Shipping antique computers

[Stefan Skoglund]

mån 2015-01-19 klockan 14:08 -0800 skrev Ian S. King:
> I have a fair amount of experience with this, too.  When acquiring a
> system, often there are a few large cabinets and a bunch of loose items
> like cables, media and documentation.  Put the loose things into boxes,
> which can then be stacked on the pallet and shrink-wrapped to keep them
> secure.  There's also a pallet called a 'gaylord' that's a cardboard box
> with a pallet base, which is good for loose items.  Depending on the
> condition of the large cabinets, I would usually ask for cardboard under
> shrink-wrap.  If there are protruding switches, I would either remove those
> switch panels, wrap them liberally in bubble wrap and put them in the
> gaylord, or if they couldn't be removed I'd use a thick block of styrofoam,
> sometimes carved out a bit, taped and shrink-wrapped to the cabinet.
> 

Look for a elevator service firm, a lot of that eq is deliverd in nicely
sized plywood boxes with a pallet like bottom so it can be handled with
normal pallet lifts.

The same for some manufacturing firms including those who occasionally
gets new kit to install. Nice and Sturdy boxes.

> One thing to ask: will the cabinets be upright the entire time?  With a
> PDP-15 I had shipped, it was far cheaper if they could ship it on its
> side.  So the seller used styrofoam to ensure that the Flip Chips stayed in
> place, and got a commitment that it would be shipped on one particular
> side, i.e. not rotated (he was worried about the power supplies ripping
> loose).  It got to Seattle in fine condition.
> 

Very important if the thing is severly top-heavy. :-) hmm considering
the hazzles an overbalanced rack can lead to.. :-( multiple times.

My old work received heating eq which was heavily top heavy. Almost
every driver who was new handling that gear had to break at least one.
That was almost impossible to alone offload safely from a lift-gate
truck. 

> There are two things about doing your own prep vs. having the shippers do
> it.  For one, if you do it you pay less money (but there is your time).  If
> they do it, there is the question of whether they are competent and/or open
> to your input.  I stopped using MoveIt when I got a crew that didn't give a
> wet slap about my instructions - it was the first time I received items
> with e.g., broken casters.  (They denied responsibility because of the age
> of the equipment!)  After that I used EMOtrans pretty exclusively, and they
> were great whether the job was from CA to WA or from Western Australia.
> 

Some drivers will destroy everything (not intentionally usually they are
to eager and impatient.)