Top gear: Remember those multi-color, retractable ballpoint pens that were all the rage in elementary school? Jony from the Maker B YouTube channel does, and he recently built a grown-up version that will no doubt appeal to a wide range of enthusiasts.
The manual transmission pen is a fully custom job built using raw materials such as copper and aluminum. The inner function is similar to the novelty pens of yesteryear but Jony put a unique spin on his creation by modeling it after an automotive manual shifter complete with functional clutch pedal.
Jony’s pen features five ink refills: – blue, green, red, and two black cartridges (likely because black is the mostly commonly used color). The clutch is used to retract the pen tip currently in use, while reverse is reserved for the eraser. Clever.
The machine work is a thing of beauty, as every component – from the six push rods and the shifter to the pen refill aligners – was precision made. It is the sort of thing that will appeal to engineers, gearheads, miniature enthusiasts, and folks that simply enjoy fidgeting with something in their hand.
In the comments section on YouTube, Jony thanked folks for their supportive comments. While he is happy to hear that scores of people are interested in buying his creation, he is not sure if this one will be for sale simply because he doesn’t know if he could make very many.
A quick Google search reveals that gearshift pens are apparently a thing, and they are readily available from sites Amazon and Etsy across a range of price points. Admittedly, none look nearly as cool as Jony’s custom creation.
Jony’s YouTube channel is certainly worth a look as well as he has made tons of other neat projects including a pocket-sized hydraulic car jack, a 2.4cc gasoline engine, and building a “useless” joystick robot.
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