Clever Ideas For Holding Ink Sample Vials Steady?

[ac12]

I usually use a glass inkwell to hold my ink vials.

But I was at the shopping center today and there was a Lego store.

So following Bill's idea, this is what I made with some of the pieces I got.

 

#1 is a holder for an ink vial, with a small base plate (blue) for stability. The ink vial is a perfect fit.

 

#2 is a holder for a Noodler's bottle.

Unlike the ink vial, the Noodler's bottle is not a perfect match for the brick stud spacing. So I had to make the center hole larger than the bottle, then rotate the bottle and secure it with the 4 red bricks on top.

A base plate is not needed, but if you want more stability, you can put the holder on a base plate, to give you a wider base.

The Noodler's bottle had me worried for quite a while, with the problem of how to stabilize it, so it won't get knocked over.

 

The neat thing about Lego is you can easily reconfigure it for any bottle you have. Or as Bill did, make multiple holders.

 

At the Lego store, a small round tub costs $9, a larger one $16. So you can make several holders. Share it with a friend and you cut your price in half.

Tip, connect some of the pieces together, so it packs better into that tub. I was able to get a lot more bricks by doing that then just dumping the bricks into the tub loose.

 

Plan carefully so you get all you need on the first trip.

Look carefully at Bill and my holders, then plan your holders; what bricks you need (many different sizes) and how many of each. That way you get the correct type and number of bricks, and don't have to go back and beg to exchange bricks.

I used 1x4 and 2x4 bricks.

Edited June 26, 2015 by ac12

[ac12]

 

 

I use an acrylic lip stick holder that I got from the Container Store (cheap, sturdy, easy to clean, attractive, holds multiple vials, fits nicely in my ink sample box):

 

 

 

 

Ooooooo, I like this.

Clear acrylic, how neat. It will match the clear pens (aka demonstrators).

[tinta]

Stainless "lifetime" clothes-peg from Lee Valley Tools (no affiliation).

 

[fountainpagan]

I have made this for a friend - Mozambique ebony and Madagascar's rosewood

 

Sorry, the photos are not great.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/633/P5Xk4M.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/661/8Tco6n.jpg

Edited June 27, 2015 by fountainpagan

[tinta]

Very nice, "fountainpagan".

[fountainpagan]

Thank you "tinta" (ink, an paint, in portuguese )

[tinta]

In Hungarian (Magyar), tinta also means ink.

[Bookman]

I reuse Visconti bottles for inks sold in bad bottles, like Sailor Jentle Blue. I discovered the fit between the Goulet vial and the opening of the Visconti bottle when I needed to stabilize the vial and I just looked around the office. The setup on the left works because the bottle is glued to the base.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2015 by Bookman

[inkstainedruth]

About angled holders --- I think it would make it harder to fill because it would effectively lower the level of the ink in the vial. Tilt a vial at an angle and you will see what I mean. It would make it harder for the pen to be submerged in ink.

 

Dan

Only the top would be on a slant, I expect. The holes would still be perpendicular to the bottom of the holder and the table/desk you've got it on.

A few years ago we went to Colonial Williamsburg, and they have a shop where you can get reproduction furniture (well, if you can afford it... ). There was a desk that was designed to be a half circle, with the center diameter being the part that went against the wall, and the arc facing the person sitting at it. There were drawers set into the arc, which were set in so they looked as if they would pull out at an angle -- but they didn't... they pulled out straight, and perpendicular to the wall/back of desk.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Feathers]

Lots of amazing ideas in this thread. I almost had an oopsie the other day, so I'm glad to find some easy and economical solutions. It never occurred to me to use blu-tack or lego etc. There are so many talented folks here with wood too.

[ac12]

It's also another excuse to play with Legos.

[ac12]

 

I use an acrylic lip stick holder that I got from the Container Store (cheap, sturdy, easy to clean, attractive, holds multiple vials, fits nicely in my ink sample box):

 

 

This one is level all the way across. Some had different levels (higher row in the back), but the taller walls made the higher rows impractical for this purpose.

 

I was all set to get one of these, then I checked their web site. It is $12.99 each. OUCH !!

http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10001053&N=&Ntt=lipstick#

 

Granted it will hold 9 vials, but I only work with 1 vial at a time. What is not in use goes back into the storage box.

Edited July 3, 2015 by ac12

[tinta]

"I was all set to get one of these, then I checked their web site. It is $12.99 each. OUCH !!"

 

Ac12, you could get just one, perhaps to showcase the latest inks you're sampling.

I think I may get one of these for just this purpose.

For someone who has a vast amount of vials this indeed would be an expensive solution. I have little more than two dozen vials to my name

[ac12]

 

"I was all set to get one of these, then I checked their web site. It is $12.99 each. OUCH !!"

 

Ac12, you could get just one, perhaps to showcase the latest inks you're sampling.

I think I may get one of these for just this purpose.

For someone who has a vast amount of vials this indeed would be an expensive solution. I have little more than two dozen vials to my name

 

I was thinking of using it as a working holder rather than a display holder.

For the other vials, I plan to use shotgun shell boxes, holds 25 vials for about $5. Not anywhere near as nice looking, but functional.

[tinta]

Correction.

I actually meant working holder too. Sample vials do not a great display make.

[New_Falcon]

Some really nice ideas here.

 

I only use a sample tube when I'm down to the bottom of the bottle and my pen can't suck up more ink from the regular bottle. As such I wanted to use something that I might already have and I only need it to hold the tube when I'm filling.

 

This is what I came up with. Not the nicest, but get's the job done for me.

 

 

[ac12]

Hey New-Falcon

Cool idea, and you don't have to go buy something else, to add to the clutter in the house.

[Cyber6]

In Hungarian (Magyar), tinta also means ink.

 

In Spanish too...

[Pira]

Kneadable erasers.

 

They don't leave marks like putty, as they are designed to be used on paper... and don't dry out. They do however, stick to the clean surface I press them onto. Also, I can angle the vials most anyway I want and they stay put.

 

 

How to steady ink vials... by Pira Urosevic, on Flickr

Edited July 9, 2015 by Pira

[tinta]

Love it! BTW Pira, where do you get the orange coloured caps for the vials?