I don’t about you but I have never finished a Chapstick before it is used up. Those tubes always seem to disappear half used and I need to buy another. At the end of this cold weather season I realized the Chapstick I was using stopped pushing up that little beeswax stick. Time for an investigation.

First I cleaned out the stuff I smear on my lips. Not going to discuss the composition of that material. You can do a deep dive on the internet to make your own, but never mind that. What I found was a little tray on which the material rested.

Next I pried out that little tray. You can see here that it rested on a worm drive stick that raised and lowered that goo for the lips. Time to take a closer look at that device.

And there you have it. All the component parts of a Chapstick tube. All taken apart and exposed for what it really is.

I have too much time on my hands, don’t I? Gee, I wonder what else I can find to tear apart. This might be fun.

As always you can find more at http://www.walterthinnes.com and on Twitter @walterthinnes