Finished My Pen Storage Box

[OakIris]

I have completed the modification of an old flatware storage box into a fountain and dip pen storage box. My inspiration for this project came from Michael, my63, who began a thread in June of last year about his restoration of a trashed-out writing slope; he made what many of us would have considered junk into a pristine, useable and lovely writing slope with pen storage. (Here is the the thread in case you have missed it: Writing Slope Dilemma) My project was no where near as ambitious nor as involved as his, as it involved no rebuilding or veneering or any other work that required genuine woodworking skills. If I was unable to "fix" something I took the easy way out and just disguised it. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Michael included many photos documenting his progress with the project along with tips and "how to's," instructions which I made use of when I could. No fault of his, obviously, if my implementation of his ideas didn't work out quite as nicely as they did for him!

 

After seeing the amazing transformation that Michael was able to perform with the writing slope and other boxes that he modified - or made - I finally decided at the end of January that I would like to try my hand at modifying a box for pen storage. I knew from the start that I could not hope to emulate Michael's fine work, so chose to get a box that was in good shape and had the configuration I wanted. I had inherited my parents silverware and the storage box in which it came; the box was made by a Chicago company many years ago, the M.I. Naken Co., and seemed very well made of solid hardwood, so I decided that a flatware storage chest manufactured by this company would be ideal. I probably should have checked out local thrift and antique stores, but decided to go the eBay route instead. I found what I wanted and bought it - and I didn't ask the seller any questions about the storage chest, either.

 

When I received the package I knew I was going to be a bit disappointed because it was way too light; no way could the box have been made of hardwood. I should have asked some questions - The box had apparently been made during the slow downward spiral of the company (the company began in the 30's or 40's and went out of business sometime in the early 70's, from what I could find) and many shortcuts were taken as far as the quality of the materials was concerned. My guess is that the box is probably pine with a thin layer of oak veneer, and to name a few of the other things that, to me, indicate that Naken was trying to cut costs: The bottom of the top compartment and the bottom of the drawer were both made out of masonite, not solid wood; the drawer looked as if it was of dovetail construction, but the dovetail part was actually just a piece of trim that was dovetailed and glued to the front of the door; the hinges were some sort of metal finished to look like brass. Still, it seemed sturdy and as it would not need to hold or support anything particularly heavy, I decided it would do.

 

Here are some photos of the original box:

 

Top:

 

Front view (the odd angle at which I took the photo makes the box look as if it is crooked, taller on one side than the other, but it is not. You can see why I didn't choose photography as a career!)

 

 

Interior of top compartment and lid:

 

 

 

Bottom of drawer, showing masonite and the dovetailed trim piece glued on the front of the drawer:

 

Closer look at the dovetailed trim piece:

 

 

Now that I had the box, my next task was to find and purchase the materials I wanted to use for the lining and pen trays, as well as to replace the pulls and knobs. I decided to use tan microsuede fabric for the compartment lining and some of the pen trays, while using nice, soft dark brown pigskin leather to line the lid and some of the pen trays as well. I also found some sky blue cotton cloth that had been patterned to look like suede that I thought I might use for contrast. The nice thing about all of these materials is that the textures and patterns would cover up any minor flaws, such as my managing to get a bit of glue on the “show” side of the fabric. (oops..) I also went searching for brass knobs and pulls, as well as purchasing some 1/8" birch plywood and various sized oak dowels for the pen trays.

 

Unfortunately, the old pulls were 2 1/4" center to center (also known as the boring size;) I was unable to find pulls with this size boring, even looking among vintage and antique pulls that were available; the standard is 3" center to center/boring. (I can't help but wonder if Naken got a good deal on discontinued hardware. ) I had to drill new holes for the pulls, but I was pleased with the pulls that I decided upon; they look like stylized fountain pens to me. I did glue in a piece of dowel to fill the old holes; after that, installing veneer would have been in order, but...not one of my skills so, as you will see later, I disguised the "flaws."I couldn't find knobs to match (these pulls were discontinued, too, found them on eBay) so just bought some solid brass ones that seemed to go with the design.

 

Here is a photo of one of the pulls; it also shows the holes in the wood where the old pulls were installed:

 

 

This post is getting a bit unwieldy so I will continue in the next one.

 

Holly

[Lorna Reed]

Eagerly looking forward to the next episode!

[OakIris]

To continue:

 

While waiting for all of the materials and "parts" to be located, ordered, shipped, etc., I removed the old tarnish-proof lining and flatware supports, used sandpaper and steel wool to remove the old finish, etc., and put a first coat of walnut oil finish on it. Here is what it looked like at this point:

 

 

 

 

There was one section of the flatware supports that I was unable to remove. It was a section in the lid where the knives would be stored; I think they glued or stapled the back to the interior of the lid itself and then glued on the front part; not sure, but I couldn't get it to budge or even find out how it was fastened, so I decided to incorporated it in my design. You can see this section in the picture above, but here is a close up (and you can see the funky way the hinges were attached, too):

 

 

Here is the interior of the lid after the sides were lined with microsuede and the leather was glued to the top:

 

 

I used the blue faux suede cloth I mentioned in the previous post to cover the knife support section:

 

 

I don't remember where or when I got this, but it seemed quite appropriate: For fun, I glued this on the interior of the lid:

 

 

Georgia O'Keeffe is one of my favorite artists, and having one of her poppy paintings made into a stamp in the mid-1990's made me happy! Here is a photo showing the lid area:

 

 

To add a bit more whimsy - and probably to cover up a spot of glue, too, :embarrassed_smile: - I added this brass stamping. You may insist it is a feather, but I am convinced it is a quill pen! The clamp, of course, was removed once the glue set.

 

 

Thank you for your encouragement, Lorna. Next installment after lunch.

 

Holly

[OakIris]

At last, the final installment:

 

After finishing with the lid and lining both compartments, it was time to start working on the pen trays. I did toy with the idea of buying the pen trays from Go Pens or Pendora, but decided to try making my own. The bases are cut out of a sheet of 1/8" birch plywood; not having the correct tools made this part not-so-fun but I managed it using a coping saw, pull saw and utility knife. Luckily the leather/cloth that I used to cover the trays would subsequently cover up the badly cut bases. I then cut and glued dowels onto the base for the pen cradles. I had decided to have the front section for dip pens and the rear section for fountain pens, so needed a "wall" to separate sections. I was considering just using a fancy piece of wood trim and staining it for this separator, but I was unable find anything that would work. What I ended up doing was using paint stir sticks - they were the right height and the width to use. (And a great price, since they were free.) I cut them to eliminate the "hand grip" indentations and to make them the correct length, and then taped the pieces together.

 

 

I then glued card (poster board actually) on both sides and glued the blue cloth onto it. Here is the pen tray for the drawer showing the blue cloth-covered separator and the dowels glued to the base, ready for the cradle leather or cloth to be attached:

 

 

When I tried to glue the microsuede directly to the birch of the base, the results were not pretty; here is what it looked like after I tore it back off of the base:

 

 

A combination of too much glue and the plywood apparently not absorbing enough of the glue to lessen the effect, caused the glue to bleed right through the cloth. I ended up putting another strip of card down in between the dowels. Somehow the cloth and glue cooperated when the cloth was glued directly to the card as opposed to the plywood - although the cloth was just fine when glued directly to the dowels. I imagine there is a "scientific" explanation for this.

 

 

I must say that working with the leather was much easier than working with the microsuede; if I didn't like the contrast between the cloth and the leather so much, I would have used all leather for the trays! Should I do this again, I will probably only use leather; leather comes in contrasting colours, too, and it was a pleasure to work with, no problem with glue seeping through, easier to fit, etc.

 

Here is a photo of the tray all done and placed in the drawer:

 

 

And here is a photo of the other completed pen tray installed in the top compartment:

 

 

The small compartment on the left was just right for a tile I had:

 

 

Upon which I could also place this:

 

 

The Altoid tin is full of my extra dip pen nibs, so this worked very nicely.

 

Now all that was left were the finishing touches. The original flatware storage box had a metal plate screwed to the lid where presumably the owner could have their name etched. I was just going to replace the tin plate (or whatever cheap metal it was made of) with a nice brass plate, but decided to go with something more interesting - at least to me - instead. My user name on this site and on most of the sites on which I participate is OakIris, named after two of my favorite plants, so this is what I glued on instead to make the box mine:

 

 

 

Hopefully you can see that they are brass stampings of oak leaves and an iris.

 

As I have said previously, if I can't fix something properly I do try to disguise it. Since I was not going to veneer the box I needed something to cover the holes where the old pulls had been installed:

 

 

So this is what I did, continuing the "oak leaf" theme:

 

 

I glued the small brass stampings of an oak leaf over all six of the holes left by the old pull screws. And then all that was left was a couple of coats of the final wood finish for the exterior; I used walnut oil finish and beeswax for this. Here is the finished box with a few pens put in the trays:

 

 

 

For any of you who have managed to make it this far, thank you for reading and looking at the pictures. I know the posts were pretty long - I was not planning to do such a "blow by blow" description of my flatware storage chest modification but somehow it seemed the thing to do. lol I hope it was interesting, that you maybe learned something - or learned what not to do - and that you can see that even someone without training or skill can actually do a relatively decent job of repurposing a box for pen storage. I hope that I have encouraged someone else to give it a try for themselves; it really was fun.

 

Holly

[my63]

Hi Holly

I think that you have under estimated you skill.

You have done a fantastic job.

I am so pleased that you have been inspired in some small way by my posts.

looking forward to your next project

regards

Michael

[mikalehtinen]

:clap1: :clap1:

Absolutely beautiful box Holly!!

Greal work, be proud!

I like that you used different colours of leather and suede. It's a very personal, stylish box with great sollutions.

Enjoy!

Cheers, mika

[ZachWasniak]

:clap1: :clap1:

Absolutely beautiful box Holly!!

Greal work, be proud!

I like that you used different colours of leather and suede. It's a very personal, stylish box with great sollutions.

Enjoy!

Cheers, mika

+1

Absolutely astonishing!

[Mainecoon]

Wow, that really has become a very beautiful box Holly. Great work :clap1: :clap1: Nice finishing as well. I like the way you made the pentrays.

Enjoy using it!!

[OakIris]

Thank you all for such positive comments! :embarrassed_smile: :embarrassed_smile: :embarrassed_smile:

 

It was a great deal of fun to do; now what am I going to wake up in the middle of the night thinking about?? lol

 

Holly

[mikalehtinen]

I bet you can´t stop looking at the finished box!

 

Walk around in the house, go back, take a look, open a drawer..

Go to the kitchen, back to the box, take out a pen, put back, close a drawer..

and so on...

 

The precious pens get even more precious if they have a great storagebox, made with passion and your own hands.

 

Enjoy!

[coyotewhisper]

Fantastic looking pen storage box. Awesome craftsmanship in retro fixing the box impressive.

[Lorna Reed]

I really enjoyed your post and step by step photographs. You have made a fantastic storage box which I am sure you will always treasure. :bunny01:

[Sailor911Fan]

Impressive! Congrats!

[ethernautrix]

Wonderful pen box! Thanks for including all those photos -- should I feel inspired to make one of my own, your photos are a handy reference (also reassuring)!

 

Very nice.

[geoduc]

Very nicely done, Holly. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[N2theBreach]

Nicely done. In general, I prefer things made by hand to mass production, so Im all over this one. I especially like your idea of using dowels for pen cradles. It gives it a custom-made look and allows you to adjust the width to special needs.

 

Now, as for quandary of what to do that will wake you up at night, do you have an ink chest yet? :-). Or do you keep them in the antique machinist's chest?

[OakIris]

I am glad to see that folks like my pen storage box and again hope that some will be inspired to try modifying one of their own. Thank you very much for all of the kind comments. :embarrassed_smile:

 

@N2theBreach - Michael is the one that gave me the idea to use dowels for the pen cradles. Another of his ideas is to use wooden molding instead, which I may try in the future. Mika (mikalehtinen) also gave us another suggestion for the pen cradles - he used wine bottle corks cut in half for the box he recently made. It amazes me sometimes how resourceful people here are when it comes to repurposing things so that they will be of benefit to our hobby/obsession/addiction!

 

Ink storage.... :hmm1: Currently I am using a small vintage medicine cabinet for my inks; still have room for more in there, but if I find a box that would work, that might be another fun project. I actually do have a Gerstner machinist's tool chest from the 1940's, solid oak, lots of drawers, beautiful. Most of the drawers are pretty shallow in depth - it would make a great pen storage chest - so only the top compartment would be deep enough for bottles of ink. I, however, use it for my small but growing pen repair/maintenance tools and things of that nature.

 

What I really need to do now is to start looking for more pens to make use of the extra storage space I have now but what I will probably do instead is modify a small cigar box for even more storage room that I don't yet need. It's cheaper that way anyway! lol

 

Holly

[KCat]

That's lovely. The contrasting materials really add a nice touch. I'd have just slapped the same material in all the trays. Clearly, I'm not very creative.

 

I love the stain you've given it as well. It's very mellow and still warm. Just overall a wonderful finished product.

[OakIris]

That's lovely. The contrasting materials really add a nice touch. I'd have just slapped the same material in all the trays. Clearly, I'm not very creative.

 

I love the stain you've given it as well. It's very mellow and still warm. Just overall a wonderful finished product.

Thank you, KC.

 

I didn't actually use a stain on the box, just a wax and oil finish; the color is basically that of the wood that was under the original finish, though the walnut oil may have darkened it just slightly. You can of course add coloring to the finish - many prefer a darker wood - but as someone that actually likes the way maple, birch and golden oak wood looks, I chose not to do so.

 

My next project will be modifying a cigar box that a friend at our Pen Posse gave to me. The finish on it is a dark maroon or burgundy colour, really quite nice. I am not going to sand it off, as it will ruin the design of the box, IMHO, but I haven't been able to figure out what color to get for the lining. Need something that will complement the color of the box and not blend in or be too dark. Anyway, it is fun to look at what is available out there; wish I had more local sources of leather and cloth to choose from, though.

 

Holly

[KCat]

well, even if I can't tell the difference between stained and not, it's purdy.

 

I really love the drawer pull, too. Have no use for something like that but can picture it in my dream house. Granted, it would look mighty funny because my dream house is an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere the Texas Hill Country. :roflmho: