Office Supplies Contest: the Twister Pen

This project is pathetically easy, but I do suggest parental supervision because a lighter is needed. The Twister Pen was born in a chemistry lab with a bunsen burner. Anyone whos been doing chemistry for a while will probably have heatrd of thermosoftening plastics. Bic biros are made of them, and that is why I suggest you use Bic biros, the plain types (the colourless one in the photo or the orange one I use) but you are welcome to experiment.

Step 1: Supplies Needed

All you need is a biro and a lighter. You could do this on a gas hob, but it would be fairly difficult and dangerous. If you have matches, you could use a candle.

Step 2: Step 1

I can't imagine anyone would struggle with this anyway, but takke of the lid, otherwise (it has happened to a friend) you could end up glueing the lid to the pen by melting it.

Step 3: Step 2: Melting the Pen

You only need to melt one area. To do this, simply turn the pen around on top of the flame, and wait until the pen sags. Also, hold the pen in your fingers, don't place it on the table like I did for the photo.

Step 4: Step 3: the Twist

Just hold the parts of the pen around the molten bit, and twist them in opposite ways, like you would open a sweet wrapper, and hold it in that position, otherwise it unravels, until it solidifies. Try to keep it in line with the rest of the pen, unlike in my photo.

Step 5: Step 4: Repeat

Repeat this process down thepen until you reach where you hold it. Also, be creative with it. I made one that curved around my hand when I wrote with it (they do still write).