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Shipping help

rmuniak

rmuniak

Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
39
Likes
1
Location
Brecksville OH between Cleveland and Akron
Website
www.muniart.org
In a huge quandry. Have to ship 4 pieces to a gallery in Hawaii.. The piecesare delicate as in this one http://www.muniart.org/2669/index.htm and the size is tight for priority usps which is by far the cheapest way to go. Around $100 as apposed to $200 by ups and fedex. The problem is I have to keep my dimensions for the girth plus lenght under 108". The pieces are 24' in diam. and 6" high so the box can only be around 28 square and 10' high and I would like to ship them safely.Should I build a 1/4 plywood box with some foamboard on the inside or outside clad it with cardboard, screw the piece to the backside and fill with peanuts. Any suggestions?
 
If you can find a place in your town that has one of the spray foam shipping devices ask them if they will make a box for you. I did that here. They spray in the foam and put layer of plastic down, put your piece in that has been wrapped in plastic, put a layer of plastic over that, spray more foam, put layer of plastic over it and shut the lid. The foam expands and fills all the spaces. I had in incredibly delicate piece packed that way and watched in horror as from the plane as it was packed. The guy litterally tossed it onto the loading card. The piece was fully intact and survived the trip home as well. I wish there was a way to find those places. I got lucky and a friend worked there other wise they probably would not have done it.
I shipped another fragile piece by making custom styrofoam supports with soft foam tops. This fully supported the piece inside one small box. Then that box was placed in a larger stiff box with eggshell foam between the boxes. That worked well also.
I don't envy people who have to ship. I've heard too many horror stories. Maybe I've been lucky or maybe I just haven't shipped enough to get caught yet.
 
FedEx Ground to HI suggestion

I work for a shipping company and have shipped bowls and other turned pieces all over the world or done the same for customers with good results using FedEx ground and express. I would skip the peanuts part and go with a foam insert.

If they were mine I would ship each piece in it's own box and insure each of them for the retail value.

You can ship FedEx Ground to HI which is less expensive than Express. One drawback to the USPS is the lack of real time tracking.

I build a box with a frame of 1X2's and luan plywood screwed and glued together or double box it with cardboard boxes cut to size. Put the piece in the inner box in a plastic bag and then fill it with foam. You should be able to pick the packed box, shake it and nothing should move or rattle.

Put an extra copy of the shipping label in the box before you close it.

The maximum weight and girth is up to 150 lbs.; up to 108" in length, 165" in length plus girth (L+2W+2H).

I recently had a bowl destroyed when I shipped it to Australia using the postal service. The bowl was delivered in a different box, cracked and scratched.
 
I second the plastic bag and foam injection molded to fit. Rigid around the piece, flexible between the rigid and the container sides.
 
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