Search the Community

The exhibit is shoved against the far wall of the gift store. Poorly lit and largely ignored by staff and visitors. I enjoyed it, but was annoyed the exhibits were blocking each other.

The Ferocase Pan-Gora Classic Pen Box (45 pens) I ordered from La Couronne du Comte earlier in November, taking full advantage of the free international shipping offer and 20%-off site wide discount for Fountain Pen Day, has finally arrived in the post yesterday. This is what I was expecting: Ferocase Pan-Gora Classic Pen Box (45 pens) [FER-930] The rosewood Pan-Gora Classic pen collector's box by Ferocase offers room for 45 pens. The tempered glass window shows your pens in a stylish way, while at the same time the case offers maximal protection. All compartments are covered with a soft plush velvet. The case measures 40 x 21 x 14 cm and weighs 4.5 kg. Source: La Couronne du Comte but what I received is, well, not even remotely what was shown or described. Mine certainly is not made of rosewood, or look anything like it. But then, had I looked at dneal's review four years ago of the one he won in an auction on eBay, I should have known better. I don't think the material lining the pen trays qualifies as velvet, either. Not that I mind the darker colour at all – when in fact I would have preferred it – but it's just a thin veneer, and I doubt the veneer itself is made of whichever wood it purports to be, as opposed to just being stained with the particular colour. However, I very much took exception to the evidence that someone – either at the Ferocase factory, or in the LCdC warehouse – must have closed the lid (or, more likely, slammed it down) while there was a small hard object, perhaps a loose screw, sitting on the rim of the top tray on the right-hand edge. Whatever happened, it left indents in the wood, and caused the black paint to flake off, on both the rim of the tray and the rim of the lid. (I have photos of the damage, which I sent to LCdC, but I'm not going to post them here.) Of the three slide-out pen trays, each with a capacity of eleven pens, one came loose right out of the box. A second one came out with a little bit of jiggling, but the bottom one wouldn't come out no matter what, so I was a bit confused as to what the design intent was and which trays were the anomalies in manufacture. On closer inspection of the tray, specifically to find out why there was an unsightly bulge in the rear right corner (top right corner in the photo above), I figure that the trays were not meant to slide out, but ought to have been prevented from doing so by two wooden pegs coming out of each tray's rear corners. The manufacturing process must have been to glue (or just jam) the peg into place in the rear left corner, then insert the other peg into the hole on the opposite side and allowing it to push the lining slightly off the inner edge of the tray, and insert the tray into the box at a slight angle. Once the tray was inserted, the peg is then struck through the lining with a small hammer or some such, in a manner that not intended to be easily reversible (to extract the tray back out of the box). Whoever assembled it did not do a particular good job of hammering the pegs into place in the top two slide-out trays. Now, in all fairness, I don't mind that 'fault' that much, since there is utility in my being able to pull the trays out, say for pen display and/or photography. The inconsistency in the workmanship, and therefore the lack of attention to detail, is quite telling though. Even though this has dented my long-held faith in German manufacture being most precise, with rigid processes that make paying due attention to detail a foregone conclusion, I'm still prepare to trust Japanese and German manufacture above Korean or Italian manufacture, which is in turn above Australian or American manufacture, with Chinese, Taiwanese and Vietnamese manufacture at the bottom of my list of preferences. (It's just a bloody wooden box! I'd gladly settle for a Vietnamese-made pen display case if the delivered price was right, and I had avenues for recourse if the product is not to specifications.) I reported the issue of the damage on the rim to LCdC, and atypically for its Customer Service team, I got a reply in the same business day, offering me an apology and a substantial partial refund as compensation. I did not pursue the issue of the colour or the material not being as advertised, but chose to just accept the offer and call it square. Why? With most of the options available to me in the market today – especially with the display cases (purportedly) crafted in the US or (in other cases, in which I'm more confident) Japan – sellers either simply won't ship to Australia, or want to charge something to the tune of US$80 or US$100 for delivery alone. That's close to the effective price, after accounting for the offered partial refund, it cost me all up to acquire this display case. I need a pen box of this capacity, and if this was to be judged only on its own merits, instead of focussing on where it was accidentally damaged or does not match the description in the item listing, it's actually pretty good for that amount of money. I wouldn't be so keen on spending three- or four-fold just to have a pen display case made actually of rosewood or some such, and I already have a 30-pen display box – slightly better constructed, out of I think better material, purported right here in Australia. Furthermore, I've had plenty of dealings with LCdC these past few months, and in the whole I'm happy with the commercial relationship and what it offers me, so I actually have a reason to stay on good terms instead of pressing the boundaries of what I think I could justifying demand. So, with that out of the way, let's talk about this display case on its own merits. This 45-pen case is compact, with a significantly smaller footprint than my 30-pen case. That's good. The depth of the slide-out trays could be a tiny bit limiting, but nevertheless the slots will accommodate just about all of the pens in my household except for the Platinum Izumo pens; those will have to go into the top tray (with a capacity of a dozen pens). Not being made of solid timber, it's also lighter and makes it easier for me to move or carry from one room to another fully loaded, in spite of tendonitis in my wrist. Just lifting the lid on the heavier 30-pen case could cause my wrist to complain@ All the same, it's solid enough. As I've mentioned before, effectively having removable pen trays is an advantageous 'feature'. The top tray in my 30-pen case can be lifted out, but only after the lid is (almost) fully raised, and thus not very convenient. The lining material in this display case is adequate, although I'd probably have preferred a darker colour to more readily hide dirt and stains. One feature this box could do with – but then understandably drive up its price and its size and/or total weight – is a lock. Not really for security per se, but simply to stop the trays from sliding out of the box (completely or just halfway) when moving or transporting the box. Unless I'm mindful to either carry the box at an angle, or put a strap around the box prior to moving it, I run the risk of having my precious pens spill all over the floor. My verdict: This box is of a good enough design, and sturdy enough, to be well worth $200 (in local currency!) delivered – in view of the other options on the market – and if you can get it for significantly less out of pocket, it's positively a bargain, as long as you know what you're getting and not misled. At that price, I don't think you could reasonably expect top-notch workmanship.

N.B. This is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the product. I ordered one of these unbranded "6-Layer 78 Pens Display Box Organizer Fountain Wood Storage Collection Tray Case" advertised on eBay last Saturday, and it was delivered by Tuesday. That's lightning fast for online shopping in Australia! The item was very well packaged inside the sturdy shipping carton, with a thin foam sheet all around the display case and sheets of long, parallel cylindrical air pillows on each side sitting neatly between the foam sheet and the cardboard. I consider myself to be very 'anal' when it comes to packing things for shipment, and I couldn't have done a better job of that. That heading of the item listing is a bit of a 'misnomer'; the display case has six removable 11-pen trays each with a tiny drawer knob, and a 'layer' at the top for displaying 12 pens sitting under plexiglass. The actual construction of the frame and trays is sturdy enough, roughly comparable to that of the German-made(?) Ferocase Pan-Gora pen display case I have, but with a superior design with respect to the drawers; as mentioned, they are removable, but held in place by (weak) magnets at the rear when closed. The finish of the box borders on the cheap-and-nasty, and my unit arrived with a number of unsightly chips, dings and scratches; it mustn't have taken much for enough of the thin coating to come off and show the white material beneath it. Not that the finish on the Ferocase is great, but it is still superior to this. Never mind; I got an acceptable partial refund for that, but not without a little bit of a fight. The biggest issue with this box, however, is how shallow the removable trays are. The liners in the drawers (as well as in the display section at the top) are just semi-rigid sheets of plastics covered very thinly with some 'plush' material, and hollow underneath; and they don't all sit 'regularly' to give 11 troughs of the same depth in each drawer. If and where you're lucky generally towards the central troughs on each tray, but on some trays the troughs on one side is lower/deeper than the opposite side the troughs will juuust accommodate a Nemosine Singularity, 'classic' FPR Himalaya (with #5.5 nib), PenBBS 308 or Platinum Balance; otherwise, even a Platinum Plaisir will get caught and/or scrape against the edge of the drawer (or the frame of the case) above it. I have a tray of exactly 11 Platinum Plaisir pens, and the pens on one side of the tray or the other are apt to get stuck when I'm sliding that drawer out; I have to then push down on the pens to elastically deform the hollow drawer liner to get the drawer and the pens out. It's okay to put a LAMY cp1 or Logo, or a Nemosine Neutrino, or a Sailor Profit Junior or a Delike Submarine in the trays, no worries. However, you can totally forget about storing a LAMY Safari, Diplomat Aero or Monteverde Rodeo Drive in the drawers, unless you're prepared to rip out the liners. Now, if you're buying a 78-pen case, I'll hazard a guess you have more than 12 pens (that would fit in the display section at the top) out of 60 or 70, or are at least planning on eventually having a large variety. None of my gold-nibbed (or, in other words, pricier) Aurora, Platinum or Sailor pens are going into this display case. I'm not even sure I'll trust it to house a Sailor ProColor 500 or a Moonman M200 (of which I've just ordered several); the tray occasionally causes my Moonman S1 and M100 pens to scrape against what's above the drawer when I'm pulling it out, and Delike Alpha and New Moon 3 pens are just out of the question. No such trouble with my Ferocase (but the troughs in its drawers are shorter, and cannot accommodate, say, a Platinum Izumo).

I'd been looking for something to store my growing pen collection in for a while but the boxes that I saw were either too small or too expensive. Then I came across an oak, 7-drawer cutlery cabinet at a local auction which was a bit bigger than I was looking for but seemed ideal for vintage pens. The date engraved for the original owner on top of the box was 1874. They took a lot of care when engraving brass plates in those days. I stripped out the cutlery fittings and tried to make inserts to carry pens. However the inserts I made looked a bit crude and unprofessional but looking around I couldn't find any suitable liners for sale in the UK. Eventually I purchased some vacuum-formed trays from Gary at gopens.com in the US which fitted perfectly as shown in the photos. The liners are 12" x 16" and I have a few left for future projects. The drawers are graduated in depth, with the top four ideal for pens and the lower ones great for storage of ink bottles etc. Room for my collection to grow.

Wish I had room for this, looks to be in good shape, glass is wrapped in shrink wrap

Hello FPN, I wanted to share with you how I organize my nibs. Here's a jewelry display case with a clear window top. It fits three tiers of trays that have 50 slots each. I then have a database to track precisely what's in each of the slots. http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/jonb55198/20170216_130130_zpsavjpncvl.jpg http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt214/jonb55198/20170216_125911_zpska442cty.jpg

For a very short time the Vox 60 Pen Display case is on sale: Retail: $799.00Sale: $ 499.00 This case can hold up to 60 pens and has 4 removable trays https://www.penchalet.com/pen_accessories/desktop_pen_holders/vox_luxury_60_pen_case.html

I have had my eye on this display case for a few weeks. Bit the bullet and bought it last weekend. I added the lower shelf and the green felt fabric. The case has been restored and I do believe that it may have had mirrors on the back 2 doors. What do you think ... was there probably a mirror on each door or not? The name plate on the back top says "Made by Specialty Display Case Co. Kendallville, Indiana" Gives me a great place to display my Sioux City collection (from left to right): Houston Fountain Pen with a Houston 3 nib, Snapfil fountain pen with a Houston 2 nib, Jiffy pen with a Jiffy 2 nib and a Snapfil pen with a missing nib. Now, I just need more Sioux City pens (and even a Kaligraph pencil or 3) since I do live in ... Sioux City, Iowa.

I stopped by an antique store that is going out of business and found a Sheaffer Antique display cabinet. (photo of cabinet still in the store) I was able to negotiate a final price of $60.00. It has a few minor issues but nothing big. It has the original finish, the logo on the front is in great condition, no cracks, good glass, and has the back door with the original mirror. It is missing the top tray (pictured in the photo I have attached that I found on line) and the bottom door knob and latching mechanism. I am searching for someone who may have one of these as well that wouldn't mind sharing some information on these missing items. I am looking for detailed photos etc... I think I'll just keep the original finish even though the odd in me wants it to look new as it did in the early 1900s. LOL. I am looking forward to putting in back together and filling it up with a few Sheaffers. Thank you, Rob

http://www.pendorapens.com/products/forum-offering-only-20-pen-chesthello all, I found these last 4 pen chests in a closet and since I didn't even know I had them Ill just post them here for you instead of putting them on my site. These are cherry colored high lacquer MDF boxes with 7/8 wide slots for larger pens. Inside is lined with a faux suede fabric. I sold them normally for $125 but Ill let these go for my actual cost of $50 plus shipping. (US buyers, Shipping is $15.00). I'm of course willing to ship international but the shipping cost is more than the actual product. So Unless you REALLY want a box Ill just offer this to our US friends. If you want one, please post your intention below so that buyers will know when my 4 are spoken for. Once you have done that, please send your $65.00 payment via paypal to Pendora@usa.com. Enjoy. Michelle