In 2015 I packed and shipped my tools including a mini lathe 7x16 ?and my LMS mini mill. ?They were shipped from the East coast of the US to the Philippines. ?I worked with a broker for advise and used them for shipping and customs. ?I packed all of it myself. ?The broker said my total weight exceeded 7000 lbs. ?Some household goos but most of the weight was tools. ?Then in 2020 I did it again all in reverse moving back to Maryland.
The lathe, mill, and table saw were all packed in plywood boxes. ?The bottoms and ends of the boxes I used 3/4¡± plywood. ?The sides and top I used 1/2¡± and 3/8¡± of which I happened to have on hand. ?When using plywood there is no need for the ISPM-15 compliant stamp. ?I used 2.5¡± screws to attach the ends to the bottoms and 1.5¡± screws for the lighter plywood. ?The machines were through bolted to the bottom of the boxes and all movable parts secured. ?I sprayed all exposed metal with Bosheild. ?The shipment going to the Philippines took almost 5 months. ?Returning took a little longer because waiting for containers due to Covid. ?
The main thing to remember like others have mentioned is to secure the lathe to the bottom of the box/crate and have to loose parts to move around. ?I did not use any filler because I felt my boxes were secure enough without. ?I am about 300lbs and my boxes had no issue supporting my weight standing on the or stacking. ?My tools arrived intact with no breakage or issues after each shipment.
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On Dec 13, 2023, at 1:58 PM, mike allen <
animal@...> wrote:
?I did spray foam for custom computer packing for 2 years in the
70's? ( yea I'm that old ) . If ya plan to go this rout make sure
the lathe is secured to what ever ya use for a packing base . Use
hardware that is protected from loosening & double/triple
check that? the hardware is tight & cannot come loose . Use
locktite , double nuts, aircraft nuts or smash the bolt so the
nuts cant back off . Ya can remove them at destination with a
hacksaw ( see ya already have a metal working project at yer new
place ) .Make sure whoever does the spray foam double wraps teh
lathe before spraying . If done properly Customs can remove the
foam to inspect the unit & they wrap it back up .
animal
On 12/13/23 10:40 AM, Chris Albertson
wrote:
? Was also thinking I could build a decent container out
of aluminum square tubing and sheet welded together for almost
as much as the plastic boxes.
That is the wrong approach. ?You do not need a strong-walled
container. ? What is far more important is to keep the lathe
from moving within the container. ? It must be 100% immobilized
and not allowed to move. ?Spray foam is the best for that unless
you are willing to wire-cut and laminate polyethylene foam. ?
That is only justified if you have hundreds of lathes to ship so
you can reuse the wire cut patterns.
Even if you built a welded steel box, the lathe would be
destroyed in shipping if it were not immobilized inside the box.
? May as well use cardboard with full-thickness poly sheets on
all 6 sides as it is cheap and affective.
