GALLERY

HISTORY AND STORIES

We made our first pencil when we were still in school, back then the casing was made of wood. Some teachers wanted us to write with lead pencils, others wanted us to use ballpoint pens. So to combine both in one pencil and be able to change more quickly, we designed one with two different types of refill, a lead pencil and a ballpoint pen refill. Whenever we had a teacher who preferred lead pencils, we used the corresponding part and whenever we had a teacher who preferred ballpoint pens, we used the other part. Maybe this pen was also useful for doing one teacher's homework during the other's class and so having the afternoon free, but who knows for sure, necessity is the mother of invention ; ) .

Our newer pencils are usually ballpoint pens with an aluminum casing. Theoretically, we could also turn these ourselves on the lathe, but in practice we now mostly use finished parts, as we do with screws, for example. Just like screws, we have also turned ballpoint pens ourselves (yes, it was kind of unnecessary ; ) ), the best way to do this is to take an aluminum tube, place it in a block of wood so as not to drill out of the material, and drill it out to just before the end (if you want to use a wooden sleeve, as we did with our first pen, the same applies, otherwise the material will split). Now mill a C into the top side (with a slight hook to fixate when the lead is extended), push the spring and the lead into your sleeve and a bolt behind it. Screw the bolt through the C from the outside and you can now push the lead out the front through the path defined by the C and guide it back into the casing. Alternatively, you can dispense with the C and separate the case and cap, in which case the refill cannot be retracted but is protected by the closed cap when not in use. This latter variant is much easier to produce or you can simply do it as we do and use standard parts for things such as screws, pens, batteries and so on.



We came up with the idea for the TPB when we were on vacation in New Jersey in an antique store and saw some boxes there, most of them with hinges. We thought it might be cooler to use magnets to close the box and add the possiblity to light it up. On the flight back, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, we designed the model.

ARTWORKS

Ce n'est pas un stylo (This is not a pencil).



Stultus est, qui hoc legit.




So if you want to continue now, maybe you want to take a look at the used PARTS and the BUILDING INSTRUCTIONS.