Hi all, need some help please!

[kraneface]

Hey guys, my name's Nick, love the site.. and all things wood.

I'm currently researching natural/sustainable alternatives for packaging and am very interested in wood. But in this age of plastics i've had a lot of trouble finding information.

Is there a section of this forum which wooden container making would fall under? Or if not, does anyone know of any sites which deals with this technology? Ideally I'm looking for alternatives for glass and plastic bottles, so in my head I see a slender wooden cylinder container.

If anyone can help me on my quest and point me in a direction I will be very grateful... my google searching has proved fairly unsuccessful. I only managed to find university sites with restricted access and some press releases about the boom in wood shipping/crate packaging

Thanks guys

Nick

[joe greiner]

For cylinders of a standard size, you might consider salvaged newsprint cores from newspaper printing plants. Very strong cardboard, and usually available daily or weekly, sometimes free or at very low cost. Modern printing presses change rolls automatically at full speed, and there's usually substantial paper left on the predecessor roll, which has other uses. You'll have to compete with other gleaners, of course.

Carpet suppliers also have similar rolls available as "trash."

Cheers,
Joe

[artme]

G'day Nick and welcome to the site!

I often see woden cable spools lying around but never take a lot of notice of exactly where they are. Electrical and telecommunications stuff. Think obout new housing developments.

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum.

[Scorp]

What do you want to "contain"???

[munruben]

Welcome to the forum. Interesting question but as mentioned above would be easier to help or make suggestions if we knew what you are trying to contain or pack.

[ian]

G'day Nick and welcome to the site!

I often see woden cable spools lying around but never take a lot of notice of exactly where they are. Electrical and telecommunications stuff. Think obout new housing developments.

one of my mates spent a long uni vacation dismantling electrical cable spools -- his comment was never again.
apparently a typical spool is held together with more nails than yu can poke a stick at.

[ian]

Hey guys, my name's Nick, love the site.. and all things wood.

I'm currently researching natural/sustainable alternatives for packaging and am very interested in wood. But in this age of plastics i've had a lot of trouble finding information.

Is there a section of this forum which wooden container making would fall under? Or if not, does anyone know of any sites which deals with this technology? Ideally I'm looking for alternatives for glass and plastic bottles, so in my head I see a slender wooden cylinder container.

If anyone can help me on my quest and point me in a direction I will be very grateful... my google searching has proved fairly unsuccessful. I only managed to find university sites with restricted access and some press releases about the boom in wood shipping/crate packaging

Thanks guys

Nick

I know of no sustainable alternative to glass or plastic bottles. Nothing beats those two for shipping relatively small quantities of liquid and they can both be recycled. Paper containers need to be lined with plastic or wax which makes recycling very problmatic.
Of course if you're shipping a hogshead or three a wooden cask is an option.

as for dry goods, a recurrent issue is the weight of the container vers the weight of the contents. Wood is an option, but more usually cardboard is lighter and more easily recycled.


If this is for a school assignment, PM me and I'll send you a full citation.

[Fanfrolico]

Bamboo comes in slender cylinders (of many sizes).
F

[Sebastiaan56]

I'll echo Ian on wood for packaging food. Plastics are cheaper, easier to produce and provide more protection for the contents. Think air, light etc. Paper is recycled wood fibre that can be reused numersour times. One you cut a piece of timber into two bits you can only cut it into smaller pieces if you get my drift.

[kraneface]

Hey guys thanks for the info and welcomes, lost track of my post here.

Bamboo.. great idea Fanfrolco.

I'm curious on all aspects of packaging because I operate on a 'we should have as few factories as possible' philosophy.

I'm looking for a way to distribute my natural liquid soaps, I have since decided wood will likely not be used, however bamboo could have some use. I like glass, but thought my customers might prefer a lighter container without risk of breaking, for larger amounts. I'm currently looking into waterproof fabrics and rawhide

[joe greiner]

At one time, sheep's intestines were used for "containers" of a sort.

Cheers,
Joe