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Vertical Pen Cigar Boxes Project
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.
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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.
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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.
Re: Vertical Pen Cigar Boxes Project
That is really nice. A lovely oiled finish on the wood, too.
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Re: Vertical Pen Cigar Boxes Project
Ben Bay cigars - any comment on how they smoked? Regardless, congrats on your repurposed box.
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This is a massively fabulous project - congrats!
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Good job! The lion sketch makes it more special.
Another good material to put inside the lid is old fountain pen advertisement copies.
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That is very cool! Excellent work!
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I like your idea of using vintage pen advertisement copies. That has potential. Now to look for them.
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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.wor...-july-2017.jpg
https://cigarboxpenstorage.files.wor...front-view.jpg
Click here to visit my site for more pen and ink storage options.
Re: Vertical Pen Cigar Boxes Project
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!
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Re: Vertical Pen Cigar Boxes Project (2)
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.
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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.
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That box is lovely. Please keep showing us your projects.
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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!
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Making a grid this evening.
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Great work! :)
I think the rules are a perfect criteria to a quality outcome.
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