How to Make Twig Pencils
Twig pencils are fun, easy and cheap to make. And the expressions on your friends’ faces when you start scribbling with a stick will be writetious!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Pocketknife or utility knife
- Pruning clippers
- Drill and 3/32-inch bit
- Clamp
- Scratch awl or nail
- White glue
- 2mm-diameter drafting lead, 2B grade (at art or office supply stores)
- Adult permission or supervision
WHAT YOU’LL DO
STEP 1: Find a twig. Look for one with interesting color, texture or with a forked shape. (The length of the twig, though, must be straight.) Hold the twig as you would a pencil to find the right size. Use pruning clippers to trim away unwanted parts. Check the twig for bugs (you don’t want any).
STEP 2: Clamp the twig to the edge of a workbench or piece of plywood. Be careful! Too much pressure can crush the twig.
STEP 3: Use a scratch awl or the point of a nail to make a dent at the center of the twig’s end. The dent will become the starting point for the drill bit.
STEP 4: Drill to a depth of 1 to 1-1/4 inches. Make sure to keep both hands on the tool!
As you drill, you may need to back out the bit to clear wood chips from the drill’s flutes (its spiral grooves). To do this, stop the drill and scrub the bit with an old toothbrush.
STEP 5: Squirt a small puddle of glue on a scrap of wood or cardboard. Roll the end of the lead in the glue, then work it back and forth in the hole to spread the adhesive.
STEP 6: Trim the lead by breaking it sideways against the twig. Let the glue dry overnight.
STEP 7: Sharpen the pencil with your pocketknife or a sharp utility knife. Whittle away from your body, removing thin shavings as you work around the pencil. Use your imagination to personalize your pencil, or simply enjoy the colors and textures that nature provides.
This is sick!!
wow so cool very creative
WOW NICE
made 10 of them nice
Where do you get the graphite
nice instructions
How, did the step go
wowser
That’s what I’m sayin
Wow,that is so simple! I definitely plan to make one or more of those!
This was sooo cool
Soooo cooool.
WOW THIS LOOKS EASY IMMA GONNA DO THIS RIGHT AWAY
very cool
I wonder if this will catch on in Pencilvania.
Yeah I like pizza.
One of my jokes for the kids, The most common pencil used in school is the Number 2 pencil, Right? They agree. Then why isn’t Number 1? I usually give them a No. 1 pencil and sometimes a stick pencil with 2B lead. Michaels has that lead in the drafting section.
Made these at our last campout. They are very easy and the Bears loved them.
cool. now lets see you do it
Advisory Project: How to make pencils
I did this for my Bear Den and they loved it!! Plan on doing it for the new Bears to go with the Bear Claws adventure, good way for them to learn basic whittling skills. I had to buy the lead on Amazon, none of the craft stores around here had lead.
meh!
awesome
ijust learnd lashing i can probably combine two pencils
That’s so neet. My dad “wood” love it.
Wow!!!!!
He sounds like a sap to me.
It’s hard to shave a lead.
That’s cool
Now, where are the plans for the mechanical version?
This is cool
Lol
We shall get a patent. Mass produce them. Sell them commercially. We shall call them pencils.
LOL that would be funny
where do you get the led?
it tells you in the instructions-at art or office supply stores
Lead pencil refills. Walmart, staples etc
The key is to look in the drafting or art supply sections of craft and office supply stores. The 2 mm led is thicker than what goes in mechanical pencils. It is designed for use in lead holders. Mechanical pencil led would most likely break while you tried to insert it,
No lights needed for this project friend!