# Pen cabinet



## LouisQC

Finally had some time to complete the construction of my pen cabinet. It holds 98 pens.

Quilted makoré, with Wenge highlights and drawers pulls.

Beside the cuts, it's done by hand tools. Lots of handplane and scraper work. That quilted grain is nasty to work with for a newbie). I practiced alot on the cabinet. The miter joints are biscuit jointed, The wenge highlight is of course rabbeted and handplaned to the proper dimensions. The back is baltic birch dressed in makore veneer that I sliced myself. The drawer pulls are mortices and tenons. The drawer backs are tongue and groove jointed. Drawer front are handcut half-blind dovetails. About 90 hours went into this cabinet (at least 30% for the dovetails alone... hey I'm slow  ) The only piece of metal are brass screws to hold the wood drawers rails on which the drawers slide.

Two coats of Wipe-On poly to seal the curly grain and two coats of Tung oil to add warmth. The only left to do is to line the drawers with a nice fabric, and that's another piece of work itself.








Sorry, the fabric is big enough for pen photography but I'll need to buy a bigger piece...










Nice tight dovetails, done by hand. The drawer is 1 1/4 inch high. I only applied the finish on the dovetails to highlight them. The rest of the side is bare.






I'm happy it's done, and very happy with the outcome. I learned a lot during the project as well.


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## drayman

very nicely done louis, i would line it with some nice leather, mmmmmm


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## BigShed

Very nice looking pen cabinet, you did a great job on the dovetails as well.

That timber has a beautiful grain pattern and you have made the most of it.

So, how many pens does it hold at present?


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## hewunch

How about the inside of the drawer? The outside looks FABULOUS!


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## LouisQC

BigShed said:


> Very nice looking pen cabinet, you did a great job on the dovetails as well.
> 
> That timber has a beautiful grain pattern and you have made the most of it.
> 
> So, how many pens does it hold at present?


 about 25 currently. I don't turn that much, too much stuff to do (like that cabinet and my upcoming workbench).



hewunch said:


> How about the inside of the drawer? The outside looks FABULOUS!


 The inside is not covered in fabric yet, that's why I did show it yet.



drayman said:


> very nicely done louis, i would line it with some nice leather, mmmmmm


Not a bad idea.


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## thewishman

Absolutely beautiful!!! Great looking and functional, too! The makoré is awesome.


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## rjwolfe3

holy cow that is beautiful, what does the inside of a drawer look like?


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## Darley

Very nice I like the quilt of the wood, well done for the work


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## RichAldrich

Awesome work.  Great pictures.  Can't wait to see the inside.  I am sure it will be just as nice as the outside.

Rich


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## alamocdc

Beautiful craftsmanship, Louis! And the dovetails look great.


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## wdcav1952

That is a masterpiece, Louis!!


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## wood-of-1kind

Looks fantastic and sure to become an heirloom piece.


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## TBone

Holy pen case Batman 

That is one fine piece of craftsmanship. Great job on the dovetails. Heck great job on everything from where I sit. :worship::worship:


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## nava1uni

Beautiful work.  If you send it to me I could line the drawers for you and try it out to see how it works holding pens.  Just a thought.:biggrin:


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## PaulDoug

You really did an outstanding job on that.  Beautiful dovetails.  You are a craftsman for sure.


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## marcruby

Whew.  Nice work.  Now if I ever had 90 pens around at one time... >

Marc


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## brycej

That is really beautiful Louis. Great job.


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## wood-of-1kind

Lois,

would you kindly reveal a photo of one of the drawer slides? I'm curious to see how you did these. Thanks.


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## LouisQC

I'll post a picture of the slides and inner drawer later tonight.


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## edman2

Out of sight Louis! Best looking pen case I've ever seen.


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## wood-of-1kind

LouisQC said:


> I'll post a picture of the slides and inner drawer later tonight.




Thank you.


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## Boomer

Nice piece.


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## flcad2000

Ok, I must be doing something wrong, because I can't see any picture.


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## flcad2000

Ok, I couldn't see the picture at work, but I can at home. Strange, must be a setting on the work computers.


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## airrat

Very nice, great job.


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## el_d

Sweeeeet..... Gotta see the inside


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## Buzz

Stunning!  Like others, I can't wait to see inside the drawers.


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## workinforwood

Ditto to everyone else...it's impressive!


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## LouisQC

Thanks everyone. I'll do my best to grab a pic of the inside and the details of the sliders. Still a bit on the fence on the inside lining, velvet or leather...


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## Darley

Best things to do Loui is to get 2 draws and in each one of them put a piece of leather and velvet, personally I like the light grey velvet look at my tutorial for the pen tray in 2007


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## VisExp

What a great looking Pen Cabinet!  Your craftsmanship is excellent!


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## gwilki

Extraordinary work, Louis.


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## ahoiberg

awesome! i can't wait to try something like that... hopefully it will come out half as nice as yours!


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## LouisQC

Finally, for those who requested more pictures.

Now, the drawer lining is not installed yet so what you see is the bare oak ply. The drawers sliders are made of purpleheart. At first I wanted them t be Makoré as well but it was strong enough. The rails slide into the drawers in which I have routed a stopped dado.


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## redfishsc

Louis, that is absolutely stunning work! Your combination of woods and craftsmanship make for an outstanding piece of work. 

I have a couple of wooden display boxes I made of varying sizes, and have found that using your own craftsmanship to display your own craftsmanship will sell your pens long before you ever open the case. Customers seem to see the case, get a good dose of "ooooh la la!" and they are already hooked on your work. 

That display you have will do exactly that!


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## Hosspen

Very fine craftsmanship and photos!


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## VisExp

Once again, great work.

I made some drawer slides similar to those on a sewing table I made for my mother in law.  With a bit of wax, I was amazed at how smoothly they functioned.  A lot cheaper than metal guides as well.


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## Jim15

Beautiful, great job.


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## BigRob777

Nice work.  It's good to see veneering done here.
Rob


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## toolcrazy

That is gorgeous, nice work.


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## stolicky

WOW.  Great job.


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## JohnU

Top Notch Craftsmanship!  Love the finish, dovetails, and contrasting woods.
Ive been wanting to build one for myself but Im betting Im even slower so I keep putting it off. I finished the inside of a jewlery box with velvet and 3m spray adhesive ( NOT FUN ), so its memories help postpone my want.


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## desertyellow

First rate work all the way.
I am dully impressed.
Excellent


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## ehickey

Nothing less than fantastic work.
I really dig the quilting.  Really catches the eye.


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