In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a shortened pen, useful for Keychains, Geocaching, and whatever else you can think of.

Step 1: What You'll Need

The basic tools you will need for this are:

Needle-nose pliers (optional but useful)
Bic or similar pen
Sharp knife

Step 2: Remove Grip and Ink Tube

Take a pliers or your fingers, and remove the ink tube and grip piece from the outer tube. Do not remove the ink from the grip for ease of measurement.

Step 3: Align and Mark Cut Lines

Align the grip/ink assembly as shown and make marks for where you will cut them. Be sure to leave a bit extra outer tube so you do not accidentally end up with a pen shorter than intended. Take into consideration how much you will be writing with this pen to judge how much ink you will need, so you do not run out. Remember: you can always shorten, but cannot add more length to the pen.

Step 4: Assemble

Now we assemble the 2 parts of the pen again. I found that the tube was extremely tight from cutting it, so I stuck in the pliers and stretched the tube a bit.

Step 5: Optional: Add Hole for Keychain

If you intend to use this on a keychain, take your knife, a drill, or hot nail to make holes in sides of the cap.

Step 6: Finished!

Enjoy your shortened pen! If you desire, you can remove the black grip and cut the ink and tube extremely short for a micro-pen. Be aware that the ink will run out very quickly if you do this, though.