Packing Done Right

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

My how the days fly by. Had planned to post this last summer and now it's 2015. Sheesh.

We've had a number of discussions (understatement of the decade?) on here through the years about shipping, shippers, costs, damage, etc. Inevitably it ends up with someone bashing the shipping company they like least and usually includes all the major handlers. So at least it's a fair and balanced bashing.

This past summer I received an item which really demonstrates that, barring an errant forklift tine, truck wreck, or building collapse, items can be packaged to survive without going the foam-in-place or hard case routes.

Since our daughter arrived a couple years back my time has been...well...re-configured, let's say. I have just as much, it's just used differently. As a result of that and having my AM station in a garage with no heat or A/C, on-air activity has been curtailed. My wife isn't crazy about the big gray or black metal boxes and there's no room in the house for them anyhow. She does like the old wooden broadcast sets I searched out and tinkered with in my youth. It only took about a year for me to figure out what this meant: perfect opportunity to spend time with the part of my old radio interest that had been neglected for a couple decades!

Along with getting some of my early sets working for the first time since I got them (most 30+ years ago), I've been seeking out certain sets I either couldn't find or afford, or both back in the day.

These sets do not travel well when it comes to shipping. Old, dry wood can split, bakelite panels can crack around mounting screws, tubes are far more fragile than newer versions and so on. The last thing you want is to trash an old, scarce teens or 20s set you've spent decades jonesin' for.

The following photos show that, with proper time and thought invested, it's perfectly possible to get delicate items from point A to B in one piece, regardless of the gorillas between. It's seldom cheap to do it right, but the end result is worth it.

First shots are of outside boxing, inside packing and double-boxing, with offspring added for scale. She's 37" tall.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Inside box and accessory box .....

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Contents...

[WBear2GCR]

Todd,

Obviously you got my address wrong!!! These items never arrived here at all.

But, yes, I use the double box method all the time - safe against gorillas 99.99% of the time.
However I prefer styro solid sheet on the inner box, and peanuts on the outer.

                                          _-_-bear

[flintstone mop]

Todd,

Obviously you got my address wrong!!! These items never arrived here at all.

But, yes, I use the double box method all the time - safe against gorillas 99.99% of the time.
However I prefer styro solid sheet on the inner box, and peanuts on the outer.

                                          _-_-bear

I HATE peanuts...what a mess and environmentally unfriendly........ Styrofoam yuk
Todd's shipment was well thought out.

Fred

[W1ITT]

If you are a green type and believe that styrofoam peanuts are harmful to polar bears, popcorn works as well, if not better in the inter-box region.  When I was a kid, before styrofoam peanuts were reverse engineered from an alien encounter, my uncle in California wanted his taxidermied bobcat head mount sent out from New Hampshire.  We put the bobcat into a box, dumped dry popped popcorn all around it, shook everything so it settled in and sealed the box.  That one went inside a bigger box, with more popcorn to cushion it.  And we went to the Post Office and mailed it.  Uncle Bob told us that the bobcat arrived in perfect condition, with not even one broken whisker.
It took a lot of popping, and of course the bobcat got no butter on his popcorn.  I think the springiness of the popcorn provides just the right amount of protection against bangs and bumps, perhaps even better than foam peanuts.  

[n2bc]

I don't like styro peanuts either but....  I save 'em when I get 'em and recycle with the next outbound thing.  However, to eliminate the mess, place the thing in a (new) garbage bag & tape well. 

With this approach, the only mess is on the recipient's floor, not in and on the thing.   

[W3GMS]

When I go to the shipper to buy boxes and ship the goods I go out in the parking lot to do the packing.  Most days its very windy and you know what happens to those peanuts!  So Fred, if we have a good stiff wind to the North West, you may see some of my peanuts!   Everything I ship uses new boxes that I double box with a minimum of 4" between the inner and outer box.  Never had anything damaged from any carrier in over 30 years.  

Joe, GMS    

[W3RSW]

Remember excelsior packed paper "bubbles" and long packing cylinders made same way?
Real wood? ( not counting 4x4 pallets)
Rolls of felt?
Cotten batting and cover sacks?
Draw strings?

All before everything was made out of oil.

The long awaited shipment delivered to you almost lovingly by Railway Express.
Deliveries to door only in cities.
The trip to the train terminal for the rest of us.
"There it is, just about the right size sir, over in the corner."

Ah, the anticipation for that Allied Radio Kit.

"You boys better not open that thing in my living room."
"J'hear me John?"  -- mother addressing dad.

[KB2WIG]

Styro peanuts. I just love  'em.

Run out of Q Dope? Throw a few handfuls of the nuts into ethyl acetate or MEK. There you are, Q dope. Its the right thing to do.


klc

[WQ9E]

If you are a green type and believe that styrofoam peanuts are harmful to polar bears, popcorn works as well, if not better in the inter-box region.

When I was getting my undergrad degree in the B school I recall a case about an electronics manufacturer that used popcorn as packing because it was "green" and this was many years (late 1970s) before green became so popular.  The packing material had a note that it could/should be shared with the local wildlife but after a few months the legal department made the company stop using it because of concerns that customers would eat the popcorn and of course it wasn't being shipped in a food safe manner.  It reminds me of the skit a comedian did about the person chewing the little pack of desiccant that came packed with his new stereo receiver, "what a great company, they even included a piece of gum to chew while I am hooking everything up"

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I've used packing peanuts with excellent success. Still have some that are actually green in color, too. They work was well as the white or pink ones. The trick with them as with any material, is using them properly. They work well as filler around balled up newspaper as a cushion in the outer box, but in/around the item being packed they really need to be bagged if used. They tend to get pulverized and make a nearly endless mess of raw Styrofoam otherwise.

In the case of this old set, they used new plastic air pillows between the boxes and inside the receiver. They have just enough 'give' to let things flex around without bending or snapping anything during sudden deceleration.

They also custom made a filler band to fit under the edge of the top cover to fill in the distance for knobs, etc on the front panel. The set itself had multiple layers of bubble wrap.

This wasn't done by the seller, BTW. The shipper packed it. And even though their driver ignored the words 'TOP' and 'Fragile' and all the arrows on the sides of the box when he left it hanging halfway off the top step, it wasn't damaged as a result. So clearly they understand the concept of packing well enough that the gorillas (in this case, their own) can't screw it up.

  

[AB3L]

I have some peanuts here that are starch based, they will melt when wet.

[Opcom]

Real packing costs money. Good to see that someone is happy about it. Others are quick to complain about cost and then later about the bad packing they've demanded.

[Steve - K4HX]

So... what is it?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

So... what is it?

Federal 61 Radio:

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

So... what is it?

Didn't you watch Hogan's Heroes growing up? Clearly it's a gonkulator. 

Pete nailed it, 1923-24 Model 61 from Federal Telephone & Telegraph, Buffoonalo, NY. It's currently set up as the bedside radio in the guest room, powered by an ARBE III. Works pretty well but it takes some getting use to due to the interaction between controls. I'm tempted to say my little Westinghouse RC works as well or better, but that might be unfair due to my lack of experience with proper tuning and use.

Sure looks good with the tubes lit up. They don't call 'em firebottles for nothing...

[Steve - K4HX]

Cool is the rule!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

So... what is it?

Didn't you watch Hogan's Heroes growing up? Clearly it's a gonkulator.  

Pete nailed it, 1923-24 Model 61 from Federal Telephone & Telegraph, Buffoonalo, NY. It's currently set up as the bedside radio in the guest room, powered by an ARBE III. Works pretty well but it takes some getting use to due to the interaction between controls. I'm tempted to say my little Westinghouse RC works as well or better, but that might be unfair due to my lack of experience with proper tuning and use.

Sure looks good with the tubes lit up. They don't call 'em firebottles for nothing...

Yes, I'm very smart, but the caption under each picture sort of gave it away.

[W1RKW]

that is a "cool" radio and beautiful too.

[steve_qix]

That's pretty good!

One thing - you *HAVE* to assume that the package *WILL* be turned in all directions (this side up will be ignored) and will be dropped in all directions.  My brother used to work for UPS in the warehouse, and the packages are literally dumped from the back of large trucks.  He's seen packages fall from 10 feet onto other packages.   The packing job shown here was very, very good.  Double boxing with packing material between works very well, and putting additional packing material inside of the radio was a very good idea.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

One thing - you *HAVE* to assume that the package *WILL* be turned in all directions (this side up will be ignored) and will be dropped in all directions. 

Yep, even thought it was written on the box clearly. The driver didn't necessarily bounce it around badly, he just didn't follow instructions. Then again, they're hired to move your item as efficiently as possible from point A to B, not hold its hand and babysit it.

BTW, this was packed by a UPS store in or near Bloomington, MI. They spent a lot of time doing it right to minimize the possibilities of any damage. Guess they know their drivers well, too. But it proves that it can be done right, even by UPS. They even contacted me to let me know the shipment was waiting on a larger double-walled box before it could ship, and assured me it would still arrive on time - which it did.

Pickup is always preferred with old, expensive, or hard-to-replace items. I do appreciate that you offered to pick up the old set near you, Steve. Had the deal worked out, it would've saved me a lot of fretting!

[W1RC]

If you are a green type and believe that styrofoam peanuts are harmful to polar bears, popcorn works as well, if not better in the inter-box region.

YES, I have done this too.  Works great. I always likes to follow the lead of the master of packing and shipping Boatanchors, the venerable Fair Radio Sales.  They used tightly wadded newspaper as a packing material.  I also particularly hate styrofoam peanuts with a passion and prefer styrofoam sheeting available at The Home Despot.  One of my friends works at a company that traffics in expensive mechanical devices and the boxes they toss out are triple-walled cardboard.  They really are nice and best of all they are free.

73,

MrMike

[W1ITT]

Fair Radio Sales had an even better trick than the twisted newspaper packing that they used for heavier stuff.  It was Excelsior which, for the youngsters in the audience, is a shredded wood product, sort of like shredded wheat cereal for Paul Bunyan.  It was very springy and cushioned the load well.
Years ago, K1RQG (sk) and I bought some big honking Canadian Marconi edge wound roller inductors from Fair Radio, and they arrived in a wooden crate, nested in Excelsior, in perfect condition.  I'm not sure why Excelsior has fallen out of favor, as it's natural, biodegradable, effective, and makes great kindling for the wood stove.

[WQ9E]

Some people do take the time to pack things properly.  Yesterday FedEx delivered a set of Swan 600 twins that were very well packed.  The seller built cardboard corners on each edge of the rig to provide projection beyond all parts of the rig proper and used foam to cushion the open spaces.  The power cords were wrapped and padded also to prevent them from contacting and damaging the rig proper.   It was then sealed in a plastic bag and several layers of bubble wrap were taped around it and this was placed into a tight fitting box.  This box was placed in a larger box with heavy 2 inch foam pieces at the top and bottom and along each side and then peanuts were used to fill the open spaces.   The boxes were clearly marked with orientation and very well taped.   Most packages I have received from FedEx show very little damage to the box and these two were no exception but I am confident even if the box had been roughly handled the twins would have been fine.