Drawers or Organizer for Pens, Paper, etc. non plastic

[Ivan R]

Hello friends. I need more order and easier accessibility for my supplies. I am looking for your ideas. I don't like plastic crafting drawers because they don't open and close easily. I am looking for products or hacks I haven't thought of.  i have spent a few hours on researching and haven't been happy with what I have found yet. Thanks for your ideas!

[Andrew Davies]

I suppose it depends on the sizes of things you are looking to keep tidy. My dad used to have an old hand printing press with movable type that was set by hand. The old type-chest drawers were good for organising small items and it would be relatively easy to make from strip wood a grid-style set of dividers as an insert for an existing drawer. That would work for nibs if you weren’t using small boxes or tins.

[AAAndrew]

One hack I can recommend is for dividers for pens. I have a wooden chest often called a Machinist's Chest as they are often used to hold the small, delicate tools used by machinists, to store my fountain pens. Instead of plastic dividers in the drawers, I took stiff, good paper and folded it accordion style and put the pens into the valley folds.

I like this soooo much better than plastic. They are easily replaced, don't damage the pens, and you can even label what goes into each valley.

The machinist chests can be very expensive. I ran across one at Costco that was quite reasonable, relatively. It's called the TRINITY TWM-3501 Wood Toolbox if you can find it somewhere else. The drawers are fine for fountain pens, but several are not quite long enough for dip pen holders.

If money was no object, my dream cabinet is the Tennsco 2085 steel letter-size thirty-drawer cabinet. Perfect size to store my large steel pen collection, plus different papers, pens, etc... It's also over $500 delivered. It's a commercial-grade cabinet that would way outlast me.

Andrew

[darrin1200]

These are known as a Journymans tool chest, and they do make a great storage chest. Down in the US, a good place to get an inexpensive knockoff, is Harbour Freight. They always have discounts in their email flyers, to get it even cheaper.


https://www.harborfreight.com/eight-drawer-wood-tool-chest-94538.html


If there is no budget, then you should go for the original of these chests.
These are handmade in the US for over a century, and you can get it in just about any configuration.


https://gerstnerusa.com/products/

[K-2]

LOL - "the well appointed desk": jam jars & mint tins for the win. Paper & card stock in open-cabinet bins below.
 Storage solutions really depend on how much stuff you have and how readily accessible you need it to be.  It would drive me bonkers if I had to open a drawer every time I needed to grab a different pen, brush, nib or tool; I like everything where I can see it.  And my spouse is very tolerant of my hamster-cage workspace. ymmv.
ps - a spice rack/cabinet makes for great ink bottle storage.

[AnasaziWrites]

These are known as a Journymans tool chest, and they do make a great storage chest. Down in the US, a good place to get an inexpensive knockoff, is Harbour Freight. They always have discounts in their email flyers, to get it even cheaper.

I've been buying from Harbor Freight off and on for years, and have found the simpler the item, the better the buy. A furniture dolly (I've bought several), for example, just a square of wood, padded, with 4 wheels, works well and is easy to fix any initial problems. The more complex an item, the greater frequency of problems and harder to fix. The mechanics chest pictured here has a number of things that have gone wrong, according to the reviews, such as stripped screws, misaligned drawers, even some emerging broken from the box upon arrival. I'd be cautious on this item.

If there is no budget, then you should go for the original of these chests.
These are handmade in the US for over a century, and you can get it in just about any configuration.

Oh yes, these Gerstner chests and cases are lovely. They are actually high level working furniture, and quite expensive. They are built to last generations in easy or hard conditions. They have, as you noted, been built for more than a century, and thus, there are a number of these around in varying conditions. If the price of a new one is too high, perhaps a used one might be possible--there are many on eBay.

[AnasaziWrites]

LOL - "the well appointed desk": jam jars & mint tins for the win. Paper & card stock in open-cabinet bins below.
 Storage solutions really depend on how much stuff you have and how readily accessible you need it to be.  It would drive me bonkers if I had to open a drawer every time I needed to grab a different pen, brush, nib or tool; I like everything where I can see it.  And my spouse is very tolerant of my hamster-cage workspace. ymmv.
ps - a spice rack/cabinet makes for great ink bottle storage.

@K-2
I'm more in your camp--I like to have things at hand. The pens I use are in a little carousel on the desk that holds 18 pens with the nibs I use most and nibs in the tray below it. I use mostly black iron gall ink, which is on the shelf a few inches over the desk that holds a monitor, with white, and perhaps a color that I'm working with (rare). Nibs--I have a few which I use most of the time next to the ink. The rest of them are in 3 antique nib display cases and a 60 drawer small parts chest (each drawer is divided into three sections) which is within arms reach. Paper and envelopes and stamp albums are on three open bookcase shelves, with practice paper within arms reach on its own shelf. Penmanship books are a few feet away on three open bookcase shelves. Storing all this stuff "away" would look neat, but be very inconvenient, for me, at least. Fortunately, my wife lets me arrange this one room any way I like.

By the way, where do you write?

[K-2]

@AnasaziWrites - Here's my snug little workroom.  I can reach almost everything I need from my table - which is an old, retro photo drafting table, with an integrated light box top, that I can adjust the angle of too. I like to work at an angle for broad edge, but I can put it flat for pointed pen or illustration work.  To the left, you can see my ink cabinet, which is a lovely piece of woodworking that a friend made for me in exchange for a calligraphy piece, and the string I clip pieces to while they are drying.  Papers and card stock and reference books are in the shelving below the sideboard.  The little space itself is a sunroom with glorious natural lighting, and it has a big radiator in it, so it stays warm enough in the winter (which, yes, that's snow outside - it's been snowing for three days now).

Show us yours!  (should we start a new thread for "where do you write?")

And back to @Ivan R - spice cabinets for inks, and jewelry boxes for pens, nibs, tools, and small amounts of card stock or stationery, are usually well made, often attractive, and quite cost effective.  But like AnasaziWrites says, for me, access & convenience is much more important than neatness.

[AnasaziWrites]

@AnasaziWrites - Here's my snug little workroom.  I can reach almost everything I need from my table - which is an old, retro photo drafting table, with an integrated light box top, that I can adjust the angle of too. I like to work at an angle for broad edge, but I can put it flat for pointed pen or illustration work.  To the left, you can see my ink cabinet, which is a lovely piece of woodworking that a friend made for me in exchange for a calligraphy piece, and the string I clip pieces to while they are drying.  Papers and card stock and reference books are in the shelving below the sideboard.  The little space itself is a sunroom with glorious natural lighting, and it has a big radiator in it, so it stays warm enough in the winter (which, yes, that's snow outside - it's been snowing for three days now).

Show us yours!  (should we start a new thread for "where do you write?")

And back to @Ivan R - spice cabinets for inks, and jewelry boxes for pens, nibs, tools, and small amounts of card stock or stationery, are usually well made, often attractive, and quite cost effective.  But like AnasaziWrites says, for me, access & convenience is much more important than neatness.

@K-2  Very nice workspace. What great light and everything at hand.

regards a new thread on the topic, there have already been several, most notably this one:
https://theflourishforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=169.0
Perhaps you could duplicate your post in that that thread (or @Erica McPhee could move it over if you want). I can't remember if I posted to that thread, but I will soon, as the thread is quite old (but full of nice photos of work stations), and my work station has evolved over the years.

[Ivan R]

Thanks everyone for the replies, the photos, and the links. I now have some new items to lust over. I did go ahead and buy this https://www.stampnstorage.com/drawer-cabinet/. Not cheap but didn't break the bank. Can't seem to figure out how to reply to individual posts here. I'm out of Ashland Oregon. Personally I need my space to be organized and I'm willing to sacrifice some at-handness for that. Clutter just ain't my thing. I am really very appreciative of all your taking the time to respond.

[jeanwilson]

I had forgotten about this post on my blog that covers my pen and marker storage system.
The plastic drawers are hard plastic and they slide in and out very easily.

http://pushingtheenvelopes.blogspot.com/2019/01/pen-and-marker-storage.html