Soldering automotive or household wires is one of the first tasks you learn to do with your soldering gun. But working on a delicate circuit board takes a greater degree of finesse with your hands. This is an ability some of us struggle with as we get older and for others, well, being born with clumsy hands is just a part of life!

Nathan Cox posted on Thingiverse that we was tired of his spools and thick fingers “not getting along” and decided to make a tool to give him better control over his soldering projects.

He took a .9mm mechanical pencil and threaded .8mm solder through it. He used a 3D printer to make a spool holder to mount to the top of the pen but the same thing can be achieved by simply cutting lengths of solder to match those that would normally be used with your mechanical pencil.

See more details and photos of Nathan’s soldering pen hack on Thingiverse!