Pentel has become one of my favorite brands for pens. One of their products I love is the Clic Eraser. I recently needed a small stamp in the shape of a circle, and immediately thought about using the eraser to make one. It worked beautifully, I used an X-Acto knife to carefully hollow the tip of the eraser, and since a brand new Clic Eraser has a flat tip, it was exactly what I needed.
I ended up using the circle stamp for a list I made, using it as the checkbox for when I completed a task. I decided to make two more stamps in the shapes of an X and a checkmark to use for the list as well. I made an example to show you:
I’d actually messed up when I made the check, I’d carved it the correct way which of course meant it stamped backwards, so I had to cut it off and carve it again. Luckily these erasers are about five inches long, so there’s plenty for when I need to re-carve them. I had to fix the X after one of the legs fell off, I’m not sure what happened but I’d started to use it only to realize I’d broken it somehow.
I decided to take this opportunity to show you how I did it in case you want to make your own stamp using a Clic Eraser. Specifically, the ones I used are the Clic Eraser Grip. I love these erasers, so I have a stockpile of them and had plenty to spare for this project. If you’re reading this tutorial out of curiosity but don’t plan on doing it, I still recommend buying a Clic Eraser, they’re well priced and erase cleanly.
If you’re starting with a brand new Clic Eraser, skip to step three. If it’s used, start by using an X-Acto knife to slice off the top. Be sure to cut evenly across or the stamp won’t work properly.
When you’re done, it’ll look something like this. It probably won’t be perfect, but like I said, make it as even as you can so it’s flat.
Use a pencil to draw the shape you’ll want the stamp to be. You want to use a pencil so if you mess up, you can just rub the eraser clean instead of making it dirty with pen ink. Remember to draw the shape backwards so it’ll face the correct way when you stamp it. Obviously with an X, it doesn’t matter since it looks the same from any direction.
Carve out the negative space around the shape. Don’t cut too far down, but don’t leave it too shallow either.
Test it out on a piece of scrap paper and see if you need to fix any part of it, such as trimming a little to make the shape even. If you like how it looks, you’re done!
