Cigar style two pen case for supersized pens

Having made a single pen case for a supersize pen I decided to have a go at making a cigar style case for two supersized pens.

The starting point as ever is a flat sheet of Kydex I have cut these pieces from a larger sheet.

After cutting the pieces I formed them around a 28 mm dowel and ended up with this.

At this point I was forced to take a break as my heat gun expired. Once a replacement was collected.

Adding suede was the next step here is one tube with suede and one without.

I think I should try to explain what I am trying to do here the tubes are 180 mm long and internal size is 27 mm. Each tube is wrapped in suede here is my first idea for joining them together. I have only made a thin strip to save leather.  The joint is hidden in the middle and there is a line of stitching the leather is wet moulded around the tubes.

There will be a second leather cover that will be fixed to the bottom and will slide off the top.

These are a very tight fit and I may have to find another way to get the tubes into the full length leather pieces. Getting the tubes into the 1 inch outer was hard enough getting them out is even harder.

There will be a delay in finishing this project as I have run out of leather.

I have decided to make the first outer cover from thinner leather about 0.8 to 1 mm thick rather than the 1.5mm to 2 mm in my original plan.

Since my last post I have dyed the cover for the tubes black and whilst wet I formed the pieces around the tubes and clamped them in place.

I will allow this to dry for a few hours and then will stitch down each side and around the bottom

Stitched all around ready for the outer cover which I will make from the leather beneath in this picture

I stitched down two edges before I started forming the leather around the tubes. I had spent some time squaring off all of the edges before I started but as you can see the edges are pulled during the forming.

I did consider making a wooden blank to form the outer cover around as I don’t want the outer to follow the shape of the tubes completely. For this case I have used the actual tubes to form the outer. Getting the inner piece out after forming was tricky but I managed it in the end. The outer cover will be cut in half to make a top and bottom pieces.

Once I was happy with the shape I dyed the outer cover black

I guess there is a very limited market for these cases did I mention it is huge 🙂

Earlier today I cut the outer cover in half giving me a bottom and a lid.

I am thinking of adding a belt line detail piece which is basically a thin strip of leather around the joint area to disguise the joint. I have added some mounting points for a thong and toggle type closure system.

As you can see the joint is good but I don’t think anyone wants to see it.

I am still undecided about the joint and whether or not to cover it I guess I will wait and see.

Managed to get outside and take some better pictures. Inside nice bright red suede

A supersize case needs a supersize toggle / pen rest so I have started to make one with wide cups for the supersize pens.

I had previously soaked this toggle in the ebonising solution but have sanded quite a lot of wood off so it is now soaking again to return it to the black colour.b

I had not noticed the marks on the front of the case they are straight so not likely to be natural so I have soaked the outer covers and using dowels and a bone folder I have attempted to smooth them out tomorrow will tell.

Here is the case after drying for 48 hours most of the marks made during the forming process have now been removed. One of the problems of making a case like this is the shrinkage during drying. There is a small gap around the joint the obvious solution is to add a band around the joint.

While thinking about the next step I have made and ebonised the oak toggle

This is the back which has also had some minor marks removed

I have added a band around the centre join unfortunately I decided to make it in two parts and trimmed the edges flush with the sides of the case. This has resulted in gaps at the sides of one or two mm.

I think I may replace the band around the centre it needs some thought.

Making the joint cover is not too difficult I cut a strip of the same 2mm leather which I skived (thinned)  to around 1 mm thick. Once cut to the correct size I punched stitching holes and then soaked it in water to allow it to soften to mould it around the base section of the case. I stitched it in place and left it to dry.

In this picture you can see the inside of the joint the extra thickness is visible at the top centre of the case.

Now that the joint ring has dried it will maintain this shape I have thinned the over lapping pieces of leather and applied some glue to hold it in place until it is stitched together.

After applying some black dye to the centre band I have attached it to the case.

Here are the final pictures.

Thanks for looking

Michael

I would like to share the following post by the FPN member who purchased the above case.

Imagine you wanted to buy a luxury car, but on a middle manager salary. You poke around online and maybe check a few dealer lots out. You are thinking you can maybe afford a new low end Mercedes e-class or maybe a loaded up Toyota Avalon and some gas money. Then you spot something that looks a little interesting. You get a few photos. The dealer seems legit, if not one of the “big names” everyone has heard of, so you give it a go and pick one off the lot based on a few photos and some hope. You wait about a bit for delivery, and a week later a transport truck pulls up an offloads a vintage Bentely with hand built coachwork and opulence to spare. Holy moly! How did one get so lucky as to be able to wrap their loved ones in luxury and a solidness that cannot be found in a modern pretender to the throne?

So that did not happen with a car, but a pen case (and that is why I am posting it here). I had seen one of Michael’s pen cases on an MB thread and he mentioned he was thinking of listing it. I reached out but had no funds at the time. Michael, being a gentleman, gave me one final opportunity before offering the case to others. We were able to reach a deal that made me happy, and, I hope, kept him for strongly disliking me.

It was actually only Tuesday this week when I stumbled onto this thread, and I read the ENTIRE thing. Basically, any free moments in line, while eating lunch, while warming up baby bottles, while pretending to sleep – all working my way to this post and watching with amazement as the craft and generosity of Michael was laid out through time. Today my case arrived. It was already highlighted here in previous posts so I will not rehash the details.

I bought this case because I have some rather large Japanese pens that need a special and safe home for transport to the office. However, I wanted to get some pictures up so I had to use the pens I had on hand.

First, the case. Notice how you can’t really get a grip on the scale of the case without much to guide you…

Here are two pens inside. They seem to me like a small child wearing his father’s suit. Or like little animal eyes peering out of a log…

What are these small pens I was using at work today? Turns out, not so small – a Pelikan M1000 and an Omas 360. But, look how small they appear when laid on top of the case. This is a mansion ready for giants.

More photos to come with pens that are more likely to live their life in the case.

In the mean time, thank you to Michael for the case and continuing to share so much with this community. It is people like him who inspire me with their art while aslo making me feel guilty I don’t do more with my life.

#pencase #Fountainpencase #Leather #leathercase #custompencase