow is where the pen barrel and cap overlaps).  I found out much later that this step wasn't really necessary; it may be for other pens, though.

I then measured and marked the length of the toothpick against the barrel (starting at the back end) and subtracted the length of the cap, taking into consideration the length of the overlap.  Using Blurple, I scored the pen barrel and cleanly snapped it apart at the mark.

Here's the finished product!  Because the barrel and cap didn't fit snug, I had to wrap some painter's tape where the overlap happens.  I found that it has to be only ONE layer thick, otherwise putting the cap on and off distorts the tape.  This happens to need 1.0" to go around the perimeter.  After that, the cap sits nice and snug.

Overall, the contraption took only about 5 minutes to create and is just about 2.5" in length.  It's easily pocketable and holds 4 toothpicks (I usually only use 2 each day).  Had the clip on these things been made better, I would have carried it on my collar.  Alas, it is not and so I actually snapped the clip off after taking this picture.

Cheers!  :)  Now I get to have toothpicks with me at all times.  Not bad at all, if I do say so myself

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