Pen Tray Liners -- Need Wider Spaces

[Paul-in-SF]

I am familiar with the pen tray liners sold by gopens.com, and they work very well for skinny to medium pens. For fatter pens, though, not so great, the pens are too large to nestle into the curved space provided, and although they can sit that way and be fairly stable, you can't have anything next to them on either side, which really eats up storage space. 15 mm seems to be the largest girth in a pen that fits comfortably in those trays.

 

I found some long and fairly narrow jewelry trays of a similar material (flocked plastic) but they are both rather flimsy and wider than they need to be (24 mm at the bottom, where 20 mm should be plenty). So I'm looking for pen tray liners that have spaces that are about 20 mm or 3/4" wide and preferably under 1/2" deep.

 

Any leads or suggestions?

 

 

 

[corniche]

I am familiar with the pen tray liners sold by gopens.com, and they work very well for skinny to medium pens. For fatter pens, though, not so great, the pens are too large to nestle into the curved space provided, and although they can sit that way and be fairly stable, you can't have anything next to them on either side, which really eats up storage space. 15 mm seems to be the largest girth in a pen that fits comfortably in those trays.

 

I found some long and fairly narrow jewelry trays of a similar material (flocked plastic) but they are both rather flimsy and wider than they need to be (24 mm at the bottom, where 20 mm should be plenty). So I'm looking for pen tray liners that have spaces that are about 20 mm or 3/4" wide and preferably under 1/2" deep.

 

Any leads or suggestions?

 

 

 

Hi Paul,

 

When it comes to oversize pens, I cut manilla folders in half and to size; fold them in an accordion format, custom sized to the larger pens and use an acid free adhesive to glue PURE wool felt to the manilla cardboard.

 

Sean

[Driften]

Sorry I 3D print mine.... I don't know where to get pre-made oversized ones. If you're a woodworker you could use a router to make them as well.

[Intensity]

I got a set from Pendora a year or so ago. Had to e-mail the maker directly to place my order. If you google "pendora pen tray", you'll see some past posts with references to the e-mail address to use. The trays are thin plastic, flocked with a velvet-like fuzzy coating; easy to cut if needed. Come in various colors--I got burgundy. I have them in small drawers and also in a couple of hinged display boxes with glass tops on my desk. These trays will accommodate even the widest and longest of pens.

Edited February 15, 2020 by Intensity

[corniche]

I got a set from Pendora a year or so ago. Had to e-mail the maker directly to place my order. If you google "pendora pen tray", you'll see some past posts with references to the e-mail address to use. The trays are thin plastic, flocked with a velvet-like fuzzy coating; easy to cut if needed. Come in various colors--I got burgundy. I have them in small drawers and also in a couple of hinged display boxes with glass tops on my desk. These trays will accommodate even the widest and longest of pens.

Hi Intensity, Everyone,

 

Those sound like the trays from GoPens as well. I was really tempted to go with burgundy, but at the last minute, went with dark green, instead. (But like the OP said, larger pens can bounce around in them).

 

Or do they have different spacing options available?

 

Sean

[Paul-in-SF]

There is a post on penturners.org dated January 28, 2019, saying that Pendora is out of business. The site URLs that I could find here on FPN are no longer functioning at all. However, I will send them an email just in case.

 

Some interesting DIY ideas here. To Corniche, I have some card stock, I suppose that would work as well as a manila folder. How important is it that the fabric be wool felt? I have one fancy wooden drawer set that has inserts cut and assembled with wood strips and covered with a very thin fabric that feels like velvet. I have no idea if they used acid-free glue nor what the fabric is made of. I'm not using it at present because I don't like the form factor of the set, but how bad are those materials likely to be?

Edited February 15, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[Intensity]

Yes, there is also a post saying that someone contacted the seller in 2019 (after I bought mine in 2019) after the business closing was already announced. And they were still able to order trays via e-mail contact. That's why I suggested e-mailing.

[corniche]

There is a post on penturners.org dated January 28, 2019, saying that Pendora is out of business. The site URLs that I could find here on FPN are no longer functioning at all. However, I will send them an email just in case.

 

Some interesting DIY ideas here. To Corniche, I have some card stock, I suppose that would work as well as a manila folder. How important is it that the fabric be wool felt? I have one fancy wooden drawer set that has inserts cut and assembled with wood strips and covered with a very thin fabric that feels like velvet. I have no idea if they used acid-free glue nor what the fabric is made of. I'm not using it at present because I don't like the form factor of the set, but how bad are those materials likely to be?

Hi Paul,

 

Cardstock is just fine, (especially if its acid free); velvet is just fine, too. You just want something that will protect your pen's finishes - and natural fabrics are usually the softest and least likely to scratch or cause rub marks.

 

Acid-free materials/barriers are important for celluloid or ebonite pens. If the cardstock isn't acid free, (or at least the adhesive and fabric are to act as a barrier); it will be off-gassing corrosive fumes which can cause clouding/ ambering to celluloid pens and crazing to ebonite pens over time. (Acidic inks ruined many vintage pens; which is why you'll find them with perfect caps, but ambered/clouded barrels ).

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Sean

[whichwatch]

I made trays with wider spaces to go in my desk drawer. I bought cheap cove moldings at Home Depot and glued them back to back, then covered them with inexpensive felt purchased at a fabric store. These hold even my largest pens safely and attractively.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8B12872-662A-4AE3-A5E5-77E89B639882%7D/origpict/IMG_2482.jpg

[Paul-in-SF]

Thanks Sean (corniche). It seems to me that if the pens are in an enclosed space, such as a drawer, all the materials should be acid free, or the corrosive fumes of even underlying materials, like the card stock if it isn't acid free, would be free to circulate among the pens.

 

whichwatch, that's a pretty good DIY idea, I'll have to take a look at what moldings are available locally, especially the PVC moldings, which would be lighter in weight. Driften also suggested routing out the grooves with a router, which could also work. I don't know if I have that much skill.

[whichwatch]

 

 

whichwatch, that's a pretty good DIY idea, I'll have to take a look at what moldings are available locally, especially the PVC moldings, which would be lighter in weight. Driften also suggested routing out the grooves with a router, which could also work. I don't know if I have that much skill.

 

 

 

Locally, pine cove molding costs about 40 cents per foot (Home Depot) and felt costs about $7 per yard in 72 inch width, cheaper when on sale (JoAnn Fabrics). A couple of 8 foot moldings and a yard of fabric can make trays for quite a few pens.

 

I got this idea from a woman who refurbished antique boxes into pen chests in this fashion. She did great work and I have three of her pen chests. I believe she has grown enough that she now vacuum forms the trays themselves, which I assume is a cost reduction once she has paid for the equipment, which her volume now makes feasible

[WLSpec]

I made trays with wider spaces to go in my desk drawer. I bought cheap cove moldings at Home Depot and glued them back to back, then covered them with inexpensive felt purchased at a fabric store. These hold even my largest pens safely and attractively.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8B12872-662A-4AE3-A5E5-77E89B639882%7D/origpict/IMG_2482.jpg

Nice pens!

[Paul-in-SF]

I did email Pendora and received a reply that they still have trays, but asked me to check in with them again in two weeks, as they are not able to conduct that business at the moment. I will post a follow-up as I find out more, including the actual sizes of the trays, colors available, etc. as much as I can find out.

[Intensity]

They come in sets, I think. I got a 4-Large-tray pack. It was $28 for the set at the time + shipping. The trays are quite long, fit lots of pens each, perhaps around 17-18 per tray. I've cut all mine to shorter lengths, so I can't give you exact length anymore. But they are just under 0.5" tall, 8 3/4" perpendicular length, and perhaps about 17" wide. Each pen slot is 3/4" x 8" in size and comfortably fits my Montblanc 149 with a small bit of room to spare.

 

I'm using double-sided tape bits to hold the trays I've cut to size to fit small Bisley storage drawer unit and also 2 small wooden display boxes with glass window covers.

 

Edit: corrections

Edited February 16, 2020 by Intensity

[Paul-in-SF]

Thanks, Intensity, those sound like they would be exactly what I'm looking for.

[Bibliophage]

Pendora emailed to me a few weeks ago that they only sell for something like 6 months out of the year. I suspect they're one of those folks that lives in two places, and only in one can they conduct business.

[MP0123456789]

You may want to look for marker storage accessories.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Crafters-Companion-SPECN-6-Spectrum-Storage/dp/B00H26BCV6

 

I attempted this for my many alcohol markers but got impatient with draw inserts.I ended up using plastic shoe boxes for that collection.

Also thinking out loud that there might be flocked options for products for jewelry display.

[sirgilbert357]

I made trays with wider spaces to go in my desk drawer. I bought cheap cove moldings at Home Depot and glued them back to back, then covered them with inexpensive felt purchased at a fabric store. These hold even my largest pens safely and attractively.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8B12872-662A-4AE3-A5E5-77E89B639882%7D/origpict/IMG_2482.jpg

 

 

Wow...that bottom row. Just wow.

[MadAsAHatter]

I made trays with wider spaces to go in my desk drawer. I bought cheap cove moldings at Home Depot and glued them back to back, then covered them with inexpensive felt purchased at a fabric store. These hold even my largest pens safely and attractively.

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB8B12872-662A-4AE3-A5E5-77E89B639882%7D/origpict/IMG_2482.jpg

 

 

What adhesive did you use to attach the felt?

I tried something like this before but had a bad experience with the glue seeping through the felt a little and reacting with the pen's finish. At least it was a cheap Jinhao pen so nothing major lost.

[txomsy]

What about cigar boxes?

 

Even a tin/aluminum single cigar can (of those that have a screw in cap) can be a nice one-pen storage and transport device, Wooden boxes, specially those with humidity/temperature control should do just fine and if they can accommodate a large Cuban cigar, they should also a large cigar pen. I'm thinking of something like this

 

 

 

or this

 

https://www.antiguedadestecnicas.com/productos/C-333.php (now, that must have been a gorgeous one).

 

There are some very nice humidor cigar boxes on Amazon, some are travel ones in leather that look very nice and way cheaper than pen travel boxes (searching for this post I saw that it seems cigar boxes have dropped dramatically in price lately as smoking decreased).

 

But not being a smoker I do not know how easy (or hard) they are to come by.

Edited February 18, 2020 by txomsy