Pen Organiser

It can be an annoying having your pens lying around on your desk. This pen organizer will keep them all in one place, so you know where they are and make it easy to select the one you want.

While this project was made from beer cans which had easy to peel off labels, it could also be made from regular soft drink cans.

Five empty beer cans.

Glue

Tools:

File (course bastard seems to work well)

Box cutter knife

Scissors

180 grit sandpaper

1. If you are using beer cans with easy to peel off labels, peel off the labels to expose the shiny aluminum.
2. Use a 'course bastard' file to file off the top of 3 of the cans.

While my preference is to file the top off aluminum beer cans, you may be able to use a different way. I have found the 'army rations' style opener can work quite well by tearing the aluminum in front as you work around the edge of the can. Some filing may still be required after removing the top.

Once the tops have been removed from 3 cans give the edges a bit of a sand to make them nice and smooth.

You may be tempted to use your standard can opener to try to remove the top off an aluminum beer can, but I have found them not to work very well as they are designed for tin cans and tend to damage the softer aluminum cans or not work at all.

Two of the cans will be made taller by adding a bottom extender. This is made by cutting the bottom section off an aluminum can and inserting it on the bottom of a can which has previously had its top removed.

You well now have 3 cans of different heights. This will make it easier to select pens from the different cans.

Align the 3 cans next to each other and apply glue along where they touch each other. Join two cans together and then when the glue has set add the third can.

I used a clear contact adhesive with the brand name of 'Tarzan girp' but the 'uhu' brand also works well.

Pens come in different heights and so you may like to add a some 'packing' to the bottom of one or all of the cans so the pens will appear above the can's rim. This can easily be done by placing some screwed up aluminum foil into the bottom of the can.