I’ve always wanted a stylus pen for my PDA. The small sized stylus is good if you dont have a pen handy, but it isnt so handy to use. On the contrary, a Pen stylus can cost up to 25 euros, which in my humble opinion is really expensive concerning that its just a piece of plastic instead of ink.
I found out a pen in my drawer empty of ink. i was using it as a stylus for a couple of days and a friend of mine (piksels) was making fun of me telling me he’s gonna buy me a real stylus pen just to stop using old pens :P.
Well tonight i got the crazy idea. Why not make one myself?
I had a spare stylus that came with my phones box, so i decided to play around with the one i was using since the beginning of my phone.
The victim: Silver pen (looks cool), and HTC p3300 stylus
Ok lets start.
Step 1: Take everything apart
The first thing to do is take apart the pen. sounds easy? well who said its not?!
I decided to use a second ink of a pen of the similar shape and size, which had less ink inside.
Step 2: Cut out the stylus hatch
The stylus has a little hatch (grip) on the end of it. I decided to cut it out because it was not that useful in my case.
Step 3: Making the space for the stylus
Ok this part was the most annoying one. at first i had to cut out the front part of the ink bottle. Nothing tricky yet. After you’ve done that, you have to empty, and i mean fully empty all the ink thats in the bottle. This is crucial because you really don’t want ink on your PDA’s screen.
To take the big part of the ink out of the ink bottle ( i know bottle is not the right word but w/e :P) i used another pen’s ink bottle (:P) and pushed away all the ink from the inside. Use some kitchen paper or something to avoid making a mess from the ink.
To take away the rest of the ink, i used a small container, which i filled in with hot water. The ink started floating away from the bottle.
Last, I used some *ear-cleaners* (sorry no clue how these things are called in english and im too tired to google it :P) to wipe away the rest of the ink.
Step 4: Get everything together to assemble
Now after you removed all the ink from the container, its time to start putting everything together. First take the stylus and gently slide the stylus inside the container. After its in, test it out in the front department of the pen. If the stylus is longer, use a second ink container, similar in shape and length, and measure the proper length.
Step 5: Does it fit?
So we are almost there. I noticed a problem, the space behind the stylus and the end of the container was too much. that caused the stylus to move back when attached to the front of the pen. How to solve how to solve…Lets use a screw!
Step 6: Final cuts
So after all, we must finish up. Put the back of the container (the small thingie with the edges that turn when you click the pen’s button) back to it, and put everything back in the pen. Satisfied? -Give yourself a beer (or in my case a cold cola refreshment) and enjoy your creation 
ps -1 . I am not responsible for any damage you may cause creating or using the stylus mod. If you are afraid of anything, go at a local PDA resource store or on ebay and buy one.
ps - 2. I am sorry for the picture’s quality but its just shot with my PDA’s camera. I will make a good quality image of the final product tomorrow.
Thank you for reading
It’s probably a bit different across the lake, but at least in the US I would call them…
ink bottle: ink cartridge
kitchen paper: paper towels
ear cleaner: Q-tips
@Kenneth
Hehe thnx for the info. i was a bit too tired when i wrote the post so my mind was overloaded
i have always used a PDA phone - and guess what, the stylus has always been a problem. I don’t know why manufacturers never think of this - but seriously, this is the main pain in using a PDA phone: one loses the stylus sooner or later. your ideas? great! i’ll take it on and try (yeah, operative word is “try” as I am known to have no skills whatsoever when it comes to working with my hands - well, on some things, not all
). THANKS FOR SHARING THIS! Simple, yet effective and useful. That’s what I call a relevant blog!
You could probably get plastic dart tips to shove down the end of your pen also!
What if we don’t have a stylus to begin with? You don’t advise us to waste money on a stylus, so is it possible to make a stylus-pen without a stylus at all?
Please email me with your answer directly.
A good idea. Very simple and effective. Did it myself. Worked well. Thanks for the instructions.
Well if you dont have a stylus to begin with, you can go on ebay and get one for a really cheap price. The dart idea was kinda cool. i never thought about it. but yet again, i dont play darts :P.
@phil,
yea i wish manufacturers would be more aware of stylus issues. i mean, HTC had 2 stylus with the package. What happens if u lose them both? -ebay has replacements but yet…..
a small comment,
first comments are moderated first before showing up in the site. This is due to a huge amount of spam posts im getting. I moderate them pretty often.
Sorry for the inconvenience
I think you need to look a bit harder at stylii. I bought a bunch of pens with three different colour inks and a stylus, last year for about $4 each.
when I lost my stylus, being too mean to shell out for what was basically just a bit of plastic, I went and bought a pair of plastic knitting needles. Cut them to length, round the tip, and you get 6 styli for a couple of dollars.
Terry
Just buy a pack of plastic mechanical pencils.
Retract the lead and you have a stylus, plus you can still use it as a pencil.
Granted it’s not as pleasing to the eye as your metal stylus, but it is much cheaper of you cant find an actual stylus to modify.
I once saw a guy at work use a plastic cocktail umbrella for his stylus. The folded umbrella kept it from being pushed too far down inside the PDA when it wasn’t being used, and he could buy them by the bag for a couple of cents each. And if he wanted to get noticed, he just opened the little umbrella while he was using it.
The drawback was that the party motif seemed to clash with his silver Palm Pilot, and he couldn’t really see the screen when using it open.
Your idea seems a little more sophisticated.
great
does it work with notebook touch pad too?
great
does it work with notebook touch pad too?
(to make a line)
If you need a cheap stylus to do this, look at the Nintendo DS ones. Some of them are 3 for 50 cents “Buy It Now” on eBay.
i nop doesnt work with a touchpad.
@Jon,
hmm interesting will look into it
@JoeDrinker,
thnx
How about the stylus for a Wacom?
I recent bought a Wacom off ebay with no stylus. I can buy a generic pen for $35.00 to $55.00
I’d rather a cheaper solution.
@thunder7
i dont think u can use the wacom pen. it has a magnetic field on the pin of it so it communicates with the tablet. this magnetic field wont be the best thing for your PDA screen
i do not think understood my question.
I do not want to use it to use on a PDA.
I want to use it on my Wacom!.
I have lost every sylus I evef owned. I really like your idea of a stylus pen. I currently use bamboo food skewers (usually can be bought at the local grocery store foe very cheap).They can be cut or sanded to the desired length or diameter and the tip is soft enough to not mark up my screen (covered by a screen protecter, of course).
I’d like to use a stylus for precise pointing on my Dell Latitude D620 laptop’s Apoint touchpad. Any ideas ?
Awesome article. I’ll be trying it out! By the way, we call “Ear Cleaners” Q-Tips (more common) or Cotton swabs (less common) in the US. (Not sure about other countries though!)
you know guys?
an easier way to this problem of styluses is -
if you have a pierrie cardin or waterman pen that doesn’t have enough ink in it, just take out its ink tube. make sure that the tube is metal, cuz it looks good. also make sure that the tube is pretty thick, so you’ll have a beter grip. for the use a darts rubber tip so you don’t scratch your PDA screen!!
hope it helped
okay any ways to make this for a DS.
And not a pen cause im lazy to do all of that?
XD
i love the fixation with the ear cleaner part, much more important than the pressing matter of missing styli (plural????)^____^
to me, they’re called cotton buds (yorkshire, UK)
You can also buy Nintendo DS styli and are around 5-7 dollars for 3.
They come in a bunch of different colors, but if you want to be boring you can buy them in black. Also if you think they are too tiny you can buy special ones that are able to extend.
well i think its kind of cool, ok im probably not going to make it as yet but if im at a meeting and i just happen to lose my stylus then i might just borrow someones pen for a minute , lol
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