Pen Stands

[Manalto]

...at some point I really should set up a camera and try to make a video of the whole thing. More or less just for giggles.

 

You should. Use pine for the projectile segment though; you don't want to waste good cherry.

 

I'm staying tuned for your future projects. Thanks for sharing the process and illustrating it so clearly. It's really interesting.

[MrThoth]

Several of these fine stands were awaiting me when I returned from DC:

 

 

[Komitadjie]

Those are some darn fine-looking pens there!

[Komitadjie]

And here's the latest idea that I've been tossing around with one of the members over on the Facebook group:

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/11924601_858680780893844_1786633412_o_zps2mbwpjht.jpg

[Chouffleur]

Right now I'm keeping my pens in felt-lined drink glasses (about 4" high). As I use each pen and return it to the glass I rotate it clockwise one pen. This pseudo-cog-wheel arrangement is the only way I could think of to keep every inked pen in use. I will occasionally select a pen out of turn for either its color or its writing qualities when I have a larger-than-a-grocery-list writing task.

 

I'll probably wind up with a carousel-like pen stand with the caps leaning out not in. I don't regard a pen stand as a display device but rather as a tool presenter - something like a stand-bag for walking golfers.

[alc3261]

And here's the latest idea that I've been tossing around with one of the members over on the Facebook group:

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/11924601_858680780893844_1786633412_o_zps2mbwpjht.jpg

Very nice, I'll take one!!

[Manalto]

I don't regard a pen stand as a display device but rather as a tool presenter - something like a stand-bag for walking golfers.

 

Same here - a little more secure than tucking it behind one's ear.

[Komitadjie]

I actually use mine the same way, although I use a flat surface at the moment. I have a piece of green felt on my desk at work, and my pens lay on that. I think this flat design will be worked up into a base-with-three-holders design for my own use at work. I have been playing with prototypes for multi-pen stands, mostly in the form of arrays of single holders on a solid base.

 

How many pens would you guys like to see in a single holder? Three? Four? Twenty? And how? all in a line? A circular array? An arc? The base is most likely going to be CNC cut, so I can make it most any shape at all.

[alc3261]

An arc would be good, 5 would be nice.

[Manalto]

I submit my vote for an arc because of its stability and pleasing shape. I also like multiples in odd numbers: 1, 3 and 5 visually; more than that doesn't matter if it's odd or even. (In other words, a pair of two or cluster of four stands would look awkward to me.)

 

What is CNC cut? (I'm assuming Computer X X)

Edited August 19, 2015 by Manalto

[Komitadjie]

And, as a followup, how large an arc should I fan them through? As in, how large of an arc would you like to see the stands spaced along? A 180-degree arc? 90? Or, could go with something simple and make it a 100-degree arc, with a pen stand at every 20 degrees radial from a centerline...

 

"CNC" stands for "Computer Numeric Control", which is to say it's a computer-driven cutting machine that I program, then watch it make the cuts in the material. I haven't been employing it on the stands so far, because it hasn't been needed, largely. It's also slower than using a band saw for cutting things this thick. I will most likely use it for the holder base, though, because it gives me a lot more shape options. It also lets me do a good deal of embellishment to the surface, should I so choose, or even personalization with names, specific graphics, etc.

 

The CNC is how I made both the pen box, and the ink stand that are up in my Etsy.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Komitadjie

[Manalto]

If the arc becomes too deep then it's impractical to reach for a pen, as the risk of bumping one of its neighbors increases. 100 degrees with five pens at 20-degree intervals sounds positively Classical Greek to me. Sounds like a job for The Laminator.

 

I'll have to check out your Etsy offerings!

[Komitadjie]

Mostly I've kept the CNC work on my Etsy stuff to a minimum, largely because the amount of embellishment and its exact design is very much a personal taste. I tend to do that kind of work more on a one-off or custom basis, since a plain object will be of interest to more people than one with an odd carving on it that they don't like.

 

The CNC lets me do things like this, from a friend's Etsy shop logo, this was a JPG to start with:

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150811_205735_zpsxzjsrx8n.jpg

 

 

 

Or entirely new designs, like this one for my best friend from the university. It's a tile for the Settlers of Catan board game.

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150809_093645_zpsitrggoho.jpg

Edited August 19, 2015 by Komitadjie

[Komitadjie]

It also lets me make a lot of fun signs! Some of them I'll paint in the letters, some I leave plain, and some my wife really works over!

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150808_125303_zpskoibrxrm.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150731_122517_zpszhp4ix9f.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150726_215304_zps7i8pm8qj.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150818_211446_zpskg0w0roc.jpg

[Manalto]

Interesting possibilities, Dan. Is it possible to do 3D bas relief by this method?

[Komitadjie]

That it is. I can convert a grayscale image into a heightmap, with either darker or lighter being a deeper cut, and use a ball-nose mill to cut that into a surface.

[Komitadjie]

It's not finished yet, but here is the first version of the horizontal pen stand. I made this one in walnut, out of a scrap from building some of the previous stands. I like this design from a manufacturing standpoint, it is very materials-efficient. The pen, again, is my standard shirt-pocket TWSBI 580 (and Herbin 'Orange Indien') for scale. I'll post another photo later this afternoon; these were taken right before, then right after the first coat of finish went on, so they look rather terrible, surface-finish wise. That second and third coat really improve matters a lot.

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150819_204154_zpscbctapqn.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150819_181145_zpszopqzsbm.jpg

[alc3261]

Nice!!

[Komitadjie]

And here it is all finished up and ready to ship off to the commissioner! I'll probably be making a few more of these this weekend, I like the overall look. Upgraded my photo background as well.

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150820_162809_zpsbbxrnw8r.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150820_164225_zpsnmkb6bzj.jpg

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150820_164242_zpsi9n1aedk.jpg

[Komitadjie]

Man, been rolling through those! Just put another twelve onto the drying rack with their second coat of poly, the first batch of nine went away fast.

 

 

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p603/Komitadjie/IMG_20150821_175355_zpsmuvzvn5o.jpg

Edited August 22, 2015 by Komitadjie