How Do You Organize Your Pens?

[gregamckinney]

When I started collecting in the mid-90's, I had one 12"x16" slotted display tray in a desk drawer.

When my collection outgrew that, I added one of the 60-pen, 5-drawer desktop cases, then another.

I replaced those with one of the Homedecorators.com map chests.

At that point, I had storage for about 500 pens, and assumed I was done "upgrading" my storage.

 

Silly collector, of course you're not done...

 

I found an old surplus blueprint cabinet via ebay, and managed to truck it home and upstairs (nearly killed myself doing that, but I was COMMITTED to using that cabinet.)

My wife and I call it "The Monolith."

 

I've moved twice since then, and thank goodness it was professional movers who had the pleasure of lugging it around.

 

I have plenty of room for my collection and much more, though my wife and I joke (I _think_ she's joking) that if I outgrow The Monolith, I had better be able to live in it.)

 

Need to put some time into getting the drawers properly aligned/organized, but here are a couple work-in-progress views:

 

http://www.gergyor.com/images/the-monolith_sm.jpg

http://www.gergyor.com/images/esterbrook-drawer.jpg

 

I segregate by brand. Brands I don't have as much of can be combined into a single drawer like LeBoeuf and Wahl-Eversharp.

Pens I have more of get more space. I have two drawers for Waterman and 1.5 drawers for Esterbrook and Parker.

 

I haven't sorted out the "keeping track" part yet. I've tried the FPDB and excel lists. I suspect I will build a simple php+MySql form and stor eventually.

 

Regards, greg

[floydee1]

I use the Filemaker db from this forum for my meagre collection (in comparison to others).

 

However as I tend to have about 8 pens inked at any one time my main issue is catalogging what ink is in what pen. I notice among the posters here, that its not that common to note the ink in which pen especially if you got similar colors.

 

But then again I'm just a bad organiser anyway...

 

F

[penguinmaster]

I use two Levenger Circa drawer units. Each drawer holds 12 pens and there are 3 drawers to a unit. They have pen trays from Gary Lehrer in each drawer.

 

I figure that limits my collection to 72 pens, something I'm a far cry from, but slowly working up too.

 

Before that it was cigar boxes (CAO Criollo drawer boxes). The Levenger boxes provide such a nice solution though I don't think I'll change any time soon.

 

-Tom

[FLJeepGuy]

stuff... and pics...

 

stuff... and pics...

 

Holy cow! Those are extremely impressive!

 

gregamckinney: I used to work for an engineering and architectural firm and the thought never hit me to grab one of those cabinets for home use. Just thinking of the number of pens that thing can hold boggles the mind.

 

ANM: Very nice set of Gerstners there. I wish I could afford the Gerstner USA chests, but at least the Internationals are in my price range. Having looked closely at both lines, the USA chests are much more desirable, especially those with some history.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

If I grab the wrong one, and I don't notice that it's the wrong one, then I end up writing in a color other than the one I'd intended to write in.

[Albertine]

I've really enjoyed seeing the other pictures in this thread, so I'm adding one of my collection thus far...

Edited March 23, 2011 by Albertine

[jonveley]

What keeps them standing and not falling forward to the floor?

 

These are 1X2s mounted to the wall and faced with moulding. Pen trays are cut to size and rest on the boards, with a piece of 1" electrical conduit (from any hardware store) laying behind it to keep the trays angled out at the bottom just enough so that all the little soldiers stand at attention but angled back just enough.

[raigne]

After reading this thread, I feel like a heathen. One's downstairs on the coffee table (waiting to be cleaned out), the one I'm currently using is in a pen loop in the pocket of my backpack (which is tossed on the floor by the aforementioned table), and the rest are mixed in with the detritus in the top drawer of my desk (regardless of how much or little was spent on them).

 

The only one I can identify the date of purchase on with any certainty is the Estie I bought this weekend as the Guinea pig for my first whack at restoration. The same goes for exact amount spent, though I could tell you roughly how much each is worth. I don't plan on selling any of them, so I never thought to record it.

[CatBookMom]

Currently, I place one to the left of the other. When I get tired of that, I'll pick it up and put it on the right side of the other one. They are both in front of me on a little shelf on my desk.

 

Of course, if I stay here any longer - I've only been on FPN for four days - I'm sure the situation is going to radically change. And it isn't going to be heading in the "simpler" direction... http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/emotes/eyebrow.gif

 

 

[jury]

I organized mine on a wall. 2 shelves Eversharp, 1 Parker and Waterman, 1 Sheaffer, then the rest alphabetized by manufacturer:

 

WOW! That wall is impressive...how do you stay in the room without being mesmerized? Thanks for letting us see this...

[searcher18]

Has anyone organized their pens based on technology and functionality rather than brand. Fountain pens have changed as technology has evolved and it seems that vintage pens of different brands have more in common with each other than the modern version of the same brand.Vintage pens with flex nibs have more in common with each other than newer pens with stiff nibs. Perhaps it would be better to keep eye droppers together rather than with cartridge containing fountain pens. We group animals based on their evolutionary similarities, why not pens? Pens are a result of an evolutionary process.

[bigmac53]

I'm currently waiting on 2 pens in the mail, bringing me up to 5 total, (4 FP's and 1 RB). I'm planning on converting a cigar box into a pen box, and thats where they'll be for a while!

 

There sure are some really cool storage "facilities" in this thread, it was a lot of fun to see how you all do it, especially the people with the large collections.

[sexauerw]

What keeps them standing and not falling forward to the floor?

 

These are 1X2s mounted to the wall and faced with moulding. Pen trays are cut to size and rest on the boards, with a piece of 1" electrical conduit (from any hardware store) laying behind it to keep the trays angled out at the bottom just enough so that all the little soldiers stand at attention but angled back just enough.

 

I assume you do NOT live in earthquake country, as some of us do.

[waterman1924]

I organized mine on a wall. 2 shelves Eversharp, 1 Parker and Waterman, 1 Sheaffer, then the rest alphabetized by manufacturer:

 

http://www.jonathanveley.com/images/stories/pencils/p1010724.jpg

 

Then I used content management software (CMS) with my web page and created the mechanical pencil museum, half as a resource to others and half to keep things straight in my own mind.

 

Old printers cabinets are great, too. With the dividers removed, what doesn't fit on the wall fits neatly in there.

[ANM]

stuff... and pics...

 

stuff... and pics...

 

Holy cow! Those are extremely impressive!

 

gregamckinney: I used to work for an engineering and architectural firm and the thought never hit me to grab one of those cabinets for home use. Just thinking of the number of pens that thing can hold boggles the mind.

 

ANM: Very nice set of Gerstners there. I wish I could afford the Gerstner USA chests, but at least the Internationals are in my price range. Having looked closely at both lines, the USA chests are much more desirable, especially those with some history.

 

I had not been aware that Gerstner had an international line. I was wondering what was up with the link you provided. Thanks for the info. I may look into that. I will need another one.. or maybe a base or two. It is good to know about options.

[alvarez57]

I organized mine on a wall. 2 shelves Eversharp, 1 Parker and Waterman, 1 Sheaffer, then the rest alphabetized by manufacturer:

 

http://www.jonathanveley.com/images/stories/pencils/p1010724.jpg

 

Then I used content management software (CMS) with my web page and created the mechanical pencil museum, half as a resource to others and half to keep things straight in my own mind.

 

Old printers cabinets are great, too. With the dividers removed, what doesn't fit on the wall fits neatly in there.

 

*then faints*

[alvarez57]

And I thought that 60 was way too much........

[FLJeepGuy]

stuff... and pics...

 

stuff... and pics...

 

Holy cow! Those are extremely impressive!

 

gregamckinney: I used to work for an engineering and architectural firm and the thought never hit me to grab one of those cabinets for home use. Just thinking of the number of pens that thing can hold boggles the mind.

 

ANM: Very nice set of Gerstners there. I wish I could afford the Gerstner USA chests, but at least the Internationals are in my price range. Having looked closely at both lines, the USA chests are much more desirable, especially those with some history.

 

I had not been aware that Gerstner had an international line. I was wondering what was up with the link you provided. Thanks for the info. I may look into that. I will need another one.. or maybe a base or two. It is good to know about options.

 

If you check out the Gerstner International About Us page, they explain all the differences between the USA vs International lines. Basically, they wanted an entry level line with entry level prices to bring more folks into the Gerstner family. The cases are less hand made and not made here in the US, but come from the same designs (and a few new drawer layouts). Cost wise, I was able to get my top and base for a combined price of $450 or so including shipping, where the top alone in the USA line would have been about $1,000 to $1,500 depending on finish and drawer layout. That put their USA line out of my price range as a pen case. Gerstner provides the same lifetime warranty and club eligibility for both lines, so they will definitely stand behind the products.

[toomanypelikans]

18 Pens with 8 in rotation at a time, I built a database in Filemaker to track purchase of pen & ink, propose next pen/ink combinations and manage the pen rotation. In rotation pens are stored either in a pen roll or in my two Rhodia pen holders, out of rotation pens are stored in pen boxes.

[Horseknitter]

I use 2 single display cases for my nicest writers, one with my pens from Asia and the other my European and USA counterparts. Cigar boxes hold my lesser pens. Additionally, I have some seasonal pens (Pelikan's Indian Summer) and special use pens that remain in their individual boxes. I believe my exploration is pretty much complete and may start a minor sell off to condense.

 

I track all of them in the Fountain Pen Inventory by Jim Rosen available here on site.

 

Additionally, I'm keeping an ink journal of that collection but that's another story and post.