SecondMoonshot

John

Figured I would start the year with a new YouTube video.  John

I have been looking for a better safer and more professional looking DIY free book mailer I can make from available free cardboard boxes and stock. I worked out this method which I think came out well and offers lots of protection and can be used for albums, puzzles and anything that is generally ridges and square or rectangular. Hope you find this useful.  I have made a few changes to the design, primarily to not have the seam in the middle but have it cover the front (or back) completely, that way the tape goes on the edge and have an additional 1” which goes under the front flap. This makes it look much cleaner, easier to seal and a nice blank space for your shipping label. I used this design to ship a signed art print which I wanted to ship flat with the mat board. It worked better than any packing option I have used prior and super rigid. Once you get the hang of the dimension offsets, it looks truly professional. And a finished book ready to ship. John

My first YouTube video review… I had to return due to a defective battery which lost its charge after 5 minutes. New one is better but still only lasts for 30 minutes, I will get an extra battery at some point. A variety of different tips are also available. John

Updated with a YouTube video of the process (refined a bit). One of the things I like to sell is original art and signed / numbered prints or any interesting print for that matter. I find that I can sometimes acquire them at a reasonable price as many resellers will shy away from these types of items as they require sometimes complex and careful packaging to ship and considered risky. I personally find that to be an opportunity and have gotten to a solid level of experience shipping pictures as large as 36” x 48” or even larger.  There are a couple things that I feel are key, first is that in order to keep the glass from breaking, you need to package the picture such that it has minimal flex in the final box. Second, layers are essential and normal medium to large pictures will have 4 layers of bubble wrap and cardboard on all sides. Of course, it is a good practice to always use corner protectors which are very easy to make yourself and I picked that up through YouTube.  My process is