Crating a Bronze Sculpture
Sculpture is damaged as a result of improper crating and boxing all the time. I should know, because sometimes they end up in my shop. So it is my great pleasure to introduce you to an outfit that I engage from time to time, namely: Craters & Freighters, located in Orlando, Florida.
A Quick Overview in Photos
Here’s a quick overview of how they crated an equestrian bronze that I repaired. (Photos are courtesy of Craters & Freighters)
This equestrian bronze is connected to a piece of plywood.
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
The plywood fits in and connects to a custom-made crate.
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
The sculpture is braced from below.
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
The sculpture is braced on its sides.
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
A final inspection is made, before the crate is closed.
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
The palletized crate is ready for freight shipping!
(Photo courtesy of Craters & Freighters in Orlando, Florida)
About Freight Shipping
Fedex Ground and UPS Ground have a limit on the size and weight of the boxes and containers they will carry. Delivery trucks do not have a lift-gate (or “Tommy gate”) on the back and drivers use a common hand-truck to get boxes to your door.
Freight shippers specialize in delivering “palletized loads”. That is to say - crates, boxes and containers that live on top of a pallet that is designed to be moved by a big fork-lift or a small pallet-jack. This supports rapid loading onto and off of the freight trucks, which are usually quite long, sometimes up to 50’ long. A single customer is unlikely to require an entire truck, so most freight is delivered via an LTL (“less than load”) truck service. Fedex Freight and Estes Express are examples of LTL freight truck services.
These trucks are usually too long to drive through neighborhood streets easily. Most freight is shipped to businesses that have a loading dock and a fork-lift so the pallet(s) can be quickly removed. If the business does not have a dock, it can still take delivery with a forklift.
In some areas, it is now possible to have freight delivered to a residence. You can arrange to receive your shipment within a four-hour window. You can also request an “inside delivery” and have the driver deliver the pallet into your garage. They do this by transferring your load from a long truck to a shorter truck equipped with a lift-gate on the back. Naturally, this adds to their price.
Outfits like Craters & Freighters, are full-service businesses that make the process of shipping easy for people like myself. Everything, including insurance if you want it, is on one bill of sale.