When life gives you scratches... abrade!

One day I was going through a bag of mechanical pencils that were superfluous, had been extras alongside pencils I’d really wanted. One of them was this PILOT MP of rather ordinary stature. It’s like about 5 other models that have been made. This one featured a satin finish of an aluminum alloy. It looked pretty nice… when it was new. This one had a few nasty scratches on it. They were in such a way that there wasn’t a possibility to correct it. And the pencil wasn’t so coveted that I’d want to invest in that. What could I do?

And that’s when it hit me. Why not abrade it? Intentionally scuff/scratch/mar the finish. I experimented a little in one spot using a dremel with a brush grinder wheel, then kind of got a random motion going. I taped up the clip and kept going. Eventually, I stopped. Not bad! I decided to make another run across it, to “average out” the abrasions. Maybe it might start looking like an intentional design rather than, “behold my pencil that survived a tornado!” What really made this work was the serendipity of the alloy. While firm, the metal would soften a little under repeated rapid abrasion. Not quite like clay, but it definitely seemed to soften under duress. I think that helped create this rather interesting finish:


So then, I had this PILOT Knight capped rollerball I’d bought rather cheap. It was used with some of the black body rubbed off in spots. Wabi-sabi. Then while fidgeting with it, my thumbnail caught a lip of a chip and subconsciously started fiddling it. It widened. Now, it looked a bit of an eyesore. So I used a Sharpie. That worked initially but didn’t last. Then, I used some Testors enamel paint. That worked longer, but still… not enough.

It was then, I knew… it was time to abrade! :smile:


Of course, this was different from the pencil. The Knight is a brass bodied writing instrument with an anodized exterior (silver and black are the colors, possibly more). In this case, I did the abrading differently. I was tempted to try imitating leopard spots, but thankfully I nixed that idea before it was too late. This was fun. And the pen now has so much personality!

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Love the top finish! Talk about breathing new life into an otherwise unremarkable pencil :exploding_head:

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I love this! I have a real affinity for this sort of thing. I take pleasure in adding a personal touch to things. While precision and automation are wonderful, there’s a certain magic in the touch of a hand.

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These are amazing. I’ve been wanting to try out some abrasion on a couple of cosmetically damaged pencils I have - sone good tips in here, Gary!

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They certainly have an interesting finish and are attractive to the eye, I have seen something very similar to the Pilot, what would it have been?:thinking:

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Thanks, Stu! You’re welcome. There are so many different Dremel bits you can experiment with. First I chose one of those sandpaper like conical bits. But I found the wire brush wheel was more effective. I imagine this whole genre is ripe for exploring. And frankly, if a damaged pen or pencil can be had on the cheap, this is a good reason to pick it up.

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