• April 2025 Turning Challenge: Turn an Egg! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Kelly Shaw winner of the March 2025 Turning Challenge (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to Ellen Starr for "Lotus Temple" being selected as Turning of the Week for 21 April, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Safely Transporting Vases

Randy Anderson

Randy Anderson

Beta Tester
Beta Tester
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
982
Likes
1,538
Location
Eads, TN
Website
canthony.gallery
I'm looking for ideas or examples of how to transport vases and hollow forms. I sell at local craft/maker and farmer's markets in the area and am looking for a better way to transport them. More and more of what I sell are vases with a gloss finish and range in size from small 7" up to 24", some skinny, some wide, etc. It's a challenge to box them up with towels, bubble wrap, etc then unpack, setup, then repack for the trip home without risking them banging together, rubbing on each other on the trip or dropping them (which I've done). Bowls are still a lot of what I sell and they're a lot easier. Some washcloths between them and stack them into a plastic tub. I've learned that riding in my truck the constant vibrations from cardboard will act like fine grit sandpaper. I'm considering a large plastic tub with some dividers out of foam board, hardboard lined with felt, etc. Not sure but I know I have to do something. I took 15 vases to a show today and the hassle and time to load, unload and reload is not working.
 
I feel your pain. I rarely take more than one or two "highly finished Gallery Quality" pieces to farmer's markets - not only because they like to get dings, scratches, and scuffs, but people handle them so frequently (They are, after all, very attractive) and then fingerprints (and sticky who-knows-what residues, hopefully just food...) left behind. So my "gallery pieces" actually do go to a gallery , I might take a piece (or two) that needs special handling just as a "show piece" to attract traffic to the booth, but they almost never sell at the markets (They usually sell , sometimes within hours of placing it at gallery, at the gallery though.) I have no constructive suggestions for you, for that reason, but I do know where you're coming from...
 
How much does that liquid packing foam cost that is squirted in a bag and expands around whatever is in a box? I usually see it with a heavy electric motor packed in a box. Could reuse if the vase doesn't sell. Found this. Little cashy. Or make them similar shape so you could reuse the foam and box for different ones.


 
Last edited:
Brian, the large pieces are really eye candy to attract folks over at most of my markets. The discretionary spend potential of the audience typically puts them out of reach but, I do have a couple coming up where they could sell. I don't have any in a gallery yet but I'm working toward it.

Sam, thanks - I may look at that stuff for my online sales but, hard to beat a roll of bubble wrap and a stack of the air filled pouches that I keep around from things shipped here. For local shows I'm looking for a good bit of size and shape flexibility to handle the various shapes and sizes I have and be used over and over.
 
Not knowing enough details but loving to solve problems the first thing I thought of would be a rack. Could be made of wood or pvc, with vertical pipes or dowels arranged on a base or frame so that you could invert the vases on them. A snug fit could be ensured using pieces of pool noodles or pipe insulation. Space the vertical pieces far enough apart to prevent contact but as close together as possible. Get to the show, pull the vases off the rack, slip thrm back on to go home.
 
Mike, now that's a concept worth spending a bit of time looking at. Also potential to have the vertical supports in a grid, wrapped in soft foam, that I stand them up between. Some small, some med, some large. Thanks... hadn't even considered the concept. That's why I asked.
 
Last edited:
For shipping and moving fragile pieces is use sonotubes the concrete forms. Bubble wrap around the form slide into the tube.
Foam in each end of the tube, The tubes come in various diameters.
For shows I put the pieces I want to open the show with in large plastic tubs with tops. These I wrap in bubble wrap.
Have the boxes of not in the intitial display packed by type. Similar style forms in the same box so I can pull out the ones to restock.
 
I pack everything into 2 large totes with wheels and 1 smaller tote for my small things. I pack the bigger totes in layers. I start with a towel then a layer of larger hollow forms with a little space between. Then I work a few towels in between and over followed by another layer. I use beach towels and old sheets for packing material. Bowls I load in stacks larger at the bottom to smaller. I drape a towel then place the next bowl then fold the towel over that one. Then smaller things get packed around the stacks of bowls.
 
Randy Anderson said:
Sam, thanks - I may look at that stuff for my online sales but, hard to beat a roll of bubble wrap and a stack of the air filled pouches that I keep around from things shipped here. For local shows I'm looking for a good bit of size and shape flexibility to handle the various shapes and sizes I have and be used over and over.
Click to expand...
Make the inside shape standard and just put soft window sealer foam (it also comes in sheets) to take up the voids from the different shapes.

I'll shut up now :rolleyes:
 
I individually wrap each piece in an old t-shirt. Smaller pieces I can use a portion of a bed sheet. I can collect 3-5 pieces together in large shopping bags (the ones with handles) and they survive a 20 mile drive easily. Some decisions on packing order (like heavy pieces on the bottom) need to be made. I can add a few extra t-shirts for extra packing if necessary. I like how I can arrange these bags in the car, they can go in the trunk or the back seat, nestled next to their neighbors, they can be fit in the car better than crates or boxes. I usually stack the bags in a single layer. Bags are snug against their neighbors and are very stable. If I was going to use a truck, or had so many pieces that I had to stack in two or more layers, boxes make more sense, but I am a big fan of a t-shirt layer to protect a glossy finish.
 
I settled on large (16x20) bubble wrap bags. Cheap online and can easily double them up one inside another if needed for a heavy vase. Doesn't matter if the top extends outside the top really, as long as where they touch each other is protected. Sealed on three sides, slip the vase in and can then stand them up side by side in a plastic tub for transport.
 
When we go to our shows, we wrap all of our turnings-bowls, shields, hollow forms in tee shirts. We pack them in plastic storage tubs that fit in our vehicle. At shows we wrap the turnings in news print and give them to the customers in brown paper bags. When mailing items to customers we first wrap it in news print then use bubble wrap and crumbled up news print. We ship USPS flat rate and have never had a problem. The reason we first wrap in news print is that the oil in the bubble wrap can interact with the finish on the turning. We buy our news print in rolls from our local newspaper. They are the end of the roll and we can get them for about $5 a roll--they are about 48" tall with a diameter of about 11" with a 4" core.
 
Haven't noticed any marks but they're only in the bubble wrap bags for the quick trips to and from local markets. I'll keep an eye on them to be sure. The shellac finish is fairly durable to hopefully no issues.
 
I use bubble wrap to between layers of bowls, but have almost given up on the air "pillows" between the items. We have begun using zip lock bags with wood shavings instead. My suspicion is that the wood shavings will break down over time, but I seem to have a good supply that is constantly renewed. I am going to look into the bubble wrap bags though.
 
I cut off the arms of old jumpers ,tie a knot in one end and put the turning inside

I have also used socks for small objects and other clothing with arms or legs

I have found this method useful for peppermills but could be used for other turnings

Wifes and daughers provide a plentiful supply
 
Turn smaller turnings, drink more, and put those Crown Royal bags to good use.
If you liver won't tolerate and your work too large, buy a few yards of cheap fleece and ask/tell/beg your wife to sew a few bags - a draw-string is a nice touch but not necessary - leaving it a bit long is good.
Gives a subtle message to customers that the piece is "special" - a bag adds value. And fleece is a great interface between the piece and...whatever: bubble-wrap, foam, cardboard, etc.
All it takes is a sewing machine and being nice to your wife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top