Arrrgh pen portfolio anger here

[sumterdad]

Ok so my wife bought me a leather pen portfolio for 12 pens for christmas. I proudfuly put my pens in it and took them every where with me. Even sold my first 50.00 pen:biggrin: Well yesterday at out club meeting I noticed that the pen I made on fri night, (see previous post about 500 post to see pen)
had little indentions in it. Then I got to looking at my other pens and all of my acrylic ones all have them now. So now I have to take them apart put them back on the lathe and resand and repolish have any of you had the same problem. I think I am gonna try and make a pen case out of wood. Do any of you have any plans you can share. I have a idea in mind and I am not too terrible with making things but if I had some specs it would be alot easier.

Thanks in advance for all your advice

 

[StephenM]

Is it elastic that holds them in place? Have you tried just sticking the clip through the elastic and not the whole pen?

 

[arioux]

I have quit using these for the same reason. I remember seeing a post a year ago about those portfolio. Many turner had the same problem with lacquer or CA finish but i never heard of them damaging acrylics pen.

 

[sumterdad]

I will try the clips through the elastic, after I fix them.

 

[PenMan1]

There is a fairly simple fix that will keep this from happening.

Get a roll of 1 inch Velcro. Use strips of the "hook" Velcro on either edge of the case, then use the soft "loop" Velcro to make a seat belt to hold the pens in place without using the elastic bands.

For top and bottom portfolios, I recommend 2 "seat belts", one near the top of the pen and one near the bottom.

Not a perfect solution, but better than elastic. The elastic puts a ring so deeply into PR pens that is almost necessary to "overturn" the damaged pen to sand out the ring. DAMHIKT!

 

[Parson]

Chris, cigar boxes with the fuzzy inserts for the cigars make great pen display and storage boxes. Visit a cigar store and have a look at the various brands in the humidor and ask them if they'll save them for you when they sell out, or if they have any extra boxes with the inserts for sale for a couple of bucks.

 

[Seer]

Mine is a large case from WoodnWhimsies and I just went through it and none have this, albeit the loops are not super tight but the hold the pens by the clip also.

 

[Jgrden]

I have two large leather cases to carry the pens. They have worked just great. I am careful with the bands and new pens so that they do not stick to the bands. It has been the easiest way to transport the pens in safety and allow me to take them to businesses to show. I do understand your dilemma and would like to see the portfolios. Perhaps you would like to sell them.

 

[Tanner]

Is it the narrow elastic bands that is causing this problem? I have a leather pen binder that has the wider elastic bands that holds the pens in place. It seems like the wider bands wouldn't damage acrylics or a CA finish as it's wide and not really that tight. I have not left pens in there that long so I'm not sure if it would damage pens.

I know some of those pen boxes used for gift boxes have some pretty tight thin elastic bands that hold the pens in place. Now I'm worried that if I stick a pen in one of those boxes that by the time the gift receiver takes the pen out of the box, there may be an indentation around the pen where the elastic band was. Has anybody had that problem with those gift boxes?

 

[Jgrden]

Aha !!! it is the narrow bands. Now I see and agree. Don't want them either.

 

[Carl Fisher]

Hrmm, that's a bit worrisome as my presentation boxes use narrow tight fitting bands. Pens are alright in my regular binder so far but it uses two sets of wide bands (top and bottom) for each row. Now I have to worry about what happens when I put it in the box to give someone

 

[gbpens]

When I carry pens I use a rather large oak case 15x20x1. The inside is foam covered with grey velvet. The tops are glass in a 3/4 inch frame held on by simple latches. Any heavy pressure, wide or narrow, will leave indentations in finishes. I use these at shows for display purposes.

 

[PennedDown]

Another thing that you may want to check is if the pens from the opposite side are resting on the other pens when you fold it and zip it shut. I have several of the portfolios and what I do is place pens in every other slot on one side and the same on the other. That way you don't have pens basically stacked on top of each other when the portfolio is closed. If you were to say set it in your passenger seat and then in haste throw something on top, you'd have a less likely chance of damage. Granted you have less storage, but I do this with my higher-grade pens to carry with me.

 

[JohnU]

Ive had this problem with cases in the past that have the wide elastic straps. I currently have a case that has a small round elastic string that holds the pens in place and have had no problems. The string hits most of the pen at the center bands and doesnt touch the pen body. I havent use it with any wood sierra pens but it has been fine with the acrylic sierras. Also, my previous problem was with lacquer finished pens and not CA, which I use now.

 

[sumterdad]

yea I am looking into either making my own box to carry, or buy a nice one.

 

[patmurris]

Not sure it may be related, but i'm using two such portfolio - one 24 pens and a small 8 or 12 one. I only used them for 7mm designer kits i did when i started pen turning and haven't noticed any damage - which does not mean there isn't, i'll have a closer look now.

Anyway, one thing i got worried about is the zipper that surrounds the thing: when you insert or remove a pen it tends to brush against the zipper and that could be a source of scratches. I need to pay attention to this and it's somewhat annoying to think i may damage my pens by using this folder.