Altoids Tin Pocket Abacus

Step 2: Step one: poke holes

This abacus will have 9 columns (9 digits). You can  calculate up to   9,999,999.99 if you use decimals, or up to  999,999,999 if you only use whole numbers.
For this you will need to poke 9 holes, to string 9 wires.

First use a sharpie marker to  mark where your holes will go.
Mark them on the long sides of the Altoids tin.
Start with the center hole (the 5th hole)
Then you can mark  4 holes to the left and 4 to the right. try to keep them evenly spaced.
Then repeat the process on the other long side, making 9 more dots with your sharpie.

Now, use the awl to poke the holes in the tin. Try to poke as small a hole as possible, so just the tip of the awl goes through.
Poke all 18 holes.

Next you will need to poke 2 holes on each of the short sides of the tin. This is for the "divider" wire which separates the Heaven beads from the Earth beads. The divider is perpendicular to the columns, and  is located about 1/4 of the  way from the top.
The distance between the top of the tin and the divider should be at least the  diameter of 3 of your beads. The  top 2 beads need room to move.