How heavy is a full cabinet approximately?
Hello,
I bougth some stuff from a little printshop that closed several years ago.
A small paper cutter, a proffpress and 3 cabinets (is this the right term?) full of lead and some other stuff.
How heavy is one cabinet approximately? Those are standard cabinets with a row of wide and a row of narrow drawers.
The printshop is located 400 km from me, so I have to plan carefully what to use to transport those.
Depends on how much type is in the cases.Empty each case is about 5 lbs. Some very full ones as much as 70 lbs. (2.3 and 31.8 Kg or so, respectively).
Cabinet weight depends on whether it is metal or wood.
I prefer low, open trailers for moving presses and type, etc. The less I have to lift things, the better. Use a tarp or three if rain is a possibility.
Arie is absolutely correct about the wide variation in weight depending on the materials and how full the cases are. I do however want to correct the comment that an empty case is about 5 pounds in weight. An empty California job case weighs in at 8 pounds. To know approximately the actual weight of type in a case, I weigh the whole thing and deduct 8 pounds for the case itself.
Rick
Arie is absolutely correct about the wide variation in weight depending on the materials and how full the cases are. I do however want to correct the comment that an empty case is about 5 pounds in weight. An empty California job case weighs in at 8 pounds. To know approximately the actual weight of type in a case, I weigh the whole thing and deduct 8 pounds for the case itself.
Rick
Yes, but is Gummistiefel talking about American cases or European (German) cases?
Hello,
thanks for the quick answers. I´m from Germany and those are wooden cases. I can lend a hosebox trailer, so I think I could get all three inside, I will just need a car strong enough to haul it.
Hallo Gummistiefel, keep the typecases as low to the floor as possible, cover every individual typecast with a piece of grey board and fix that all the way around with brown tape. Then put the empty cabinets on top of your stack of cases. Once somebody transported a cabinet with the cases in it for me, upon arrival all type had moved in the cases, I spent weeks sorting all the cases out.
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type_mess.JPG
We used to regularly move a cabinet of a dozen full size and cases to demonstrate a press; the cases were quite full of type. I have also moved a few hundred cases from printers that were closing their letterpress departments. From our experience:
* Remove the cases from the cabinet for transport.
* Stack the cases with the handles in alternate directions (just like in the photo above).
* place something slightly spongy between each case to prevent type moving between compartments. We found old woollen blankets to be excellent. Ideally you need to stop the type from moving around within each compartment to minimise damage to the type - lead is soft and easily damage. small wads of bubble-wrap packaging can be used to fill the space in each compartment. Or any other spongy material can be used.
* A wooden pallet and a fork lift truck is ideal for moving a stack of cases - but that is a luxury most of us do not have!
Good luck with your move!