# Storage of pen blanks



## JosephDurham (Sep 30, 2012)

For those of you that work with numerous types of woods and acrylics, how do you store your blanks?  Just keep them all in a box, cabinet, et cetera.  Id liketo see some pictures of how you store yours.  Im working with so many different types that I have them labeled in boxes, and I purchase around 100 each time.

Thank you,

Joseph


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## JosephDurham (Sep 30, 2012)

Add to that your pen kits.

Thank you,

Joseph


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## Jim Burr (Sep 30, 2012)

I have tupperware totes...25gal size maybe? Cut them down to size if needed, then lable a 1 gallon ziploc, add blanks and stack up my totes. Think I have 3 full? Acrylic and the like I keep in the house, 120* in the shop during the summer and that can cause an issue.


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## Gary Beasley (Sep 30, 2012)

You will have as many different ways as you have penturneres. I have some of mine in bins on wire shelves, some in a cubby style shelf over the lathes, and some I've milled from local wood stacked in ricks on another wire shelf. Thats not counting the blocks of burl I have tucked away here and there.


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## mredburn (Sep 30, 2012)

i use medium priority flat rate boxes to store the blanks. Racks to store the different lumbers. Its stacked on top of tool cabinets, the sanding cabinet, etc.


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## beck3906 (Sep 30, 2012)

Here's mine. I still need to make another pass to reorganize everything. Decided I want a diferent arrangement. Bins and shelves from Northern Tools fairly cheap. Wire frame shelves from Lowe's.

Home-made shelves to organize the acrylics. I gather several to keep a good supply should someone want something.


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## MrPukaShell (Sep 30, 2012)

beck3906 said:


> Here's mine. I still need to make another pass to reorganize everything. Decided I want a diferent arrangement. Bins and shelves from Northern Tools fairly cheap. Wire frame shelves from Lowe's.
> 
> Home-made shelves to organize the acrylics. I gather several to keep a good supply should someone want something.



No we know where you came up with the "3906", must be the number of blanks you keep on hand


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## its_virgil (Sep 30, 2012)

12 drawers in these two cabinets full of blanks. The pen kit cabinet came from a remodel down the street.

I need to learn how to send pics via my phone. Don't know why they ended side ways.

Do a good turn daily!
Don


Sent from my  Samsung Epic using Forum runner


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## bradh (Sep 30, 2012)

Just gutted an old sterio speaker cabinet. Divided the inside with left over laminate flooring, mounted on the shop wall.... presto, a blank storage rack


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## papaturner (Sep 30, 2012)

I do not have a photo of my blank storage but this is my kit storage.


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## Rick P (Sep 30, 2012)

I have a seperate building for wood, antler and bone. Blanks get shipped out almost as soon as they are cut. My personal stock is stored on a rack in the shop. I keep maybe 50 blanks on hand..........


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## hunter-27 (Sep 30, 2012)

beck3906 said:


> Here's mine. I still need to make another pass to reorganize everything. Decided I want a diferent arrangement. Bins and shelves from Northern Tools fairly cheap. Wire frame shelves from Lowe's.
> 
> Home-made shelves to organize the acrylics. I gather several to keep a good supply should someone want something.


I am jealous. :crying:


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## beck3906 (Sep 30, 2012)

hunter-27 said:


> beck3906 said:
> 
> 
> > Here's mine. I still need to make another pass to reorganize everything. Decided I want a diferent arrangement. Bins and shelves from Northern Tools fairly cheap. Wire frame shelves from Lowe's.
> ...




Don't be.  I may need to be featured on Hoarders.


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## CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI (Sep 30, 2012)

*My pen blank and kit storage device*

Ken,

While I was a document security technician years ago, I spotted this lovely silver 8 drawer file cabinet on an underground loading dock for too long.

Asked the maintenance supervisor about it.  His reply was, someone was supposed to haul that off a long time ago.  Been here too long, back your truck up to the dock and it'll be loaded up when you finish your service work.

It's obviously a pre-practical computer information storage device.  It has 8 drawers, about the standard height of a 4 drawer file cabinet.  It was made to store file cards in the 5 x 7 size, two across, with a metal divider front to back down the middle of each drawer.  Many office furniture companies produced these years ago.  

If you're in or near a decent sized town, you might stumble upon one in a used office furniture store.  I'd think they'd be motivated to move it because it's of little value to most people these days.  State and local government clearance departments, or even large companies that have gone out of business sales, auctions.

One of these days I'm going to come up with sides for the drawers so I can increase the capacity.

Hope this is of use to you.

Charlie


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## navycop (Oct 1, 2012)

I saw a thread where someone was using storage cases. The ones with the slots for CD's. They put a board as a divider and hung it over their garage door..


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## dogcatcher (Oct 1, 2012)

Ace hardware was changing out their dealer for nuts and bolts.  The new dealer was furnishing the new display bins.  I bought 24 of them, I store supplies, blanks, nuts and bolts everything I can in them.  Each bin has 6 compartments, so I have 144 places that are 6x6x11 drawers.

They looked like this but without the top flat drawers, now I have them stacked on 3 areas of the shop.


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## PTsideshow (Oct 1, 2012)

I have a couple of those draw unit as above, and the tray sliders with the plastic boxes that are above them. Haven't found a permanent spot for them yet in the redoing of the shop.




Don't know if I will keep the bottom row or remove them depends on the height the new/used Delta lathe is and how much free room between the bottoms of them and spinning stuff.




I am a fan of the wire racks from Lowes etc. They are great for the canned goods and other stuff plus buying a short stacked set with casters there was enough parts left over so I could make another tall one. This one will be all wood storage at some point.




Resin, Corian, wood and other blanks stock on a couple of shelf's




Another wood shelf above the mini lathe location for the larger blanks.
:clown:


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## triw51 (Oct 1, 2012)

I am sooooo jealous



dogcatcher said:


> Ace hardware was changing out their dealer for nuts and bolts. The new dealer was furnishing the new display bins. I bought 24 of them, I store supplies, blanks, nuts and bolts everything I can in them. Each bin has 6 compartments, so I have 144 places that are 6x6x11 drawers.
> 
> They looked like this but without the top flat drawers, now I have them stacked on 3 areas of the shop.


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## Holz Mechaniker (Oct 1, 2012)

And here is how I do it


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## dogcatcher (Oct 1, 2012)

Holz Mechaniker said:


> And here is how I do it



I also have the shoe box system to go with the nuts and bolts bins.  At last count, I believe there were 39 plastic shoe boxes stacked in the shop.  Problem with then is the one I want is always on the bottom layer.  These hold my callmaking supplies and finished calls along with my reloading equipment.


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## Holz Mechaniker (Oct 2, 2012)

I showed my SWMBO the pictures in this thread. I quote her, "Honey I am sorry that I said you are a wood hoarder. BUT DON'T Think for one minute that you have carte blanc to expand."

She'll Learn.


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## LL Woodworks (Oct 2, 2012)

Man - if I had half as many blanks as some of you - I would have all kinds of trouble making a decision of what blank to make the next pen    It is hard enough now and I only have about 30 blanks on hand.  I guess the positive side is - they are easy to store.


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## brownsfn2 (Oct 2, 2012)

LL Woodworks said:


> Man - if I had half as many blanks as some of you - I would have all kinds of trouble making a decision of what blank to make the next pen    It is hard enough now and I only have about 30 blanks on hand.  I guess the positive side is - they are easy to store.



LOL.  I am with you.  I got up to 50 blanks in stock recently and I thought that was a large amount.


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## beck3906 (Oct 2, 2012)

I think of my supply like a bank... An investment for the future.  :biggrin:


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## rherrell (Oct 3, 2012)




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## NittanyLion (Jul 10, 2013)

My shop has expanded from half the basement, now into my kids playroom.  Walking through it tonight, I have the large wooden dollhouse full of blanks(each room makes a great divider), the paint and play desk with 4-half cherry burls, toy box full of spalted maple, and my daughters old teachers desk full on top and in drawers of blanks.  Also, the treadmill I'm supposed to be on every night is currently holding some whole maple burls and a box of jack Rich's blanks.  Works for me.....


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## 76winger (Jul 10, 2013)

Briskar said:


> My shop has expanded from half the basement, now into my kids playroom.  Walking through it tonight, I have the large wooden dollhouse full of blanks(each room makes a great divider), the paint and play desk with 4-half cherry burls, toy box full of spalted maple, and my daughters old teachers desk full on top and in drawers of blanks.  Also, the treadmill I'm supposed to be on every night is currently holding some whole maple burls and a box of jack Rich's blanks.  Works for me.....



Well, at least the treadmill is getting used... 

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner


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## jfoh (Jul 10, 2013)

I use a lot, and I mean a lot, of clear plastic shoe boxes with lids. 384 total boxes at last count. On the end of each box is a printed label that explains what is in the box and you will see this is vital to my system. A few have several different items in them and are listed as such. Quick visual ease of what is inside is vital for large number of boxes. These boxes are stacked three high and four wide on large shef units  bought from Lowes. They have four shelves filled with the shoe box size containers for 48 per unit and two 18 gallon bins on the top shelf. The shoe box holds 30-50 blanks depending on size and the 18 gallon holds up to a few hundred each. The shelves are filled to the brim and there are eight units of them.  

I have until now refused to count blanks for fear of being forced to come to grips to my pen blank addiction but here goes. Best guess is north of,  well, a lot. Figure 30 per box, times 12 boxes per shelf, times four levels, times eight units. That comes to 11,520, but it  might be higher as there are a lot of boxes with more than 30 in them. Of course that does not include the blanks in the 18 gallon bins and there are 15 or 16 of them.  These are filled with blanks that I have bought in large quantity over the years like buckeye burl or maple burl or spalted oak or maple. Perhaps 4-5,000 more blanks. Then there is the flat stock that has not been cut up into blanks yet. Or bowl blanks bought with an eye of cutting them into blanks. And do not get into the odd acrylic blanks stacked on their own shelf but they can not be over a hundred total so they do not even need to be counted.  

OK call it 15-20,000 pen blanks if you like. But I do not have a problem. I just like blanks. And I do not have too many of them, yet. Perhaps I should include wine stopper blanks which are like fat pen blanks if you want to split hairs. Maybe 3-400 tops. Duck call blanks are similar but I do not have more than 300 of them. Pepper mill blanks are less than 50, so that is not too many. Now if you want to include gun stock blanks I might be in trouble because you could get a lot of blanks out of one of them. I had 300 before I started culling them, not including my secret stash of about fifty really "special" ones and I am sure that number is down to at least 275 by now. 

My wife recalls my hobby when I had fifty or less blanks on hand. Ten years is a lifetime in some hobbies. Now understand the out of pocket expense is zero. It, the blank cost has all been paid by sales of pens over the years. If not my stash never would have grown out to this silly level. High number of blanks does make large orders very simple. I frequently get orders for 20 to 175 pens of one type. It becomes a matter of assembly line production and I need 30 to 200 blanks to choose from for some orders. So from that viewpoint I do not have a problem, just a lot of future anticipated orders on hand.


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## edicehouse (Jul 12, 2013)

I think keeping them neat and organized takes some of the fun out of it.  You may not get the "oooh where did this come from".  

*“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” *


― Albert Einstein


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## eharri446 (Sep 24, 2018)

An empty mind.

I keep getting reminded at work clean my office, and I do. Then it takes me two or three weeks to find the paperwork I was working on before the cleanup.


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