Circuit Board Stylus

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wyone

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Made for my brother who is also an electrician. Sure wish I knew how to make these myself as I think they are pretty cool. I would love to make them with resistors actually in place. I have some ideas to try with colored paper and resistors to cast, but think making it look realistic enough might be tough. I guess I will probably keep buying blanks. LOL
 

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mecompco

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Nice!

Very nice--I've been wanting to make one of these for myself, working in IT. I DO have many, many old SIMM modules and have been noodling around how one might cast these in a blank. If you'd like some to experiment with, shoot me a PM.

Regards,
Michael
 

Jim Smith

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If I remember correctly, the actual idea of the circuit board blanks originated by a member here on IAP (Bruce119). They proved to be so unique and popular that the pen blank manufacturers "copied" his idea and started selling them. Bruce is a very creative and talented guy and he could certainly give you some tips on how he did it, but I believe he sanded the circuit boards down to very, very thin so he could wrap them around the tube for casting. That said, it is my understanding that the material that the boards are made from is nasty stuff and that breathing the dust from sanding them down can be VERY hazardous to your health. Just a thought...

Jim Smith
 

mecompco

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If I remember correctly, the actual idea of the circuit board blanks originated by a member here on IAP (Bruce119). They proved to be so unique and popular that the pen blank manufacturers "copied" his idea and started selling them. Bruce is a very creative and talented guy and he could certainly give you some tips on how he did it, but I believe he sanded the circuit boards down to very, very thin so he could wrap them around the tube for casting. That said, it is my understanding that the material that the boards are made from is nasty stuff and that breathing the dust from sanding them down can be VERY hazardous to your health. Just a thought...

Jim Smith

I'm thinking one could fairly easily un-solder the components, then affix them to whatever colored background one wanted, and glued to the tube. Sanding those down would NOT be fun, and IDK if even then they would be flexible (I suppose they must be, if someone did it).
 

wyone

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Jim... I know about Bruce.. and read and read and thought.. WOW and then WOW some more. the creativity to even THINK of that much less make it work.. amazing. I want something that looks that awesome with like 1/100 the work. LOL
 

wyone

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I really need to do some research about making the thickest material on a tube and compare that to the thickness of the components and see if using resistors is even logical. I have some in the shop, but since we are moving the end of the month have NO idea where. LOL I am thinking I need to make a kit using a 7 MM tube and the size of like a Baron so I have some meat so to speak. just brainstorming at this point, but certain I can never come up with something as amazing as what Bruce did
 

mecompco

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I really need to do some research about making the thickest material on a tube and compare that to the thickness of the components and see if using resistors is even logical. I have some in the shop, but since we are moving the end of the month have NO idea where. LOL I am thinking I need to make a kit using a 7 MM tube and the size of like a Baron so I have some meat so to speak. just brainstorming at this point, but certain I can never come up with something as amazing as what Bruce did

Most of the surface mounted components on SIMMs and the like are pretty small. They can be desoldered with heat (an infrared lamp works well--they slide right off the circuit board. Actual discrete components like resistors and small caps could work too, I think.
 

Jim Smith

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I think one of the "charms" of the circuit board pens is the writing on the actual board as well as the solder lines etc. I suspect that if you removed the components and glued them to a blank it would not look very good or at least not look like a real circuit board. Just one man's opinion...

Jim Smith
 

wyone

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Jim.. I know.. is sort of my thought as well.. unless I could find a printer that had enough clarity to print a circuit board, sort of like a picture. I am not sure if the actual components would add much to it though, as it is sometimes tough to tell how thick components are when embedded

hmmmm
 

magpens

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Nice pen !! I like the color ! . Looks like a bare unsoldered circuit board (PCB).

Some of the earlier PCB blanks (4 or so years ago) used flexible boards with components soldered on. I have a dozen or so such pens on a nearby table but don't have adequate photographic equipment or skills to post a pic. They are really quite interesting.

I like the idea of casting resistors, diodes, capacitors, and other small components. I think a blank made from unused resistors would be very attractive and I think you could find a pen kit with enough meat to do it well. The Sierra Vista might work. I would suggest a tube-in cast.
 
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