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Get it there in ONE piece |
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| PRELIMINARIES… Our patient for the box doctor today is an oversize $1000 bill with poker chips and cards destined for Chicago. The outer dimension (O.D.) of the frame is 26’ X 48”. Note… If your item to be shipped requires glazing, and you have the option to use acrylic instead of glass, do so. Keep in mind that all the little precautions add up to a successful outcome. |
1). Inspect, clean and do your final touch-up’s.
2). Use some thin foam or small bubble wrap on your frame corners (under the corner protectors) to avoid any marring, sometimes caused by the protectors themselves. |
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3). Secure corner protectors onto your frame with banding film, more commonly known as “stretch tape”. If you don’t have this product, GET SOME. Stretch tape not only holds your corner protectors on, it protects the frame finish, allows you to bundle mouldings or spacers in the shop, holds problem corners together while glue is drying, helps keep length moulding from warping, plus a million other uses. |
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| 4). Measure the outer dimension of your piece. Our project including the corner protectors is 26 ½ x 48 ½. 5).Cut 2 pieces of cardboard that are 2 ¼ inches larger all around than your piece i.e. 28 ¾ x 50 ¾. 6). Use the cardboard as a stencil to cut your 1” thick foam pieces. These can be scored with a sharp blade and snapped or broken off since your blade will not cut completely through. |
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7). Tape the cardboard(s) to the foam(s) using masking tape.
These are
the front and back pieces of your box.
Put them aside for now. |
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8). Measure the thickness or height of your
piece (our example is 1 ½” high).
Cut cardboard pieces that are the height by whatever your longest side is. We will be using 2 pieces that are 1 ½” x 50 ¾”. These are your 2 long sides. Repeat step 6 with these pieces. |
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Measure the distance needed to get to the opposite outer edge. Cut cardboard to that length by the same height as before (1 ½“ Our example requires 2 pieces at 1 ½” x 26 ¼” to make the short sides. Repeat step 6 again with these. |
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11), Lay your piece in the opening and pray that you don’t see it again (most important part this project). |
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12). Put your top piece on, and this time with filament tape, come from the bottom, up and over the top. Re-enforce your corners horizontally also with the filament tape. |
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13). Using the box sealing tape, cover the filament tape making sure to extend over the ends. If there is a weak point in this project, it will be that the filament tape tends to give way starting at the ends, with dust on the cardboard or temperature and humidity changes generally to blame. Completely covering the filament tape with box sealing tape will alleviate this problem. |
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14). Apply box sealing tape to every place you see foam meeting cardboard all around. This will seal up the box nicely, protect the contents from the elements and add a final bit of re-enforcement. 15). Using a black marker, make a line all around the box where the top foam meets the side cardboard. Make a reference on the box that says… “To open: Cut along black line only”. When the black line is cut, the top will be easily removed, leaving the contents face up, and the rest of the box intact. |
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HEY!!! Don't forget to sign our GUESTBOOK before you bail.
