Clean out Rods, Part 3

If you have read my earlier 2 posts on Clean Out Rods (COR) you know how obsessed with the need for a clean out rod for automatic drafting pencils I am. While in my mind it is best that each size of pencil have its own size clean out rod I discovered that one of my pencil sets of all 4 sizes have the same size clean out rod for all four pencils, the smallest diameter, the 0.3mm. I did find an on-line source for a 0.14" diameter stainless steel rod so I was able to make as many clean out rods as I wanted. However this may not be the best way for everyone to obtain a clean out rod. Recently I stumbled upon another way to easily obtain a nearly perfect clean out rod.

I am a diabetic and I check my blood sugar daily. I've been doing it for years without giving much thought to the lancets over the years. Then recently after checking my blood sugar I looked at the lancet and wondered just what the wire inside looked like. So I grabbed my round nosed pliers and my linesman pliers and removed the wire from one of the lancets. It took a good tug but it was worth the effort. The 30 gauge wire was about 3/4" long with an "s" bend at the end of the wire that was in the plastic body. I cut the "s" part of the wire off, filed it down to remove the burrs and using the linesman pliers I pushed the pointed end of the wire back into the pill shaped removable button part of the lancet. What I ended up with was a near perfect stand alone clean out rod.

So far the 2 best brand of lancets for this are the Reli On brand and the Bayer brand. The Reli On has the "s" shaped end which has to be remove. The Bayer does not. It is a straight rod. The removable button that serves as a handle is larger on the Bayer so it makes the best clean out rod.

Disclaimer: DO NOT USE A USED LANCET FOR A CLEAN OUT ROD. Used lancets as well as used insulin needles should ALWAYS be disposed of in a Sharps Box. ALWAYS obtain a new, unused lancet for conversion into a clean out rod. An unused lancet will have the pill shaped tab SECURELY ATTACHED to the body of the lancet and will offer resistance when removed.