November 18,
2011: How
NOT to pack a mirror
Luckily
I haven't held off too long writing about this.
That is, luckily no clients that have sent me improperly packed mirrors
have had one damaged in transit.... YET.
The operative, important, and emphasized word in the previous sentence
is YET.
If this type of shipping keeps up, it is inevitable that one will be
damaged on its way to me eventually.
So,
since I hadn't posted an update lately, when I received my latest
shipment I got that "sinking feeling" in my stomach, and I knew I had
to write an update.
On the exterior, everything looked fine - no damage to the box - but as
soon as I saw the package I knew there was an issue.
How did I know, you might ask?
Well,
when the UPS driver handed me the package, I knew there was a 16"
mirror inside, and I could tell right away the box was not nearly as
big as I would have liked. Luckily I saw no damage on the
box, so
I signed for it and took it into the shop.
The photo below shows
what it looked like when I opened it. "Features" of the
packing
are listed on the image, and an 18" ruler is wedged into the cardboard
flaps just above the mirror for scale. There was some
cardboard
and another piece of squishy foam on top of the covering of the mirror,
pushing it against the coated optical surface.
All things indicated on the image are problems:
- The
loose covering on the mirror can shift around, rubbing dust and grit on
the coating and scratching it. It was not taped on at all,
just
set on top of the mirror's surface, and was pushed on by another layer
of squishy foam.
- The
squishy foam allows the mirror to move around under rough handling,
subjecting it to possible damage and increasing the movement of the
loose covering. Empty space allows the mirror and foam to
move
around, possibly loosening the packing further.
- The
secondary mirror wedged in the corner could be damaged by the primary
smashing into it during rough handling, or the foam could be dislodged
and the secondary could end up bouncing against the primary all the way
to the destination.
- The
box is less than 18" wide, which is too small for this size of mirror.
See how I
pack mirrors in the next installment
of "In the Shop".
Mike
Lockwood
Lockwood Custom Optics
