Getting ready for the new setting season

[timmsyrj]

Winter is almost upon us so I've been preparing for the long dark winter nights when I'll be in the collection room setting what I've acquired over the last few months, though I've still got loads from the last 4-5 years to do.
I have re-organised my setting board shelving and re covered the boards ready and today I took delivery of a new batch of storage boxes that I've been using including a larger model, see photo's below..


The newly covered setting boards, my boards are 25mm hardboard with a groove machined in them, these are 150mm and 100mm wide and 400mm long. The covering I use is 10mm foamcore board, which is basically plastezote sheet between 2 sheets of white cardboard.


Close up of foamcore board.


The new setting board rack


The new storage boxes, 20 of the larger A3 paper ream boxes and 48 of the smaller A4 boxes.

Attachments:

[timmsyrj]

The storage boxes are not airtight but they are very lightweight and good visibility all round and any signs of pest I stick them straight in the freezer for a few days. I've also found that mites and beetles find it very difficult to climb the slippery plastic sides, they can't get a foothold like they can with wood.

All in all, this lot, 20 A3 boxes + 48 A4 boxes + 20 A1 sheets of foamcore board (I use 5mm board in these) came to around £300 and has given me around 65 square feet of storage which is around 30 standard entomological drawers at 18 in x 18in size which would cost a bit I'm sure.

Rich

[timmsyrj]

This is my storage set up for these new boxes, built around my original home made cabinets which have severed me well.


The drawers in the cabinet bottom left are 30 inches wide to give you an idea of scale.


There are a total of 170 A4 boxes in here and 20 A3's 10 of which you can see bottom left, the other 10 are below these in the first picture.


Boxes on this shelf are stacked 10 high, 2 stacks wide and 2 stacks deep giving 40 per compartment. The top self are 6 high x 2 wide x 2 deep giving 24 per compartment.


My Asian graphiums.


Probably my best box from this compartment. Especially with the pair of tenebrionis.

[cabintom]

Thanks for sharing your storage set-up! Gives me some ideas of what I can do in the future.

[Deleted]

I have well over 700 specimens to set over the winter, not looking forward to it.

[timmsyrj]

To be honest Dunc, I've probably got somewhere in the region of 5,000 paper specimens, in about 60-70 plastic boxes in the freezer but ive been short of space, I'll have a busy winter setting loads of those out and filling those new boxes.
I'm impressed with the A3 boxes, they are a new product from the company I get the A4 boxes from, they work out a little expensive when compared to the A4's, one A3 is twice the size of an A4 but you get 48 A4 for £85 whilst the A3's are £160 for 20 boxes, for an extra £10 you would get 96 A4's which is 21/2 times the storage capacity.
They are 55mm deep, so would be great for beetle collectors also.

Rich

[bugboys3]

Thanks for sharing the great ideas Rich. I am in the process of trying to design a simple and inexpensive way to store my cases. My cases are 24 inches x 24 inches.

[obiwankenobi55555]

Again from me, thanks for showing your "place for peace", and very nice equipment indeed. For this large setting board rack and cabinets you must have very large room to store everything Again very nice.

[Deleted]

Rich, where are the storage boxes from?

[timmsyrj]

Trade secret Dunc, I can tell you, then

www.westonboxes.com

Rich