Tactical Sharpie "shankie" How To

1, A drill and a drill bit slightly smaller than your rod your using to make this tool

2, A 3/8 inch paddle bit for longer shanked points

3, A grinder with thick metal grinding wheel and metal cut-off wheel

4, A course hand file

5, A sharp knife, anything will work

6, Sandpaper for finishing

7, A measuring tape is very useful

8, A glue of some sort, epoxy will be best, but I just used hot glue

9, The metal rod you will use to make the point, these can vary in size, an old drill bit works best, I just used a scrap metal rod off a piece of trash for this one. Just make sure it is smaller than the body can hold, and not much larger than the original tip of the sharpie.

1, Water, as it does get hot in florida

2, Safety gear, goggles, gloves, and something to cover your face for grinding.

3, A bench vice

4, Some awesome super hero pajamas

Use whatever way works best to take off the cap and rid the marker of the ink tube, however gripping it with a cloth in the vice and pulling while twisting worked best for me.

Next you must cut the tip off the cap and clear the insides. I suggest to use your knife and press firmly till you get all the way through, then poke the felt out of the tip with your knife.

Next you must use your hand file, and while going slow, file down the tip slightly up to your personal preference of when you want the metal tip of your "Shankie" to start.

Depending on how long you want this to be, cut on your discretion. Usually somewhere around 4 inches is good, but can be fixed later on the final few steps. "Where I cut is shown by the red mark in the first picture."

For the most uniform tip and length, file both ends as flat as possible with the grinder. Then mark, with your sharpie body and tip along side for reference, where you want the metal tip to start, this is best done with the knife or edge of your file. I just marked from where it looks like the metal would start protruding.

This is the hardest step in my opinion, and I will try to detail this as much as possible.

1, Affix the rod in your drill

2, With your grinder, find the most appropriate angle to meet the center of the rod from where you marked in the last step.

3, Hold both the drill and grinder firmly.

4, Start the drill and once it reaches full speed, start grinding the metal at the angle you found.

5, Remove the grinder when the tip is made, then turn off the drill

6, Wait for the tip to cool, as it will be hot.

TIP: Never stop the drill while grinding, as it will make an edge flat.

Using a sanding sponge or sandpaper, sand the tip to make it shiny and clean up the metal. Please try not to stab yourself however.

Place your shank inside the body of the Sharpie and depending how long you want your tip, cut that much off the backside. The first image shows how much I decided to cut off, I eyeballed the amount, and my final piece ended up being roughly 3.75".

Using a drill bit slightly smaller than the shank, "to make the fit tighter," drill out the tip of your sharpie all the way through to fit the metal portion.

Using epoxy or hot glue in my case, glue the metal portion into the body of your sharpie.

This may take a great deal of pressure, but using the same method to take the tip off I placed it back on with the metal portion on the inside, it will be very tight!

There may be a plastic portion in the cap you need to remove to fit the metal tip, use a drill and a 3/8" paddle bit to do so.

Using another sharpie, color the tip to match the color of the body of your marker.

You have now made your own "Shankie!"

Have fun and go poke something (not someone please)!!!