Inspired by the excellent tutorial over on The Jungle is Neutral on restoring bullet pencils (a follow-up to a great post about the history of bullet pencils), I decided to whip out the Dremel and do a little work on one of my favorites.

I started by sanding the glaze off the eraser. I should have used a finer grain on the sandpaper for a smoother finish (and also a steadier hand), but it’s functional now! I’ve seen better, but I can now erase a pencil mark from a piece of paper with this eraser. 

After that, I put a buffer attachment on the Dremel and polished up the ferrule and the front of the barrel a bit. It’s not perfect, but it has a sheen!

Finally, I put the woodcutting piece on and cut about four inches off the front of a Palomino Prospector. (Apologies to WoodChuck for the Faustian treatment of one of his babies! It died so that a bullet pencil could have new life, though) I sharpened it up in a Palomino Long-point sharpener, and stuck it in the metal end piece. Luckily, the pencil was a match, and it fit like a glove.

I didn’t go quite as far as my Jungle is Neutral inspiration, though, by peeling off the label. One of the great things, to me, besides the utility of a bullet pencil is the cool old type and designs gracing the barrel. If I went adventuring in the outdoors with it, I would consider it, but this will mostly grace the pockets of my jeans or dress shirt at the office or the grocery.

I’m really happy with the results! This took only a few minutes, was fun to do, and breathed new life into an antique.