Today he made DIY exotic wood pencils from scratch using 2mm lead and wood. The picture above are his pencils.
That gave me an idea to do something similar only using the scroll saw. I wanted to add something special like the initials on the example below. This was my first attempt and it came out good enough to make me want to work out the few bugs I had.
I have emailed David and ask for his permission to take his idea and make patterns for you guys. I have not heard back yet but I'm pretty sure he will not mind.
This is the question I have for you guys. Would you be interested in patterns and video demonstration to make these initial pencils. I would probably charge $3 per pattern. I will post a sample pattern first so you can try it out. It's a compound cut. It involves gluing up two pieces of wood with the lead sandwiched between the wood in a small channel. The pattern is then applied and a series of cuts are made.
The only difficult part of the project is getting the lead centered. My first attempt was just a little off but it still works. If the lead is not well centered you have to sharpen it with a knife instead of a pencil sharpener.
The lead is easy to find and not very expensive. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby. I got 3 leads for $3.
You can also buy it on Amazon, a pack of 12 leads cost $9.
Shoot me an email and let me know if this is something you would like to try.
Steve Good
