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I have been wanting a pen storage case for some time now. My pens are all over, some in drawers, some on my desk, and some still in their boxes.

Nothing I have seen has jumped out at me and said take me home. I did see a case made out of a Cigar Box and since I have a number of them I decided that was the way to go.

Here is a Step-by-Step with pictures on how my case came together.

The pen trays were ordered from gopens.com, there are 6 colors available, I choose the Gray.

Here is the box I decided to use. I chose this one because I wanted 2 trays. The size is 11 1/2"x8"x2"



Here is a pic of the inside of the box



Here is a pic of the grey trays



I needed something to support the top tray. These paint stirrers for Ace Hardware fit the bill. They were also free. They are 1" wide so I cut them down to 3/4" with an Exacto knife. I doubled up on the side ones to give it some more depth



The box with the side supports



After cutting the bottom tray to fit, this is how it turned out.



I used a piece of fiberboard cut a bit smaller than the inside dimensions to make the base for the top tray



Here is how it looked in the box



I cut another gray tray and glued it to the fiberboard, and added some tabs to the sides so I can remove the tray when I need to get to the bottom tray.



Here is a look of the top tray in the box



Bottom tray with pens



Top tray with pens



Top tray in box.



The whole project took all of 2 hours tops. I like the fact that all my pens are together and I was able to use one of my own cigar boxes. This case holds 28 pens, as my collections grows, I will just make another

Any questions or comments are welcome.

What a great idea. To be able to use one collectable to display another really personalizes your collection. And a nice collection it is.
Dan

That is neat!

I've been wanting a decent case for my nicer pens, and the specialty pen cases are just a little expensive. And every time I've wanted to get one, I ended up getting a pen instead!

VERY NICE!!

Nice job! I remember the thread in which you asked what colour pen trays to order. The grey background shows off your pens nicely (as I suspected ).

Last week, I got a free cigar box from a pen store that also sells fine cigars and am planning to convert it to a pen box, too. It's not as nice as the thick wooden cigar box you have and it's smaller, but I think it may be able to accomodate two layers of pens.

That looks really great! By the way, where can those trays be ordered?

Edit: Woops! Just read where they can...

Thanks all for the nice compliments.

Maja- I am glad I took your suggestion on the gray tray. I really does show off the pens nicely. Thanks again.

HyperCamper - The trays came from gopens.com They come in 6 colors, 12"x16" that are just cut with a scissors.



Bob

What a great idea - thanks for sharing! Now I have a use for my grandfather's cigar box.

Thanks!

Nicely done! And thanks for the detailed step-by-step. Hmm, I just might give this a try.

Very nice! Thanks for the pictorial how-to (which will come in handy once I find a cigar smoker with extra boxes, lol).

I have bookmarked this thread and am keeping it for future reference.

I realise that I have a beautiful wooden box of almost the same dimensions which started life as a storage box for 35mm slides.

I have transferred the slides to another spare (plastic) slide box and removed the fittings from the original, leaving myself with a polished wooden box with a red velveteen bas just ready for fitting out.

I will let you know when I've done it.

Well, I got started anyway by putting the pens lying around my desk in a cigar box, wrapped up any old how in crumpled linen nib wipes.

Will check out gopens.

Ingenious!

I really appreciate your cigar case, because of it is YOUR work, because of it a good recycling idea, and because pen cases cost a lot!!
My next pen case must be made by myself.
maybe with decoupage of my gf.

What a beautiful pen case!

Judybug

Again,

this stuff is why FPN is so great!!!

Very nice pen case.

Thanks for sharing,

rusty

Very Well done. Do allow me to say something Please.
Bewared the last time i did that with this ciga boxes, MY gold pen tarnish... I think is due to the Cige smell boxes.
Hope yours is Ok. BTW How to get the grey tray?????

Pure gold is chemically quite inert, so should not tarnish/oxidize/corrode at all, in 18K form it should still be relatively inert, 14K less so. If you had a problem from the remnants of a cigar box I would guess the gold is probably not that great quality (alloyed with cheaper metals).

I have a box on order to try and emulate this case. As Bob mentioned, his trays came from gopens.com

Anybody know if similar trays can be purchased in the UK?

Here is another one from Richard Binder's site
Cigar Box Pen Storage Case

I managed to find two of these cigar boxes and am waiting for the tray inserts...

Trays came from gopens.com

GoPens.com

Here's my project.

I got this box many many moons ago in my former career as a Tobacconist. It's been languishing around here forever just waiting to be used/converted. It's pretty rough right now & has some fairly deep scratches on the to upper right side of the lid. But those should sand out with no problem at all.



FWIW, The big green monster on the end is an Sr. Sheaffer Flat top. This is a BIG box...lol.






The inner dimensions are 20 1/4" x 7 3/4" X 5" deep. I expect it to have 3 layers of pens & hold close to 80 pens if not more. Inhaven't decided if I want to cut out the lid & install a pane of glass yet, I think I might end up in that direction though.
I've got some of Gary's beige 16 X 12 pen trays in bound now. I can't wait to get started on this.

This is going to be an awesome case when it's finished.

More pics to fllow when when i'm finished with it.
Dennis

Hey Dennis!

I'm no good with wood-working, but if you're tricksy you could set the glass in a bit, allowing the logo of the box to sit back into place if desired. Might be fun- but then again, it might be too much work to achieve it. Of course, you'd have to stash the top when not in use.

Great box, BTW! Wish pipe-tobacco came in nice cedar boxes...

I do have an old box from my great-grandfather. Very very cool.

Cheers!
-Allen

Hey guys,
what about using decoupage boxes? My gf had this idea some time ago, now I have found some pen trays 182mmx252mm and a decoupage wooden box of 200mmx300mm (1x1) and others up to double dimensions (2x2).
I was thinking about using real decoupage on that boxes but with a "male" graphic or engraving them or using pyrograph or simply painting it or to polish them with a special paint for wood.

there are a lot of possibility with decoupage boxes and because you do the decorations, you can avoid to paint the inside if it can damage the pens.

As attached file there is the best box I had found in an online store in USA.

Got some cigar boxes from Ebay--got some of the trays from GoPens--all set for my weekend project! Thanks for the inspiration.

I've joined this bandwagon too - what a great project these DIY boxes are!

I've ordered my pen display trays (beige and black), and I have some nice cork matting (1mm thick) set aside, which I can use to line the inside of each box for protection against scratches..

I've been getting boxes like the one below from my local tobacco store for AU$5 each. They have other boxes, but at this moment I'm focusing on these nice Torano ones. Each one of these boxes will hold about 8 pens.
(I'm not using the included 5-piece divider, as it's a little awkward.)

If you can get it, Carlos Torano makes much larger 2-level boxes that are just awesome. I picked up a stack of these and made them into pen boxes. They have 2 divided trays that have ten cigar-spots each. I take out the wooden dividers in the trays and put in a go-pens liner - the result is a double-level box that holds 34 pens.

Monday I went by my favorite cigar-box stop and they had a stack of these, including the really oversize Churchill Box. One of the trays in the Churchill can be converted to hold 24 pens alone.

Here is a picture of one I used with the slots intact. They also make great holders for pens under repair - all the parts can go in one slot.



I will try to post pics of some of the finished products this weekend.

For a single-layer box, these Olivaros boxes work really nicely. The only problem is that they are a little wider than 6", so you can't get two sets of slots out of a 12" wide sheet from GoPens.




I will try to post pics of some of the finished products this weekend.

John

Hi John,

How do you keep the pens from flying around the box, the idea is very cool, but how to secure them from moving aroung too much? My tobacconist is great, let's me have any box I choose.

Also, checked out gopen, 55 bucks for 10 trays, am I hallucinating or simply can't read?

Dan

This is a "before" picture. The "after" picture with the Go-Pens trays is still in my camera. I will try to get them uploaded this weekend.

Yes, Go-Pens trays are not cheap, but they are 12 x 18, so you can get a lot of milage out of one tray.

John

I bought only three trays, and though I love the large boxes (especially the Oliveros), I'd use up the trays too fast, and postage is expensive to AU. :/

I'm sticking to themes with the small Torano's - one for my Omas’, one for my Esterbrooks etc.

I'm going to another store today, hope I find good pickings!

I've gone the amazingly lazy person's route with this--I'm using some soft foam cigar box liners (they have cigar-shaped slots) to hold the pens on my desk. Ugly but wonderfully useful!

Somehow I can't find the box they came in, that would help with the ugly problem.

Check out this very cool box, no affiliation to the seller. Will skip on the bid this time.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HINGED-WOOD-CIGAR-BOX-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thought you may be interested.

Dan

Thanks for the excellent idea. I've got a bunch of gray plastic trays that I bought off of EBay and didn't like them when they got here--they're rather ugly.

Not having a cigar box I'm going looking at my local Hobby Lobby where they have a lot of wood boxes.

Thanks again!

Have you tried asking around at tobacco stores?

Pre-FP fascination, I'd managed to accumulate a dozen just for the hopes of keeping pencils/markers/etc.. someplace other than the floor.

The last batch managed to find me with more wooden cigar boxes than things to store in them. I don't live too far from this place http://www.thebriary.com and they couldn't figure out why I was elated when I got to see stacks and stacks of the type of things they had 'in the back..'.

and even more elated at the fact that they ended up giving them to me for less than $2 a box (for the wooden ones.. )

Usually the rule is that if you buy the last cigar you get the box. At my local pipe-shop there's an amazing humidor box with very expensive cigars inside that has about 4 people waiting for it. (And a doctor laughing saying he's about to snap it up before the other 3 get to it.) Of course that type of box you want to use for a Humidor, not a pen-case.

It's definitely worth an ask, but often the boxes are given to the purchasers when they're empty. Good idea as well... I love my pipe-shop. The owner once introduced himself at a bar to my GF as: "Allen's Tobaccanist." I guess I have a Tobaccanist.

Wonderful idea for a pen-case, guys. Love cigar boxes, and the cedar/tobacco smell is just wonderful.

Cheers!
-Allen

What a great idea...maybe you should start production of your cigar pen boxes and put me down as your first paying customer...

Here is a picture of my finished 34 pen Carlos Torano box. Not a very artsy photo, but you get the idea.



And my entire collection, now housed in 4 boxes (not counting pens that are incomplete or soon to be for sale).



John

Hi all. This is a shameless plug... after seeing this, I decided to offer an accumulation of wood cigar boxes I amassed about 12 years ago... out of 59, many have sold, but there are still a few left, and cheap! Check the Marketplace under "Future pen cases"...

Here is one of my little 5-Cigar Carlos Torano boxes. I like these smaller boxes very much - I get them in two sizes - "Robusto" and "Petit Corona" - the Robusto box is about 1" wider, but the depth and height is identical.

I lined the top and bottom sides with cork matting, to avoid scratches on the pen ends in case I bump them on the sides. They look pretty spiffy IMO!

Laura, now I will imagine you smoking elegant little cigars.

Modified this pen box to take more FPs. It was a Waterman ballpen that came in this nice hardcardboard giftbox. Removed all the innards. Created a series of triangular ridges (I just couldn't replicate the concave curves) from thin card, then stuck self adhesive paperbacked felt over them. The interesting thing abt this box is that it has a magnetic catch embeded somewhere centre and front lip. So it stays firmly closed if/when transported. Quite neat, although its capacity is rather limited at only 8 pens and 1 pen deep only.

A bit more tedious this way to create the ridges cause I can't get the pen display trays here where I live.

I am now confident of doing another one with a wooden cigar box (yet to find). Wish me luck.

Hi guys

I looked every where for a wooden cigar box without any luck, people down my way obviously are not big cigar smokers

Anyway I went to Riot, my local art and craft shop and I got a pine box with hinged lid and a catch on the front for $6. It looks about the same size as Lauras Torano box.

I am well on the way to making my pen box, will post a photo once its complete.

Dawn

What a cool idea. And thanks so much for sharing the steps with us. And great collection there Johnny!

This has turned out to be a "just in time" thread for me, as I was just looking at my meager collection in it's zip-up pen case. I've decided that the zipper is positioned perfectly to scratch the pens as they are pulled from their positions. Then I found an article on Richard's site about re-tasking cigar boxes, and now this thread.

Wow. The how to pix are great!! This is why sites like this are fantastic. I never would have thought about a cigar box.

Off to the local cigar shop. Luckily there are two in town, neither does much business so maybe I can get them to part with a box.

Those of you who've made your own, you might consider submitting your work for publication to a magazine such as Make or Craft. I bet they'd eat this up.

Bob

I was able to find a smoke shop selling it's empty boxes for $1, with proceeds going toward a charity. So I'm on my way.

One Question for those of you who've built their own:

Did your boxes have odors from the former inhabitants and, if so, did they dissipate after awhile?

Were you concerned about any of the chemicals from the cigars coming into contact with the pens? I don't know whether cigars sit in the boxes in wrappers or naked.

Just wondering if there are any possible detrimental effects of keeping pens in cigar boxes.

Bob

My cigar boxes (La Gloria Cubana Hermoso) have no smell. I'm not the cigar smoker in the family, but I think they might be individually wrapped in plastic within the box.

You guys are lucky! The only local shop I have sells the empties for $5 each.

In the cigar boxes I have I've either used a scrap of blotter paper spritzed with perfume or a couple of peppermint tea bags to take the smell out. I suppose Febreze might work, but I haven't tried it.

I would be interested to know if the pen trays from gopens are available to buy from anywhere in the U.K. would be ideal for the cabinet i've recently procured

nice work. i really like the way you modded that box to hold two layers. the box itself is nice too.

i was at the local tobacconist picking up some cigars and noticed they had cigar boxes on sale for $4 a piece with a good variety of styles. i picked up one about the same size as the one you modded and another which is shorter all around and taller. the reason for my buying both of them was for the cigar holder trays that were already in the boxes. the larger flatter one has a nicer tray in it which has 10 slots that fit my pens nicely and its made of birdseye maple. since i dont have 10 fountain pens yet, it also holds my cigars nicely as well.

the other i think ill clean up and use for something else. i think i may go buy a couple more.

Really well done workmanship and clever ideas to use classy materials.
Thanks for the ideas and post.
Tom