I am constantly carrying a mechanical pencil and backup lead. I don’t really like the little plastic lead cases that come in the package. I decided to make a small aluminum case topped by a cork. This was a perfect opportunity to go use the lathe again.

I started with ½” aluminum rod-stock and chucked it in my lathe. Using drill bits, I bored out a core deep enough to store the lead and accept the cork. I polished with steel wool while the lathe was still turning.

I decided to monogram the cork with my initials, so I heated up letter die punches with a butane torch and used Vice-Grips to stamp into the cork.
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