I don't build the piano, just the case to put it in

Back in the eighties I worked for my brother framing houses.  His favorite reminder, for himself and anyone else we may have had working at the time was "we are not building the piano boys, just the case to put it in."

These words have echoed in my head many times over the past dozen or so years that we have been working eBay at a more or less serious level.  Handling small items is easy, bubble wrap and filler, sometimes doubling up or fitting a couple standard boxes together accordion style.   The fun comes in figuring out the best way to construct shipping cartons for larger items like lamps and furniture.  Art work, especially pieces framed in glass also present interesting packing problems that I have developed strategies to overcome.  Just like framing houses with Justin back in the day, brought inside the shop and reduced to an old man’s scale.

Took a few snap shots in the packing department recently.

A pair of prints, metal frames with glass.  Masking tape to hold the glass in place if god forbid it were to shatter in transect. Shrink wrap anchors each item to a sheet of 1" foam.

 After separating the prints with foam spacers the package is sandwiched together face to face.

Cardboard sheet is measured and cut to form the outer shell of the crate.

 Hot glue is used to bind the package together.  This type of box construction adds significantly to the strength of the box.

I  usually make a conventional box with flaps at both ends, but with glass in metal frames I wanted to be extra rigidity to the structure.  Unlike most of my boxes that are designed to move a little as a part of the protective shell around object it is built to protect, this one had to be very rigid.  Glass in metal frames is easy to brake at the corners if the frame is twisted.

This box made it to somewhere in the USA, and we had a happy customer.