Need advice on crating

[mophead]

Hey all. Think I may have the Lexel 95 sold. Kind of makes me happy and sad at the same time.

I need advice on prepping, crating and shipping this beast cross country.

My woodworking skills are very lacking, but surely I can make a box (don't laugh, my wood skill is crap)

[mixedgas]

lexels go in two boxes, PSU in one, head in the other.

The outer box is 5x the volume of the head at least.

Its tightly packed in solid foam, with a inner cardboard box, then about 6-8 more inches of foam, then the outer wooden shell. The inner cardboard box can "wiggle " a bit to decouple motion from the outer wooden box.

A LOT of foam, and a heavy inner box.

Steve

[rgb-gas]

yea what steve said also make sure no H2o !!
i add window washing won't freeze fluid
it may get cold on it's way
let me know if you do not sell it
i love lexel argons

latter jeff

[sugeek]

I was just talking to another PL member about this (clandestiny), he mentioned cones at the end of the crate so the laser cannot be tipped end to end. If that happens the magnet can go and break stuff...

-Adam

[mixedgas]

I was just talking to another PL member about this, he mentioned cones at the end of the crate so the laser cannot be tipped end to end. If that happens the magnet can go and break stuff...

-Adam

The cones are usually tough steel soup or mixing bowls about 8-12 inches in diameter with their rims screwed to the box. One good trip to Pier One and you have two of them.

TIP n TELLS or G loggers are cheap insurance, and so is painting this end up, and having feet on the bottom of the box for a forklift.

This is a video of a lexel box...

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=.../1/aDrIAn24c_s

His other video is a spectra , I DONT like the spectra box he is using.

I usually put gentle foam blocks between the brewsters and the floor of laser on SP stuff, but not on lexel. Its a art to pick the right foam for the brewster, you might want to skip that.

I flush the tube with a ounce or two of antifreeze after blowing out the water with compressed air.

On a lexel PSU , remove and ship the two glass relays or place them in their own box inside the psu. Label which is which prior to removal.

I rarely paint GLass Fragile on Boxes, that seems to translate to Please Use me for Game of Forklift Football.


Steve

[dsli_jon]

Hey Doug! -

All dead-on info - thought I'd toss you a pic of a Spectra Physics 'OEM-style' 171 crate, as an 'example' - relevant to Steve's points, because a 171 is bascially a 5' glass tube - inherently, a lot more 'delicate' than a Lexxie - what SP does is bolt the head into the wooden box, inside, then it 'nests' into this foam surround - see how there is plenty of space, just in case some drunk fork-driver skewers the side? - you still have a chance of the head not getting it... For the PSU, double-walled box-in-box, w/ wood-shell, IF it is going really far (International, etc) and a base-plate of wood, with risers for the fork...



For a Lexxie, like Steve said, you could likely use a double-walled cardboard box, and see if you can use layers of medium-density foam (check locally for a foam/fabric shop - you can get large chunks on the cheap) for the 'inner layer' then, 'hi-density' for the outer-layer - this gives it some 'float' like Steve said -

If this gets all-too 'pricey', you could always do the box-in-box design, and just 'suspend' the inner-box in a sea of 'peanuts', as long as you had at least 8-10" surrounding all-sides, and it was densely-packed...

I was just talking to another PL member about this, he mentioned cones at the end of the crate so the laser cannot be tipped end to end. If that happens the magnet can go and break stuff...

..Like this...



Also, good advice - Coherent did this for the I-400s - these-days, the more protection you can afford (since that extra cone will add to the shipping dims / cost) the better - putting FRAGILE!! and GLASS!! means very little, these-days, since most people don't READ anymore!! And you can make a 'pyramid' quite easily, for both ends, vs trying to find a suitable cone...

Anyhoo, hope this helps...
peace..
j

[mixedgas]

Oh, and pick the right shipper. usually every thing gets bundled and strapped on a skid, and you make the laser crate tough enough to take some serious weight on top. Truck freight works well

Notes DHL = Doesnt Handle Lasers UPS = OPPS

Lexxies are tough.

If your allergic to crates, often times local crate shops/shipping brokers can make a decent crate or shipping box faster then you can and at a competitive price.. Just make sure its double boxed.. Some times a customer would like a road case... Or already has one..

Spray IN foam for the outer box can often be found cheaper in town.

Home depot has a nice assortment of hard foam, often cheaper in 4x8 sheets then the foam store.


Oftentimes you can find a laserist or medical laser tech or trucker going cross country, and thus get gentle treatment..


Steve

[clandestiny]

what did i miss mophead? why the sale?

[VJ AIWAZ]

i have used these guys to send a ton of video equipment (never sent lasers )
but they only deal with the entertainment / touring industry so they know how to move delicate equipment

http://www.soundmoves.com/home.html

[mophead]

Hey Guys, I really appreciate all the great help. Surely to goodness I can build a wooden box. lol.

The reason I'm selling it; Some cat that works at Berkeley physics dept and LNL contacted me via youtube and said his had died, not enough grant $$ for new, blah blah. I did some checking and don't think it's a scam -phone numbers, names, ip's and email addys all seem to check out ok.