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How to Make a Mechanical Pencil Shooter With Springs

Boring classrooms and offices have inspired students and workers to construct fun toys out of otherwise mundane office equipment. Most mechanical pencils have a spring inside and an eraser you can press down to dispense more lead through the writing tip. This mechanism is also useful in shooting small office items, such as used staples. With a few simple alterations, you can transform a new mechanical pencil into a toy shooter to liven up the office.

Things You'll Need

Plastic mechanical pencil with press-down eraser
Pliers (optional)
Staples

Instructions

- 1
  Pry off the tip of your pencil with your hands, your teeth or pliers. The tip is the part of the pencil through which lead is dispensed. Make sure to pull off the tip; don't snap it off. This will expose the prongs that dispense lead.
- 2
  Press down on the top (eraser) part of the pencil and hold down. You will notice that the two prongs that usually hold lead will open. Remove any lead currently in the pencil.
- 3
  Insert a used staple between the open prongs. The bent side of the staple should be against one prong, with the straight side against the other prong. Release the eraser to close the prongs around the staple.
- 4
  Hold the pencil horizontally with the tip pointing toward your target.
- 5
  Pull back on the eraser to shoot the staple at your target.

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