New Apple Pencil Sandpapered to Look and Feel Like a Real Pencil

A few months ago, the second-generation Apple Pencil was released with a more seamless design and a matte rather than glossy finish. However, like the original, the new Apple Pencil is only available in an off-white color.

A variety of skins are available for customizing the design of the Apple Pencil, but Reddit user Cedric M. from Frisco, Texas decided to take the do-it-yourself route with some sandpaper, synthetic fabric dye, and paint, transforming his second-generation Apple Pencil into one that closely resembles a No. 2 graphite pencil.

What makes this customized Apple Pencil unique is that Cedric achieved a wood-like texture with sandpaper. He then used synthetic fabric dye and paint to color the tip, shaft, and collar of the pencil and shared photos on Reddit.

Cedric spoke to MacRumors about the project:

I saw a few "pencil" decals for the Apple Pencil 2 but didn't like the idea of something that could be misaligned or peel. I experimented a bit with Rit dye and have some experience using it at my job - I knew that it could be used to dye plastics with relative ease. I wanted to replicate the texture and feel of an actual wooden pencil and was happy with the results I achieved with some careful sandpapering.

The finished product looks impressive, and we award Cedric full marks for creativity, although we don't recommend everyone follow these steps since it is still cosmetic damage to the Apple Pencil. For most people, this $6 skin from dbrand is the cheapest and easiest way to make the new Apple Pencil resemble a No. 2 pencil.

The second-generation Apple Pencil magnetically attaches to the new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. It also features automatic pairing, wireless charging, tap to wake, double-tap gestures to switch drawing tools, and a more seamless design with no Lightning connector, cap, or chrome ring.

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A variety of skins are also available for the original and second-generation Apple Pencil from Amazon and elsewhere.

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Tag: Apple Pencil

Top Rated Comments

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Moonjumper

3 weeks ago

Is this is what the Apple Pencil would have looked like if Apple had continued with skeuomorphic design?

Rating: 11 Votes

Unity451

3 weeks ago

Clearly this guy thought about the design more than apple does these days.

Rating: 10 Votes

webbuzz

3 weeks ago

New product from ColorWare coming, only $499!

Rating: 7 Votes

cedricchase

3 weeks ago

:eek:
Actually, the article says he used both dye and paint. Since the body of the pencil looks dyed (textured and less opaque) I assume the tip was painted. It certainly looks like it.

Edit: oop, just read his Reddit post and saw that he did use dye for the tip. Also read that the work killed pairing on one of the two pencils he modified. Polite pass.

It’s me! Tip was dye only. The damaged Pencil is strange, it -tries- to pair but just never succeeds. I’m confident I can safely do this mod without making the same mistake again, the process is pretty tame as far as mods are concerned.

Rating: 6 Votes

arn

3 weeks ago

I believe you are also responding to the person who did the mod. [USER=258933]@cedricchase[/USER]

arn

Rating: 4 Votes

dazzer21-2

3 weeks ago

Until he tries to sharpen it!

Rating: 3 Votes

riverfreak

3 weeks ago

That’s just plain awesome. Stellar work, and I love the attention to detail with the texture.

Rating: 2 Votes

truettray

3 weeks ago

I think this looks incredible!

Rating: 2 Votes

GuruZac

3 weeks ago

Not really a fan of the texturizing look, but he did an awesome job. I would just use a skin if I wanted that look. Call me crazy, but I like the look for the Apple Pencil, and I'm just using the Gen 1.

Rating: 1 Votes