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NibsForScript
February 8th, 2018, 06:56 AM
I began this project of making nice vertical pen cigar boxes a little while ago and am now well into the 4th or 5th box. Here is the second box as the first was a huge learning curve and will be redone at some point. I started with a box. I then wiped its first coat of tung oil onto it. Then I cut out of thin cedar sections that fit into the box. As time went on I kept adding another coat of tung oil and got a final finish at about 10 coats with 600grit sanding in-between.

NibsForScript
February 8th, 2018, 07:00 AM
I needed a soft non scratchy pad for the bottom and chose 1/4" felt. The sections were assembled and needed slight adjustment to get them to line up right. This image shows when it still needed adjustments.

NibsForScript
February 8th, 2018, 07:15 AM
I lined the sides and sections with green felt and put a piece of the green felt over the thick soft grey felt. Now it was almost ready but needed a pen guardian. So I drew a lion and added it to the lid. It is done. Now on to the next boxes. For the next boxes I have chosen to use Padauk as it looks so nice tung oiled next to the tung oiled finished box wood. I switched to lining in leather as well. I will post those images in the next few days. This is fun.

amk
February 8th, 2018, 08:53 AM
That is really nice. A lovely oiled finish on the wood, too.

naimitsu
February 8th, 2018, 09:55 AM
Nicely done!

Robert
February 8th, 2018, 04:31 PM
Ben Bay cigars - any comment on how they smoked? Regardless, congrats on your repurposed box.

Jon Szanto
February 8th, 2018, 04:34 PM
This is a massively fabulous project - congrats!

penwash
February 9th, 2018, 03:10 PM
Good job! The lion sketch makes it more special.

Another good material to put inside the lid is old fountain pen advertisement copies.

Lady Onogaro
February 9th, 2018, 09:39 PM
That is very cool! Excellent work!

NibsForScript
February 10th, 2018, 08:22 AM
I like your idea of using vintage pen advertisement copies. That has potential. Now to look for them.

BamaPen
February 17th, 2018, 06:56 PM
I like your work, the Ben Bey box really looks good with the oiled finish. I've done some similar boxes, mostly with El Producto Queens, that I've fitted out to hold 25 pens. Here's an example, with MinWax Satin Polyurethane varnish finish:

https://cigarboxpenstorage.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/el-producto-queens-july-2017.jpg
https://cigarboxpenstorage.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/el-producto-queens-with-pens-front-view.jpg

Click here to visit my site for more pen and ink storage options. (http://cigarboxpenstorage.wordpress.com)

NibsForScript
February 18th, 2018, 07:20 AM
Nice! My “production” is very slow due to the tung oil which I do really love. I use various thinned with citrus oil or not, tung oil solutions. Final coats are with waterlox tung oil which has a nice luster. I actually began keeping a list of coats on one box and I am up to 6 and have a very long way to go still. I am enjoying the process. I will post the next one in about a week I think. The box is done and lined but the insert is only 3/4 done at this point. I do this in the evening to relax. It is easier on the hands than sculpture or my metal work. www.eallendesigns.com A winterwonderland day here, Beautiful!

NibsForScript
March 2nd, 2018, 11:20 AM
The progression of the next box! For this box I decided to make the pen insert removable and out of solid Padauk wood and switch the lining material to leather. I added a 1/4" thick felt padding cushion at the bottom which I covered in leather. The tung oiling is slow but the results are beautiful.This box is an old well used box that really came to life with many layers of tung oil and finally many layers of tung oil Waterlox finish.

NibsForScript
March 2nd, 2018, 11:23 AM
Progression

NibsForScript
March 2nd, 2018, 11:27 AM
I really like working with the Padauk wood, it also goes so nicely with the old cigar box wood. This box is now done and now I am on to the next one.

penwash
March 2nd, 2018, 11:40 AM
That box is lovely. Please keep showing us your projects.

NibsForScript
May 4th, 2018, 01:21 PM
This project is developing very nicely. I have changed the finishing to Epifanes rubbed effect varnish which is very durable and lovely. I have come up with a few rules of the road for this project. I am sure there will be changes as this develops and suggestions are always helpful.

#1 The box must be beautiful.
#2 The pens need a soft protective environment.
#3 The pens need to be easily accessible.
#4 The more pens available the better, up to a point.
#5 The box has to have a small footprint as desks only have so much room.

I am working on some designs to make in bronze for the outside of a few of the boxes. Most of the boxes have lived hard lives and have a patina of life on them. I try and keep as much of that beauty as possible. Some of the boxes are very plain and there are those that need new hardware. If the exterior is not very interesting I sand them down to wood. I will show more images as I work. This month I should get a lot done. Last month I did not get as much done as I had hoped. There was a long delay in getting the paduak and I took time to set up a work bench for a small table saw, band saw and drill press. As luck would have it the previous owners of my house left a long dresser that is very sturdy. I turned that into a workbench with plenty of tool storage. My work shop has a lot going on in a limited space so some rearrangement was necessary. The bench in the photo is over 10 feet long. It was in my great-grandfathers barn, so many projects have been done on it. I have sculpture going on in part of it and a rolling mill on the far end and a wax pot on the other.

The first photo shows rough sanded boxes and two boxes with one coat soaked in. The second photo has boxes in many different stages of completion. The leather in the green box and blue box are not attached but just set in for fitting. The paduak sections in the front are in need of beveling and finishing. A few boxes are in need of hardware.

Each box will be lined in leather and the sections will be lined in leather so the pens will be in a soft environment. I put a 1/4" thick piece of soft felt with matching leather under the sections for the pens to come down on.

Back to work!

NibsForScript
May 4th, 2018, 06:59 PM
Making a grid this evening.

da vinci
May 4th, 2018, 10:32 PM
Great work! :)

I think the rules are a perfect criteria to a quality outcome.

azkid
May 4th, 2018, 11:44 PM
Very nice work!!

Gobblecup
May 5th, 2018, 04:05 AM
I would be very interested in purchasing one of these if they are available for that, my budget requires I wait a week or two, however, should I PM?

NibsForScript
May 5th, 2018, 05:45 AM
Yes they will be. PM in a week or so. Thanks

NibsForScript
May 5th, 2018, 10:24 AM
I just finished two Pauak section grids with thinned varnish. The wood is so beautiful. I will see how it dries before lining with leather or not?

penwash
May 5th, 2018, 03:55 PM
Excellent photos and progress records. Have you chosen the enclosure for this grid yet? Or is it going to just standalone in the end?

azkid
May 5th, 2018, 03:59 PM
I rather like the paduak unlined... I hope I can afford one of these. So cool!

Sagebrush64
May 5th, 2018, 04:18 PM
Outstanding!
I was thinking of doing something sorta similar to store sample vials of ink....in a cheaper box of course!
I'm watching with great interest!

NibsForScript
May 5th, 2018, 05:43 PM
Excellent photos and progress records. Have you chosen the enclosure for this grid yet? Or is it going to just standalone in the end?

These are both going into boxes that are leather lined. I will post photos in the next day or two with them installed. I may do some leather on the padauk and some not. I am really using up my stack of wood. It takes about 3 feet of this wood per grid.

NibsForScript
June 23rd, 2018, 09:15 AM
Excellent photos and progress records. Have you chosen the enclosure for this grid yet? Or is it going to just standalone in the end?

Sorry for the delay in answering. Life interrupted a bit. Yes the grid is going into one of the El Producto vertical boxes. I have some with the nice old oval logo and some with the newer square logo. I sanded off the square logos and made those into boxes with no mention of cigars on them as there are plenty of people who would rather have just a nice plain wood exterior to the box. I have also lined a few of the grids for those who would prefer that option. I have turned all of the El Producto lids around so they open with the angle lower in the front for ease of ue.

NibsForScript
June 23rd, 2018, 09:42 AM
I have been varnishing them all with many coats of Epifanes yacht varnish over the tung oil and hand rubbing the final surface to a soft glow, showing off the age and life of the boxes. Some I can get a relatively smooth surface on and some have so much wear that I leave the three dimensional life of the wood and just enhance it. Pictured are some smooth boxes that I have removed the logos. Also the lids have been turned around for ease of use. They are all old used boxes so I am trying to utilize their intrinsic beauty and not take them down to a new box look. They all feel really nice to touch. That I find very important just as the feel of a pen is very important. Using a fountain pen is a very tactile experience so I think the boxes that house them should also feel nice.

NibsForScript
June 23rd, 2018, 10:13 AM
I wanted to make the boxes house many size pens easily. The first row shows two FC 45 pocket pens that are easily accessible the last row has a 6" tall pen with room above when the lid closes. The blue leather really looks good with the red/brown/black of the wood. I have done several in the blue since it looks so nice. I added a guard tiger to the lid image group and have not had time to do more. There will be many different images as I go along with this. The next step I am going to spend time working on is bronze forms for the exterior of the boxes. I am thinking nibs, pens, ink blots, etc. I am counting out letters and script as that would look better as inside lid imagery. I did build a website yesterday and got that up. Enjoying every moment working on these boxes!

Hawk
June 29th, 2018, 09:09 AM
I noticed these recent vertical pen boxes you extended the felt all of the way up in the back. The box in post #3 has the felt end further down exposing more of the wood on the inside. Personally, I like the way #3 turned out since it is in my possession now. If you commission other boxes, give the purchaser the choice how high the felt is on the back side. It's a small detail to consider.
I am happy that I saw your post and was able to purchase one of your pen boxes. I have 11 pens inked up right now so there is room for five more....

NibsForScript
June 30th, 2018, 06:03 AM
4081740818

Thank you Hawk,
So glad you like your box. Having eleven inked pens and room for 5 more is pretty cool. Yes the height of the lining is a variable and can be done lower than the rim, the same as the rim, or a little higher than the rim. There are many variable options for people to choose. The same goes for the image in the lid that can be a personal image, photo, quote, etc.

Kulprit
July 2nd, 2018, 08:23 PM
These are beautiful!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alchemist
July 12th, 2018, 11:12 AM
I just received one of these beautiful vertical pen boxes (the one with the blue leather lining and the nib graphic inside the lid). They are even handsomer in person. Liz does wonderful work - the finish is flawless. Thank you Liz!

KKay
July 15th, 2018, 09:07 AM
I'm just seeing these lovely boxes, they are outstanding. Great work!