I need a refresher course on packing a turntable for shipping

danger boy

In about a week.. i'll be shipping out a turntable I'm selling... it's been years since I last packed up a turntable for shipping. I do know the basics of shipping electronics.. but as you know.. turntables.. esp 22 lb ones take extra care.

so here is a brief description of some basic things I was going to do.

1. remove the platter and wrap separately in bubble wrap
2. remove the cartridge and place it in a secure hard case with the stylus guard in place.
3. separately wrap the dust cover in bubble wrap
4. ? how do I then wrap the base and the tonearm?
5. when packing in a box. make sure the platter is far away from the dust cover and the tonearm. basically wrapped and inbetween two thick flat pieces of styrofoam.

my biggest concern is the tonearm and the base itself. The base is heavy wood... but the tone arm is delicate. I maybe should remove the tone arm too and wrap separately.

i'm open to any and all suggestions... esp those of you peeps who have shipped multiple turntables.

thanks DB

skipf

Remove the tonearm and wrap and box seperatly. Ideally, ship base & platter in one box, dust cover, tonearm and cartridge in another.

danger boy

ok. i should have taken pics of the turntable packaging.. this was a top notch job If I do say so myself.

first off.. the platter comes off and goes inside a box padded with foam.. simple and clean and very secure.. it ain't going anywhere.

next up is the dust cover. again it gets foam padding wrapped and placed inside a sealed box..

next up the table itself. I attach styro foam to the tonearm and base of the table.. so it can't be crushed. I wrap the whole thing in bubble wrap. oh yeah, I removed the cartridge and wrap it up good too. Place that inside a box and seal it up.

all three boxes then go inside another larger box. measuring 20x20x20 all wrapped in brown shipping paper.

whew.. took nearly three hours to wrap all that stuff. weighs in at a hefty 35.5 pounds :eek:

and it was only a 12 lb turntable

NOT!

wingnut4772

Local pick up only?:D

danger boy

the buyer of my turntable was extremely pleased with the turntable and impressed with the packing job i did.. man, foam peanuts work wonders for shipping don't they? :eek:

JK!

here is the email he sent me:
I received the turntable today. I’ve left you feedback. I am extremely pleased. Your care in the packaging was fantastic. Though the turntable is no match for my Technics SP10, it comes amazingly close and at a fraction of the price. It’s playing right now. Now I can send off the SP10 for repair of the start switch


*no foam peanuts were used or harmed in the shipping of thise turntable

mrbigbluelight

I see you've already successfully shipped it, but I was going to suggest a big box and rock salt. You want to keep things from moving during shipment.

danger boy

mrbigbluelight wrote: »

I see you've already successfully shipped it, but I was going to suggest a big box and rock salt. You want to keep things from moving during shipment.

rock salt? seriously or you just pulling my leg??


actually my super secret weapon for securing electronics for shipping are those foam mattress pads. I had two used ones in the garage.. i cut it up to size and suffed the hell out of one of them surrounding each part of the turntable. it was encased in foam on all sides.. with each part also incased in foam and bubble wrap.

mrbigbluelight

I was just kidding.

Rock salt wouldn't be that good of an idea. I think. Although ....