Unit Trays -- A discussion.

[trehopr1]

I have noticed that a few members have a unit tray system
in use with their collections. Speaking for myself, I only
have about a quarter of my collection utilizing unit trays.

I do like the "compartment style" concept to a degree but,
not for everything. Also, by the time one purchases a hardboard
bottom drawer and then adds in all the many sized unit trays --
well, you dang near have a drawer costing very nearly what a
completely foam lined drawer may cost.

Anyway, I'm rather discretionary about how much I REALLY need
them so, I'll only purchase maybe 1 drawer loaded with trays about
once every 18 months.

Now, I have been purchasing my Cornell drawers and trays from BioQuip
for years... Always, been totally happy with the quality of the drawers
and the service of the folks I speak with on the phone.

However, The unit trays still remain an ever persist perplexing issue. My
personal problem with them is the quality of what one receives. These trays
(as those of you know) can cost some bucks when you order several in various
sizes as I do and enough to fill a drawer. I would say around 50 bucks worth
per drawer based on their individual pricing at Bioquip.

So, I get my trays in and well, say it takes 14-15 to fill a drawer. Well,
nearly always I am guaranteed to find at least 3-5 which are just plain "sloppy
made" junk that I refuse to incorporate in my collection. Some of us may
not be so picky about what may be viewed as a trivial matter.

However, I'm a private collector and not an institution which seem to carry on
with little such concerns. Basically, if I'm going to pay anywhere between
2-6 bucks or more for any given tray I expect at least DESCENT craftsmanship

I have no idea if these are made by hand or on a machine but, its just always
a bother. I do not have the time or even the bother to purchase those do it
yourself kits/kinds.

Bioquip has been gracious in replacing those I'm not happy with. I have also
brought the issue to their attention at least twice in the last year. Maybe,
they figure if MOST arrive to a customers satisfaction that's good enough --
no reason to change the vender.

So, my question here is do any of you fella's know of a better outfit to buy
more consistently "better made" trays. Or, is this matter just the way it is
no matter who you buy them from...

Thanks for your ideas or comments.

[58chevy]

Large museums and agricultural colleges that maintain insect collections sometimes have spare unit trays that they give away for free. They usually get them from collections that have been donated. They replace them, along with the drawers from the donated collection, with new ones. The old drawers & unit trays are then thrown away or given away. If you live near one of these institutions, check with the collections curator to see if they have any. Chances are many of them will be in good shape. They won't be new, but you will definitely save money.

[leptraps]

I use six sizes of unit trays. I purchase 100 unit trays at a time. I hate buying the kits and putting them together. I purchased a couple 100 of the 4X4 each spring and whenever I need a specific size I will purchase 100+.

There was a character in Michigan that made them but it could take several months to receive them.

AND I AM NOT BRAGGING!!

I have 656 Cornell Drawers of which over 450 have unit trays. I just added two (2) 24 Cornell Drawer Cabinets before Christmas and made 48 Cornell Drawers for Unit Trays.

At the age of 76 years, I am not sure how much more I can grow my collection.

[Paul K]

I have only 90 drawers and none of them are converted to unit trays, however if I ever need to have one I would definitely buy plastic trays.
I hate the look of cardboard once where they have never 90° corners.
I use European standard size drawers so there is no issue for me however I don’t know how they would fill up Cornell drawer.

Here is the link
www.entosphinx.cz/en/vnitrni-krabicky-do-krabic-unit-system-plast/539-plastova-krabicka-pro-unit-system-plast-1-9.html

[jshuey]

Interesting - because I was just ordering unit trays. I generally use BioQuip kits - because I'm cheap. But If you want really great quality at the lowest price possible in the states - then go here - www.hhelementsinc.com/shop

You have to purchase in bulk a bit - and I only buy their size 1 (because - like I said, I'm cheap and I can get the other sizes in folding trays) But these are the best unit trays I've ever purchased and they are cheaper than BioQuip's pre-made trays. So I just ordered 200 size 1 - and they come in at around $.90 per tray (including shipping).

John

[Paul K]

Feb 15, 2021 14:09:02 GMT -8 jshuey said:

Interesting - because I was just ordering unit trays. I generally use BioQuip kits - because I'm cheap. But If you want really great quality at the lowest price possible in the states - then go here - www.hhelementsinc.com/shop

You have to purchase in bulk a bit - and I only buy their size 1 (because - like I said, I'm cheap and I can get the other sizes in folding trays) But these are the best unit trays I've ever purchased and they are cheaper than BioQuip's pre-made trays. So I just ordered 200 size 1 - and they come in at around $.90 per tray (including shipping).

John

Yep, they look much better to me, almost perfect square or rectangle.

[bandrow]

Feb 15, 2021 14:09:02 GMT -8 jshuey said:

Interesting - because I was just ordering unit trays. I generally use BioQuip kits - because I'm cheap. But If you want really great quality at the lowest price possible in the states - then go here - www.hhelementsinc.com/shop

You have to purchase in bulk a bit - and I only buy their size 1 (because - like I said, I'm cheap and I can get the other sizes in folding trays) But these are the best unit trays I've ever purchased and they are cheaper than BioQuip's pre-made trays. So I just ordered 200 size 1 - and they come in at around $.90 per tray (including shipping).

John

John,

You think you're cheap? When I started out, I acquired one of each size of the Cornell folding trays, unfolded it, and then made a plastic template from each. I then used that to cut my own folding trays. Worked great at the time, as the number I made was not too great, but it was still time-consumptive. However, the majority of those are still in use in my collection, although some were discarded (after recovering the foam) due to being a bit off-sized.

As the collection grew, I became more of a scavenger of used trays and drawers. Only 2 years ago, for the first time, I purchased pre-made (foamless) unit trays, as I needed a couple dozen of the odd "6 to a drawer" size to fill with prionines.

I think amassing drawers and trays, if one uses them, is the biggest challenge to beginner collectors (not to mention the majority of us that are not independently wealthy), followed closely by pins...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[trehopr1]

Thank you jshuey and Paul K for your suggestions.

John, I will try to contact this site and see what they may offer.
I hope they can send me a "sample order" of different sizes to check
sizing and craftsmanship.

Paul K, those are very cool and indeed superior to cardboard ones.
However, they are probably more costly and I fear once I started down
the road buying them I may (in time) want to switch over my cardboard
ones to these. An added cost for uniformity...

[exoticimports]

As drawers mature, meaning the study series is done and nothing to add or move, I consolidate by tileing and recover the UPTs.

I use the Bioquip UPT kits. I don’t care how they look, so long as they are functional.

[kevinkk]

The easy way to satisfy my curiosity is to ask. Why unit trays? I can guess, and probably be wrong.

[nomihoudai]

Unit trays are great if you do taxonomic work in a drawer and rearrange things, or if you often take out specimen to work with them.

They also look very interesting and pleasing.

The small ones can be a good tool to separate specimen from different places.

When an abdomen breaks off it won't damage specimen outside the tray. Or not as easily.

But, if you don't work with your collection the extra expenses are hardly worth it.

A lot of Americans have unit trays and some years ago I had converted 10 of my 130 drawers to foldable unit trays. They were handy for the parts of the collection that I was actively working on (catches from light traps that needed sorting and ID).

[bandrow]

Feb 16, 2021 14:14:10 GMT -8 kevinkk said:

The easy way to satisfy my curiosity is to ask. Why unit trays? I can guess, and probably be wrong.

Hi Kevinkk,

Unit trays are basically a collection maintenance tool. In large collections, they allow for expansion, curation and organization of specimens with a minimal amount of handling specimens directly. When a new species is added to the collection, the trays can be shuffled to insert a new taxon, without handling and re-pinning the surrounding specimens. They also help to organize species into discrete series within a tray which helps avoid mixing things up once they've been identified. Of course, a determination label on every specimen also prevents that, but that technique varies across workers as well, and is a whole separate point of contention for me to be saved for a different conversation!

Cheers!
Bandrow

[kevinkk]

Thanks guys, that all makes sense.

[trehopr1]

This is why I need to get some descent smaller trays of quality.

Everybody needs to get their own space (or home) !

I've got 16 1A size trays (2 drawers worth) bunched up
like this... Just bothers me.

I have contacted jshuey's contact with success and some samples
are on the way.



Bandrow should like this picture -- if he sees it.

[jshuey]

Feb 16, 2021 14:14:10 GMT -8 kevinkk said:

The easy way to satisfy my curiosity is to ask. Why unit trays? I can guess, and probably be wrong.

If you add lots of material on a regular basis - that's why. I don't have any drawers that are not in unit trays.

j