Wednesday, March 02, 2005

I Make Cardboard Boxes

After my wife, Patsy, passed away in May 2003, I needed something to do. I looked into various volunteering jobs but found most of the places in need of help were too demanding for my freedom.

My neighbor told me of a place near me that manufactured cardboard boxes. Like most of us, I had never given any thought at all to where these boxes actually come from. They always seemed to be laying around, maybe not the exact size I needed but some I could make use of. So, I gave them a call and stopped by. I wasn't really looking for a "job" but more something to do.

Well, this "cardboard box making place" turned out to be just what I was looking for. It was a small 2-man operation that needed on-and-off part-time help, so I joined up with them.

In a small operation the cardboard box you see everywhere begins with a sheet of cardboard similar to a sheet of plywood, somewhere about 50 inches by 91 inches. The size depends on what you want to make.

First step is to cut the cardboard to the proper width. They use a standard table saw for the first step. Usually you can get two or three box "blanks" out of a sheet, but that varies a lot.

Next step is to use a "Box Machine" to cut the blank cardboard with slots and creases so it can then be folded into the shape of a box.

Finally, the ready blank is manually folded and run through a glue machine. When the glue is good and dry, you have a box. We bundle them into batches of 20 or 25 and they are ready for you to buy so that your move will go off without a hitch or the "stuff" you want to store in the basement will stay together or the package you need to mail to Aunt Millie will get there in one piece.

Oh, yes, the BIG GUYS have all this automatic machinery that they use. By the time they get it all set up and tested they have wasted more cardboard that we use in a day. But, we can't make your order for 600 or 1000 boxes and they can.

We have our 'nitch' and make a place for you to get that few boxes you need and we can make a box for you in just about any reasonable size you need.

So remember the next time you need a few good boxes there is probably a place in your town like the place I work at in Peoria Illinois. I work part time forThe Box Manufacturing Company in Peoria.

Bill

1 Comments:

At 4:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very interesting... sis

 

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