# I couldn't help myself - I framed my NCEES pencils along with my cert (pic)



## ptatohed

Call me crazy but I just had to do it! Along with my cert are my three passing pencils (Survey Oct '10, 8-Hr Apr '11, Seismic Oct '11). Total cost in supplies = $28.XX after tax (thanks to a 40% off sale at Michael's) (not counting the $275 pencils of course). Time spent creatively figuring out how to fit 3D objects in a 2D frame = 4 hours. Gratification level = Significantly high.


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## Capt Worley PE

I framed my calculator, too.

I do like the pencils labeled for each test! Looks really good.


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## TrussGuy85

Looks great!


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## knight1fox3

Very cool, nice work.


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## okeng

That is an excellent display! I will get my certificate this Sunday at a formal ceremony by the OK board. I am pround to have passed the FE and PE the same year but did not know exactly how I should display this. I plan to mount my 2011 FE and PE pencils the same way. Thanks for the idea!


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## Chris Cat

I like it!


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## YMZ PE

Looks great! I love the pencils from each exam you passed.


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## Trev... P.E.

Looks awesome ptatohed!


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## Coastal Engineer

Nice!


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## lady_j

Awesome!


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## youngeng

wow. It looks great however I am speechless. Congrats...


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## addi

Nice! And gratz!


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## sc57

looks great.


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## ptatohed

Capt Worley PE said:


> I framed my calculator, too.
> 
> I do like the pencils labeled for each test! Looks really good.


Thanks for the kind words everyone, I appreciate it. 

Capt, I remember seeing yours. It's been a while but I remember it looking really nice. Can you post a pic again?


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## knight1fox3

roadwreck said:


> I believe you are referring to the Worley Exhibit


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## Boomer01 PE

Looks great!


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## Road Guy

At some point in time we will move both these pics to the hall of fame thread!


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## Capt Worley PE

roadwreck said:


> I believe you are referring to the Worley Exhibit


Thanks for finding that.  I'd lost the pic for one reason or another.



Road Guy said:


> At some point in time we will move both these pics to the hall of fame thread!


Thanks!


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## whitebuffalo

Someone should post that on pinterest!


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## pesquared

Ptatohed - love how you framed your certificate &amp; momentos.


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## sledgeconcrete

I put my pencils and calculator in a Ziplock this weekend so that when I get my letter saying that I passed I will have them available for framing.


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## daedalus34r

at first i thought it was going to be lame.... but dang that looks cool. I didnt know you have different color pencils for each test. congrats


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## ptatohed

daedalus34r said:


> at first i thought it was going to be lame.... but dang that looks cool. I didnt know you have different color pencils for each test. congrats



You wouldn't necessarily receive a different colored pencil for each exam within the same administration. But if you read my Post #1 and zoom in to the dates on the pencils, you'll see the pencils are from three different administrations.


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## FL.PE.Hopefully

ptatohed said:


> Call me crazy but I just had to do it! Along with my cert are my three passing pencils (Survey Oct '10, 8-Hr Apr '11, Seismic Oct '11). Total cost in supplies = $28.XX after tax (thanks to a 40% off sale at Michael's) (not counting the $275 pencils of course). Time spent creatively figuring out how to fit 3D objects in a 2D frame = 4 hours. Gratification level = Significantly high.


Very nice Display!!! I might have to copy this, although my first and last pencils were my "passing" pencils.


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## The Wizard

Cool thread. I look forward to the day I can do something like this....


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## dana

Congratulations, I will do the same!


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## mkt1

Wouldn't it make more sense to write what your PM breadth section was instead of 8 hour, next to NCEES?

But yeah this is enginerdness to the max - AWESOME and congrats!


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## bseepeguy

Nice job! How did you mount the pencils?


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## soniahuff

Thats VERY cool! So can you share...how did you make it work? 3D pencils in 2D frame?


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## ThoroughPM

I also took the pencil with me after taking the Exam. I either have a very expensive mehcanical pencil now or I passed the exam. Seemed a win-win!


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## palvarez83

Here is what I did with one of mine! This way I think of NCEES and the PE every morning! :fart:


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## RIP - VTEnviro

Fudgey 2.0?


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## cupojoe PE PMP

How did you attach the pencils? Was it glue or tape? How has it held up. IF I get a certificate, I'm hoping to do something similar.


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## woodslegend

ptatohed, I assume that you placed pencils outside, but did you use super glue on the glass? I want to do something like that... it looks great!


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## cajone5

Definitely planning to do this if/when I pass the SE. Frame PE and SE certs with their pencils


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## chiko

Anyone has October 2013 pencils ?


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## cajone5

chiko said:


> Anyone has October 2013 pencils ?




It's red.

October 2012 - Green

April 2013 - Blue

October 2013 - Red


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## snickerd3

^it varied by location actually. people were listing different colors

at least they have dates on them now. When I took it they didn't. I still have mine from FE and PE they are my fav pencil m I just refill them.


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## chiko

cajone5 said:


> chiko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone has October 2013 pencils ?
> 
> 
> 
> It's red.
> 
> October 2012 - Green
> 
> April 2013 - Blue
> 
> October 2013 - Red
Click to expand...

I am looking for pencil from October 2013 to frame with my PE license. Anyone want to sell or make a donation?


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## matt267 PE

They collected the pencils in RI after the Oct. 2013 FE exam.


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## knight1fox3

matt267 said:


> They collected the pencils in RI after the Oct. 2013 FE exam.


They tried that in WI as well. It would have been a cold day in h#ll had they tried taking my pencil. As soon as they collected the exam booklets, the pencil went right in my backpack. Then I was out of there.


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## chiko

Knight1fox3 very nice. I should have done that too


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## ptatohed

Sorry for the delayed responses.



cupojoe PE said:


> How did you attach the pencils? Was it glue or tape? How has it held up. IF I get a certificate, I'm hoping to do something similar.


I used clear silicone glue (from a caulking gun actually). Two "dots" each pencil at the contact points (one at the bulgy part of the rubber grip and one at the top of the pencil near the top of the clip). It's going on two years and it has held up just fine.



woodslegend said:


> ptatohed, I assume that you placed pencils outside, but did you use super glue on the glass? I want to do something like that... it looks great!


It's hard to see the glass in the pictures but I assure you the pencils are behind the glass (and not touching the glass - there is about 1mm of air space). This is why I said "fitting 3D objects in a 2D frame". 



chiko said:


> cajone5 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> chiko said:
> 
> 
> 
> Anyone has October 2013 pencils ?
> 
> 
> 
> It's red.
> 
> October 2012 - Green
> April 2013 - Blue
> October 2013 - Red
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I am looking for pencil from October 2013 to frame with my PE license. Anyone want to sell or make a donation?
Click to expand...

Any luck chiko?



soniahuff said:


> Thats VERY cool! So can you share...how did you make it work? 3D pencils in 2D frame?


It's hard to put in words. If you remind me, I'll try to take some pics of the back side. Imagine a regular picture frame, back side. You have a cardboard backing that sits inside, right? Maybe half-way into the frame? And you have little tabs that swivel to lock the backing in place and keep the picture up against the glass? Well, I moved my backing to the very back of the frame. I put skinny foam around the inside perimeter of the frame to push the glass forward and the backing back. I then used screws with washers to lock the backing in place. Sorry, hard to explain.



bseepeguy said:


> Nice job! How did you mount the pencils?


Clear silicone glue. See above. 



mkt1 said:


> Wouldn't it make more sense to write what your PM breadth section was instead of 8 hour, next to NCEES?
> 
> But yeah this is enginerdness to the max - AWESOME and congrats!


I'm not sure that it "would make more sense"! That sounds like a preference to me. So, while it might be your preference, it was not mine and, thus, I do not agree that it "would make more sense".  The Civil NCEES 8-hour is the NCEES 8-hour, it doesn't matter which depth module you take. I took three Civil PE exams (CA Seismic, CA Survey, and NCEES 8-hr) and thus labeled each pencil by the name of the exam.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments.


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## NJmike PE

ptatohed said:


> Call me crazy but I just had to do it! Along with my cert are my three passing pencils (Survey Oct '10, 8-Hr Apr '11, Seismic Oct '11). Total cost in supplies = $28.XX after tax (thanks to a 40% off sale at Michael's) (not counting the $275 pencils of course). Time spent creatively figuring out how to fit 3D objects in a 2D frame = 4 hours. Gratification level = Significantly high. http://engineerboards.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/biggrin.png


I took it 3 times in total, finally passing the third time. I saved the pencils from the first and final time, but threw away the second out of disgust. I also kept the ncees form from the day of the 3rd exam. I'm contemplating doing the same with the pencil and form from the successful time.


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## cupojoe PE PMP

I took my certificate and pencil over to the frame shop over the weekend. The guy made a comment that they have done lots of documents signed by governors, legislatures, etc. Where they want an expensive pen framed with the document, but he has never done a mechanical pencil. I will post pictures when it's complete.


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## matt267 PE

clearly the guy doesn't understand the amount of blood, sweat, tears, time, and coffee, that went into earning that certificate and pencil.


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## Porter_

nice! this looks better than i expected when i read the thread title.


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## iwire

very nice. I'm reluctant to comment in this until I passed the exam. I will definately copied this.

funny thing, I still have bs degree still in the same envelope it came on the mail...


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## StarPE

I'm so doing this as well!


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## Ships

Anyone else frame their license and pencil? Let's get some more pics up here. I can imagine calculator framing gets tricky.


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## iwire

let's see some pictures..i need ideas..


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## Porter_

nothing fancy, just a $20 frame for the time being.


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## iwire

i just finished mine..but I realized the pencils need aligned properly....will redo the glue

Cost: Frame $6.90 (Michael's with 60% off on top of initial 40% already)

Mat: $3


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## ptatohed

iwire said:


> i just finished mine..but I realized the pencils need aligned properly....will redo the glue
> 
> Cost: Frame $6.90 (Michael's with 60% off on top of initial 40% already)
> 
> Mat: $3


Very sweet! Nice job iw! Nice price! So you did this yourself? How'd you get the "3D" to work? Congrats and thanks for sharing.


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## NJmike PE

Porter_ said:


> nothing fancy, just a $20 frame for the time being.


Same here porter. Maybe this year I will devise a design fitting for a picture in this thread.


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## iwire

ptatohed said:


> iwire said:
> 
> 
> 
> i just finished mine..but I realized the pencils need aligned properly....will redo the glue
> 
> Cost: Frame $6.90 (Michael's with 60% off on top of initial 40% already)
> 
> Mat: $3
> 
> 
> 
> Very sweet! Nice job iw! Nice price! So you did this yourself? How'd you get the "3D" to work? Congrats and thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

thanks..I did it myself. I did it based on your 

the pencils are not alignment properly...sort of cocked eyes lol I need to fix it later

The "3d" effect on the cert or pencils?

I use the mat so the cert sits behind the mat sort of has a edge /border around it

http://www.michaels.com/matboard/pre-cut/809188437

and I use Shadow box so I can get the pencil to fit it in...

Just look out for coupons..they constantly has those coupons 50%-60% floating around

p/s the paper quality on the certificate sucks..it's like 70 lb paper instead of thicker one..worst than a standard blank paper


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## cupojoe PE PMP

Looking good. For that price, I wish I would've done mine myself. Mine was like $230 for a pro job.


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## iwire

cupojoe PE said:


> Looking good. For that price, I wish I would've done mine myself. Mine was like $230 for a pro job.


ya but I spent 1 hour trying to align the damn thing and cut...you know the saying, measured twice cut once...I measured 4 times! lol

and my pencils need to be re glue and realigned because it's cocked eye...

Did you post yours here?


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## cupojoe PE PMP

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23802#entry7219981


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## cupojoe PE PMP

...


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## iwire

cupojoe PE said:


> http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23802#entry7219981


oh ya..forgotten about that ..it's very nice!


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## ptatohed

iwire said:


> i just finished mine..but I realized the pencils need aligned properly....will redo the glue
> 
> Cost: Frame $6.90 (Michael's with 60% off on top of initial 40% already)
> 
> Mat: $3


So, wire, what are the two pencils for? One FE and one PE? Taking the PE twice? Or?


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## iwire

ptatohed said:


> iwire said:
> 
> 
> 
> i just finished mine..but I realized the pencils need aligned properly....will redo the glue
> 
> Cost: Frame $6.90 (Michael's with 60% off on top of initial 40% already)
> 
> Mat: $3
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, wire, what are the two pencils for? One FE and one PE? Taking the PE twice? Or?
Click to expand...

One for FE and one for PE


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## Aubs

ptatohed said:


> Call me crazy but I just had to do it! Along with my cert are my three passing pencils (Survey Oct '10, 8-Hr Apr '11, Seismic Oct '11). Total cost in supplies = $28.XX after tax (thanks to a 40% off sale at Michael's) (not counting the $275 pencils of course). Time spent creatively figuring out how to fit 3D objects in a 2D frame = 4 hours. Gratification level = Significantly high.


Do you have the website where you order this from?


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## ptatohed

Aubs said:


> Do you have the website where you order this from?


Ummmm..... I thought it was pretty clear from my post that I bought the frame at Michael's and constructed it myself.   :dunno:


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## Aubs

ptatohed said:


> Ummmm..... I thought it was pretty clear from my post that I bought the frame at Michael's and constructed it myself.   :dunno:


Thanks


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## iwire

Ah..this thread..completely forgotten about this. My frame was packed away when I move to a new place ..(800sq ft place)..so it still sitting in the wrapper LOL...i need to find a place to put it up..maybe when i move next year!


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## EhmayWuntee P.E.

Hmm I wonder how it would look if you had a wood frame and routered out a slot in the bottom of the frame to put the pencil in there and kept the certificate as the only thing behind the glass. Be unique at least....


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## ptatohed

EhmayWuntee said:


> Hmm I wonder how it would look if you had a wood frame and routered out a slot in the bottom of the frame to put the pencil in there and kept the certificate as the only thing behind the glass. Be unique at least....


I like that idea.  Go for it EW.


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## ruggercsc

I got my first certificate custom framed. My second one I went to the local arts and crafts store and bought a nice off the shelf certificate holder frame.  My third one I picked up at the Dollar Store when I was getting paper towels.


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