Recommendations for fountain pen storage?

[Scribbles]

Does anyone here have any recommendations for storing a small number of FPs (say 6-10). I'm looking for something that will protect the FPs and still leave them accesible.

 

I have seen the pen cups and cases sold online a Levingers and I like some of them. The pen easel looks the most interesting.

 

http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PROD...d=2414|Link=Img

 

I'm wondering what people use to protect and display their pens? I'm also looking for a good way to keep my daily use pens accessible without throwing them in a regular cup or a close by desk drawer.

 

One more thing... is it better to store the pens vertically or horizontally or does it matter at all?

 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[fjf]

I use two of those ice cubes trays from ikea:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...c=13911&hl=ikea

[Scribbles]

*sigh* It looks like I may have posted this to the wrong group by mistake... Its more likely this fits into General Pen Topics -> Paper and Pen Paraphernalia since this is a request for information and not an article. Sorry about that.

 

If any of the moderators agree I made a mistake please move the post :-) Thanks.

[*david*]

If you have certain pens (maybe old ones) that have problems with drying out when not used for a while, you may want to experiment to see which way is best to store them. But for the majority of pens, it just doesn't matter. Rinse out and clean any pen that you know will not be used for a period of weeks, and leave it without ink until you use it again.

Some of this lore of storing pens in a certain direction comes from extremely ancient designs of pen that would cause serious problems if carried wrong. (And if you have one of those, you certainly already know it.)

[sonia_simone]

I use a simple felt pen wrap that I bought from Pendemonium, probably many other stores carry something very similar. It won't protect a pen from a real crunch, but it does protect nicely from scratches or minor jostling. I like it because it doesn't really weigh anything and it would be hard for a pen to fall out of there. I keep it in my briefcase, so my pens ride to work with me in the morning and home at night. And then it lives in my home office over the weekend.

[a11en]

Aside from the proper storage of items that might degrade over time... for my pens I use the now cheaper 10-pen case from Levenger. I can easily see surpassing it's capacity, but I love it for it's presentation and ease of getting the pens in and out at a moment's notice.

 

10-pen Museum Case

 

-Allen

[Scribbles]

  a11en said:

Aside from the proper storage of items that might degrade over time... for my pens I use the now cheaper 10-pen case from Levenger.  I can easily see surpassing it's capacity, but I love it for it's presentation and ease of getting the pens in and out at a moment's notice.

 

10-pen Museum Case

 

-Allen

Its good to know that the pens are easily accesible from the holder you mentioned. One of the reasons I passed on it initially is that it looks like its hard to get into from the picture. The price for capacity is certainly right. I looked at the item in more detail and from the additional pictures I see that the middle section lifts out pretty easily. How is the fit for the pens? Do they move around much when you lift the top?

 

You've given me another item to think about for sure. Thanks for getting me to take a second look at this one.

[dwmatteson]

I have one of the Levenger pen easels, and I like it. The only problems I have with it are with my Conklin Ohios and my Sensa Meridians.

 

The Conklins have a pretty healthy circumference, so they are a snug fit in each slot. The Sensas' barrel circumference is too large for the slots, so they sit "on top" of wooden lip, with the smaller "posting" area fitting into the slot properly. (Sorry for the hazy description, but I'm having a little trouble describing how they fit.)

 

Otherwise, it's excellent. It's easy to access pens when I want to, and it works beautifully for smaller-circumference pens.

 

I should probably also mention that shorter pens (e.g., my Esterbrook dollar pens and SJs) don't take up much of the window space, so the easel looks a little sparse. I'll see if I can take a reasonable picture to illustrate what I'm talking about. (Mumble mumble new camera mumble macro mode mumble....)

 

Don M.

[Scribbles]

  dwmatteson said:

I have one of the Levenger pen easels, and I like it. The only problems I have with it are with my Conklin Ohios and my Sensa Meridians.

 

The Conklins have a pretty healthy circumference, so they are a snug fit in each slot. The Sensas' barrel circumference is too large for the slots, so they sit "on top" of wooden lip, with the smaller "posting" area fitting into the slot properly. (Sorry for the hazy description, but I'm having a little trouble describing how they fit.)

 

Otherwise, it's excellent. It's easy to access pens when I want to, and it works beautifully for smaller-circumference pens.

 

I should probably also mention that shorter pens (e.g., my Esterbrook dollar pens and SJs) don't take up much of the window space, so the easel looks a little sparse. I'll see if I can take a reasonable picture to illustrate what I'm talking about. (Mumble mumble new camera mumble macro mode mumble....)

 

Don M.

Good to know you are happy with it. Also good to know the limitations on the design. I don't think the circumference will be an issue with any of my current pens or any of the pens I plan to get soon. Do you own a Pelikan M200 or M400 to compare. Thats the only pen I don't have a clear handle on the circumference of .. though I am reasonably certain its not overly big I have not seen one in person yet.

 

I'll have to look up the measurements. Thanks for the information.

[dwmatteson]

Here are a few photos of the pen easel. The Pelikan M200 fits very nicely into the slots.

 

This is a photo of the pen easel closed with a few Esterbrooks, my two Conklin Ohios, and my three Sensa Meridians.

[dwmatteson]

Here's a picture of the easel open, looking down the pen barrels into the slots themselves.

 

I've pulled out the Noir and Gold Sensa on the left a little bit so you can see the difference between the barrel and the posting area. The Crystal Sensa is in as far as it'll go. The barrel rests on the wooden lip.

 

The sandstone and cardinal red Ohios are snug against the wood.

 

The little blue Esterbrook dollar pen (thanks Dennis!) is sitting happily in its slot with some room to spare.

[dwmatteson]

Finally, here's the easel open and displaying a few pens.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Don M.

[Scribbles]

  dwmatteson said:

Here are a few photos of the pen easel. The Pelikan M200 fits very nicely into the slots.

Good to know the next pen on my list will fit

 

Thanks so much for posting detailed pictures and for relaying your first hand experiences with the easel.

[Samovar]

A friend of mine made a pen rack out of solid oak with 11 holes. It's his first prototype and I love it. It's heavy and quite useful.

 

Please tell me what you think about it, we want to improve the rack and make it really pretty.

 

We are trying to find a place to do woodwork since we don't own our own equipment.

 

We are also planning to make a batch with a nicer finish and try to sell them so we can afford a few pint of Guinness. It's so fun to be PhD students with Mc Jobs

 

Waiting for your feedback

 

Samovar

[Blade Runner]

I use this pen case for all the inked pens in my rotation.

Keeps pens upright, separated from one another, and it's very easy to move them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/jelb/IMG_3317.jpg

It's a Levengers product, no longer made, but occasionally seen on ebay.

[Scribbles]

  Samovar said:

A friend of mine made a pen rack out of solid oak with 11 holes.  It's his first prototype and I love it. It's heavy and quite useful.

 

Please tell me what you think about it, we want to improve the rack and make it really pretty.

 

We are trying to find a place to do woodwork since we don't own our own equipment.

 

We are also planning to make a batch with a nicer finish and try to sell them so we can afford a few pint of Guinness.  It's so fun to be PhD students with Mc Jobs 

 

Waiting for your feedback

 

Samovar

Looks really cool to me. Seems like a really cool way to combine two hobbies/vocations.

 

Would it be possible to get a second picture from above? I'd like to see how the pen holes are distributed. Spacing the pens so they can be grabbed easily would be the only real issue for me. I have reasonably big hands. (It may be that they are spaced well... i also have a poor sense of scale).

 

The oak might even match my desk with a light stain

 

One idea might be to brand in initials for people to customize them. Alternately you could add a brass plate and monogram it ... for an extra charge of course

 

Not sure if you are into wood burning or engraving as well. Maybe you have another friend in need of some Guiness .

 

You could also line the bottom holes with felt.

 

Hmm.. how about a matching inkwell holder?

 

The design looks really solid and well built. Most of my suggestions are window dressing but I do hope they are useful and spark other bits of creativity. Nice work.

[Samovar]

Scribbles,

I'm away from my webcam, but I'll post a pic tomorrow. I have pretty big hands and the placement is not bad at all, the only problem with this prototype is the size of the holes, my 27$ Danitrio doesn't fit. We also wanted to line the inside of the holes with something to protect the finish of the pen and the bottom holes too, felt would be really good.

 

Thank you, good suggestions. It's a work in progress and we are accepting all suggestions.

 

How about a Noodlers rack? What was your idea about a inkwell?

I'm not the wood specialist, so I'll forward the suggestions to my buddy.

He got himself a 27$ Danitrio and I think he's a new FP addict, hey, we will convert them one at a time

 

Samovar

[Scribbles]

  Samovar said:

How about a Noodlers rack?  What was your idea about a inkwell? 

I'm not the wood specialist, so I'll forward the suggestions to my buddy.

He got himself a 27$ Danitrio and I think he's a new FP addict, hey, we will convert them one at a time

I guess I was thinking of a wooden stand that you could fit either an old style school inkwell in or (better) an old ink bottle to use as an inkwell. Its not as useful with a fountain pen as it is with a dip pen but it does look nice.

[jd50ae]

If you are ia a storm prone area like I am you may want to consider an underground steel bunker.

[Chris]

Having seen some of the great ideas here, I wish I still had access to the old wooden test-tube racks from my chemistry classes!

 

Chris