If this carries on, I'll have to change the blog to an exclusively 3D-printed item blog. What a state of affairs...
However, 3D-printing lends itself so well to the creation of items to hold stationery that it was probably inevitable that I'd find myself reviewing quite a few products from this category. After all, if young fountain pen enthusiasts such as Calvin of Ink-A-Pets are using this technique, it's probably going to be a feature of the hobby going into the future.
The pen trays featured in this post are simple, yet effective. Who wants their collection rolling about, loose (DUM DUM DUUUUUUUM) and at risk of scuffing? The larger pen tray below solves this problem - it will fit in a drawer and keep all the seven pens it holds in place so they can't rub against each other. You could also fit the tray into a box (maybe an old ornate cigar box?), on a shelf, on a desk... really, anywhere you can fit it.
All the contours of the tray are well-executed and don't look shoddy. I like the minimalistic design that lets the pens shine - this rainbow of TWSBIs is even more beautiful because of the quiet black background. At the same time, 3D-printing lends a glossiness to the tray that looks lovely - ruined only by the vast amount of dust that immediately covers the surface.
It's plastic. It's a dust magnet. But you can't print with metal, so we'll all just have to buy a few extra dusters and deal with it, unfortunately. I wonder if the plastic could be coated with something that wouldn't attract so many motes?
Small fluffy particles aside, the seven-pen tray is brilliant for anybody who really needs to start organising before their desk keels over under the weight of 'just one more' writing instrument.
If you have a somewhat more sensibly sized collection than most of us in the pen community, or you want to display your pens singly, the smaller, colourful pen rests could be better for you. These are designed like the pen tray, but with just one section rather than seven.
They're built just the same way, solid plastic that looks good and will hold even the chunkiest pens.
These are simple products but useful to prevent any damage to your pens. There's not much more to say about them as they are just pen trays, but the smaller ones do have a lovely colour and will surely be handy for keeping your desk neat!