Pen Chest For Someone With A Lot Of Pens

[themidnightmiss]

Oh my gosh! I am overwhelmed! Between this post and the one mentioned from 1/16, now I'm brimming over with ideas for pen chests! Thank you all!

[OakIris]

My goodness, there are some lovely cabinets and chests displayed in this thread. Most are way overkill for my needs but very nice to see what other people are using.

 

I popped into our local cinema in Walton last week (Les Mis!) and noticed that the front counter was actually a superb 45 draw collectors cabinet.

 

A real waste of a piece of quality furniture, and I did wonder if I could sneak it out under my coat whilst everyone still had the kleenex to their eyes, but at 4' x 4' x18" this was a none starter.

 

Joking aside, these collectors cabinets are great for pen storage, just fit a suitable lining.

 

Or if the antique look (and cost) is not to your taste, Artists who use pastel crayon purchase narrow 3 or 5 draw storage units. These are also an ideal size for holding pens.

 

see here for an example:

 

http://www.greatart.co.uk/EMPTYWOODENPASTELBOXES-pastel-boxes.htm

 

I have one that is lined with trays from GoPens

Currently I am using a cigar box modified by BamaPens to store my fountain pens - my collection is pretty small - but

I really like the idea of using the wooden pastel cases with drawers and the addition of the pen trays from Go Pens. I was able to find a place with similar boxes for sale here in the USA so I have added it to my wishlist. The collector's cabinet you saw at the movie theater would be ideal, but the pastel boxes are both much less expensive and more available, so thank you for the idea, northlodge.

 

Did some searching on Amazon.com and found the exact Gerstner tool chest that you have your eye

 

Gersnter 8 drawer tool chest

 

You can buy tool box organizer foam sheets, cut them out for each drawer, and save yourself couple hundred dollars.

Beware of imitations! The chest in your link is not made by Gerstner, but by a company called Windsor, possibly a Chinese company like most of the manufacturers from whom Harbor Freight buys their tools, etc. Some people have had great luck with them, but when I saw the floor sample at my local Harbor Freight I was completely turned off by it - it had been much abused and its cheap manufacture was made very apparent. If you use it gently, though, it will work admirably, but I decided to go for the original. I was looking for a tool chest for my fountain pen repair/maintenance tools and ended up getting a vintage Gerstner tool chest from the 1940's - I love it and wish I had room and $$$ to buy another one for pen storage. (No worries here about having to match the chest to my very eclectic, definitely not-anything-like Queen Anne decor!)

 

Here is a Grizzly chest of drawers that I think would work, too, if you don't have hundreds of pen; this photo is from the listing for the Grizzly H7994 8 Drawer Storage Cabinet on Amazon:

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cYUvsFhnL._AA300_.jpg

 

I hope you are able to find the storage chest that is ideal for you, themidnightmiss; there are so many choices there is bound to be something that suits you.

 

Holly

[leofoam]

I really like the 8 drawer box, I dont have the funds for it right now, but I see this in my future.

[azbobcat]

If you are are on the frugal side... if you go down to Walmart they have these translucent chests some with both deep and shallow draws. You could outfit the shallow draws for your pens and the deep drawers for your your ink. I have found them to be multi-purpose. My first set were to consolidate my never ending spare parts for my computers, the second set for more computer parts, the third was for bills, books, cards, etc. The fourth stereo, cables, etc., and I just took over one of the shallow drawers for ink, a deep drawer for camera gear, etc. They can be had for between $15-$25

[Paul-in-SF]

If were talking economical and compact storage, this is what I use for all my not-fat pens -- i.e. if the pen fits comfortably into the pen trays that you can get from gopens.com, then they will fit comfortably in these drawers. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GH8Y7SF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are five sections in every drawer, created by little wooden dividers that probably can't be removed. By careful and judicious trimming I can fit 5 gopens pen slots in the larger sections and 2 slots in the small center section. That's 22 pens per drawer, times 6 drawers, is (let's see, carry the 1...) 132 pens, in a space that is 15-3/4" wide, 10" deep and 6-1/2" tall. An excellent use of desk space.

 

Some other pros (for me) -- it is all drawers and doesn't have a lifting lid, so that I can put other stuff, including a 2nd set of drawers, on top of it without losing function. Also, due to construction, it doesn't seem to suffer from having stuff on top that sits on the outside structure. Also, the drawers can easily be pulled all the way out and easily put back in.

 

You can also store fat pens in these drawers but you need different trays, and you don't get nearly so many in a drawer (I haven't done that because I have enough skinny pens to fill this). I found some jewelry trays that were wider than they needed to be, and all the pens I tried in there fit within the drawer, although you might need to make sure the clip is facing sideways and not up. My biggest pen (Platinum Izumo Tagayasan) is over 18 mm wide, and it fits fine. They also make a 3-drawer version with 2 shallow drawers like these, plus one deep drawer without dividers. I just discovered that while I was looking around, I may have to buy one.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Paul-in-SF