Build Your Own Tablet Stylus on the Cheap with a Ballpoint Pen and a Sponge

Ihsan Magazine - If you use a tablet and wish you had a stylus to use with it, you could go out and spend a few dollars plus shipping to have a capacitive touch screen-friendly stylus shipped to you, or you can build your own for less than 10 cents using a ballpoint pen and a kitchen sponge that you probably already have.


Admittedly, a stylus like the Pogo Sketch is only about $11 on Amazon, so a tablet stylus isn't exactly expensive, but if you're in the habit of losing small items or just don't want to spend money at all, try this DIY project. Over at iLearn Technology, one instructor walked a class through making their own iPad stylus by pulling the ink tube from a ballpoint pen, cutting off a bit of the yellow end of a standard kitchen sponge, and threading a bit of wire into the hollowed out pen to the sponge in the tip.

The secret to the tip is that as long as your finger is touching the loop of wire, the soft sponge at the tip of the "stylus" will work with the capacitive touch screen on most tablets. Head over to iLearn Technology to see the step-by-step. It's not the prettiest stylus you could have on your desk, but it's probably the cheapest, which is perfect if you tend to lose things of this size.

Make Your Own iPad Stylus for Less than 10 Cents | iLearn Technology