Another Packing Joke

[Bob Engelhardt]

...
I have many clamps.
...

And the nicest are those Strong Hand dual switch magnetic squares!! Now I have clamp envy.
https://www.weldersupply.com/P/650/

[JRouche]

I received a pair of Wilton bridge clamps (extra heavy duty welding clamps)
very carefully wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap inside the box. See photo:

Well the thing is. Your packer was just looking out for you. He must know clamps is all I can figure. See, I have some of those (see pic) and they are delicate lil guys. I let them hang out with the other clamps sometimes just cause. But normally they are in a heated and padded box to keep them fresh LOL!!

Those things are beasts right?? I have many clamps. Those have to be the most robust ones I have. Hey! Even the strongest tools in the shop like a lil bubble wrap too Man!! JR

[Dan_the_Chemist]

H. Ford bought Model T transmissions by the truckload, only if the supplier crated each to Hanks specs. On installation, the wooden crate, disassembled, not tossed, would fit and be used as the T’s floorboards.

It doesn't end there. The crates were ordered to be a little oversize so that the edges could be sawed off to eliminate dings and dents on what had been corners and edges. So, Ford had a lot of scraps of oak around. What to do? Ah, turn them into charcoal and sell them. Kingsford Charcoal, since 1920.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal)

[darryl]

Throwaway work surfaces from cardboard- one of my best uses for all that stuff. Corrugated cardboard is great for that. Hard to damage something by placing it on that.

Here's an interesting 'trick'- I've used glass bead tipped pins in corrugated cardboard to hold up parts for painting. It allows for paint to flow around corners to some extent rather than leaving a corner slightly devoid of paint. For heavier items you can put drywall screws up from the bottom of the cardboard, those these tend to prick through the paint layer.

Corrugated cardboard seems to work well enough when curing paint in an oven. It smells somewhat, and sometimes curls a bit, but it's a throwaway item anyway. I get most of mine from skids of woodworking sheet goods. If I'm painting outside I use it to protect the grass and the driveway.

[PStechPaul]

I order dog food from Chewy, and for a while they put two 30 pound bags in a single cardboard box with a bit of Kraft paper "packing". That must have been quite the load for the poor delivery person. Now they have been shipping them in separate boxes. I usually use the paper packing and the cardboard for kindling in my woodstove. But I also have used the large cardboard pieces as templates for cutting plywood and other materials, or as a surface on which to work on dirty and greasy items like chainsaws and trimmers. Otherwise it gets recycled - at least I hope that's what gets done with it when I put it out for "single stream" collection. I separate the cardboard and paper from other stuff, but it all goes in the same truck to be sorted at the facility (mostly by convicts on work release).

[nickel-city-fab]

I was actually joking ya know.............It would be pretty hard to damage clamps like that even if they were tagged and shipped without a box.

JL............

yeah, I know. I was joking around too.

[JoeLee]

Indeed. I am sure the mail man hates me now. You would be amazed at what fits into a flat-rate box [sotto voice]
The clamps I got are the 6-inch model with the full-length spindles, about 30 lbs each.

I was actually joking ya know.............It would be pretty hard to damage clamps like that even if they were tagged and shipped without a box.

JL............

[nickel-city-fab]

Well, it's a good thing they were shipped with a few layers of bubble or they may have been damaged during shipping !!!!! How thoughtful of the person doing the packing.

JL................

Indeed. I am sure the mail man hates me now. You would be amazed at what fits into a flat-rate box [sotto voice]
The clamps I got are the 6-inch model with the full-length spindles, about 30 lbs each.

[JoeLee]

I received a pair of Wilton bridge clamps (extra heavy duty welding clamps)
very carefully wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap inside the box. See photo:

Well, it's a good thing they were shipped with a few layers of bubble or they may have been damaged during shipping !!!!! How thoughtful of the person doing the packing.

JL................

[nickel-city-fab]

I received a pair of Wilton bridge clamps (extra heavy duty welding clamps)
very carefully wrapped in a few layers of bubble wrap inside the box. See photo:

[Black Forest]

I received 25 2k ohm resistors in a tiny plastic bag in a box about 6" x 10" x 12" nor long ago. I also commented to my wife what a waste of materials. I know why they do it from a financial and throughput position but what a waste of packing materials.

[JRouche]

Last week I ordered 2 pcs. of 3/32" x 1/2" x 18" tool steel. This is the way they arrived. The box weighs five times the contents. Three deflated whoopee cushions for packing.

JL..............

Hahaaa! That is bad as it get right Joe?

The thing is I am cheap, as deep as they get. I see all the new cardboard they sent and I would, and will re-use it.

See, I sell junk on ebay and a nice stiff piece of box suits me just fine. A box knife and some strpping tape and I have a viable container.

Yes, us Yuppies on the West do like to save a buck when we can JR

[Guido]

H. Ford bought Model T transmissions by the truckload, only if the supplier crated each to Hanks specs. On installation, the wooden crate, disassembled, not tossed, would fit and be used as the T’s floorboards.

[The Metal Butcher]

I ordered a couple hundred dollars of stuff from Shars at work one day. In came a small box. Maybe 6x8x12. But it weighed 30 lbs. Somebody had carefully rearranged it probably at least once to where all the items fit with maybe one 2x2x3" piece of foam. It was incredible. No room on 5/6 sides for stuff to move. 97% full of stuff probably. And here I thought China was killing our planet.

It may be pound foolish, but I really appreciated that.

[PStechPaul]

I think it might be possible, and advantageous, to have some custom box-making machines that could quickly make appropriate size boxes based on dimensions of the product(s) being shipped. They could be sized so that they could be stacked in a manner as to maximize storage space and allow for easy identification and handling. Long thin items like rods, pipe, and tool handles could be shipped in cut-to-size cardboard tubes. But I'm pretty sure this has been considered before, and the present system must have some valid reason for its existence. Maybe the forestry products industry gives incentives for using more cardboard than necessary, at the expense of trees and proliferation of trash in landfills and oceans. Fortunately, cardboard is very recyclable, but not too many people or businesses do so. Maybe the major shippers should also take away used packaging materials. One place where I worked said that they had to pay a considerable fee to have their recyclables collected, and it was cheaper and less hassle to just cram it in the dumpster.