I'm looking for...

[YPF]

Decent strut backs and white boxes. I'll elaborate:

Strutbacks - happy with MDF but need to have an adjustable strut that clips onto one of two metal bars appropriate for landscape or portrait.

White boxes - to put completed frame into for customer to carry away using integral carrying handle. Sizes can be variable, any excess taken care of by using polystyrene/foam blocks.

I hope that makes sense.

Is anybody able to point me in the right direction?

Steve

[Roboframer]

Strutbacks - http://www.borderframes.co.uk/
http://www.borderframes.co.uk/corp-backoptions.htm

[YPF]

Robo,

Thanks for that.

Steve

[Vix]

Steve

regarding your white boxes with carry handles. You are going to need a die cut box for this.

A die pattern will cost anything fromapprox £175 upwards initially then you'll have the cost of the boxes to add to this. You'll probably find that a minimum order quantity of about 200 would be required to make it cost effective for the manufacturer to set the die cutting press up.

I have some proto-types of such a box that i've been working on now for some time but as I said the production costs make this type of box quite expensive to produce and many people are unwilling to pay the cost.

I personally don't know of anybody who keeps these type of boxes ex-stock and you'd have to have them manufactured by a box company, which as I said previously can be very costly.

Anyway if I finally manage to crack the design and find a way to make them cost effective then 'i'll post some images if anyone is interested.

Vix.

[stcstc]

what about cutting them on a cmc?

i make small boxes all the time for shipping frames etc

[Not your average framer]

You didn't mention the size of these boxes, or how thick the board for these boxes need to be, so I'll make some assumptions and give you a possible suggestion.

A few years ago, I used to buy bundles of cardboards offcuts called "mill ends" from a packaging supplier and he bought them from a paper mill. When a paper mill makes lengths of board, to be supplied as standard length rolls, there are generally left over lengths too short to produce a complete roll of standard size. These are usually cut up, stacked and sold by the pallet load as mill ends.

The price is amazingly cheap, but availability depends upon what the mill has to produce at any particular time, so you may need to carry some minimum level of stock to allow for this. The mill ends I used to buy were 1.5mm thick double kraft linned grey board, or double white lined grey board depending on what was available.

I used to use these for backing mounted prints for my earlier business which was an antique books and prints shop. I used mills ends because they were the cheapest board I could buy anywhere. If you've got a CMC and are willing to make your own boxes, mill ends might be worth looking into. They are cheap to buy, but you will generate waste to be deposed of too! So don't forget to consider what to do with the extra waste, if you intend to produce large quantities of these boxes.

[Vix]

I looked at using a CMC a while ago for producing short run boxes but found two disadvantages.

1: Size. You will be very limited to the size of box which can be produced because of the bed area, even on an XL machine.

2: Waste. The waste you would get on a cmc would make the boxes even more expensive to produce per box than having a die made, reason being on a die two patterns can be made side by side (obviously depending on the box size and the width of the sheet material). Therefore limiting waste.

The other thing is that if you're looking at a box to take anything the size of say a 20" x 16" frame then you'd be better off using a double walled board. Most CMC's if not all will not cut a BC flute board due to the thickness because they can't be clamped.

Cardboard is one of those raw materials at the moment which is increasing in price rapidly. Prices have increased on sheet material by at least 40% since this time last year and there's just been a further increase since the beginning of the month. You'll probably find that most businesses who use sheet board are now cutting down their waste to an absolute minimum and 'mill ends' are not as readily available as they used to be. Plus you'll have to source the plastic handles to go with the boxes.

[YPF]

Thank you all for your replies. I suspect the box thing is really a no-goer given the costs of dies etc and the variety of sizes needed. Having said that that, I know they are available having seen some at a photographer's studio recently, unfortunately photographer was not going to tell me the name of his supplier.

Steve

[CanvasChris]

Maybe the 'tog got them when he bought the product?

Kaleidoscope include one of the boxes you are on about with every thing they sell. Couldn't get the supplier out of them either when I asked. It's their own design.

I reckon these are going to be around the £7 - 8 mark each as a 'one size fits all' solution.

Wish I could find the very same box without the tooling set up and at a reasonable price..