Shrink wraping very helpful

[Carl E Jacobs]

3 yrs. ago ,I had a chance to make some money helping a friend package products ,he was selling ,not having 2 grand to purchase machinery to do it I built a L Sealer and shrink tunnel for about $100.00 and a lot of time ,I ran about ten thousand pieces for him ,He has since passed away. long story short,I now use them as shown in the pix, perfect for stack cutting as well as wrapping
products I sell.some of you may have access to equipment at work or have contact s that do ,perfect for protecting product s and stacks for eliments,for
long periods ,plus inhances your wares ,and storage from show to show. any rate ,they reminded me I have not posted in a while ,insidently ,if you haven't noticed stick a pattern on and you can cut out in the shrink wrap package w/o
any glue tape or resido.those little bundles are ready to cut the name tags on
my bridges ,throphy tags were costing $4-$6 each ,customers actually like the
wooden signs better RUSTIC I guess ,plus the stores love the wrap for display.
I am limited to 12x12 ,may have to make larger to do 24x36.
My Very Best ! Carl

[ncsealeveler]

Does make a nice package.
Tony

[lakeside]

Carl - what do i need to build a shrink tunnel?

[Carl E Jacobs]

Carl - what do i need to build a shrink tunnel?

adjustabled heaters w/blower heat range 190 -250 degree insulated closure,flap entrance and exit ,speed controled conveyor 'high temp belt' components sized to need ,mine approx 36"L 14" W 16" H Thermostat,sw.s variac ,needs to be able to maintain approx 200 degrees constant, I converted and modified existing old restruant equipment I serviced and worked on that finally would cost more to repair than replace,I kept the hulls to scavenge for others till finally they were outdated. About all I had to buy was teflon material,I was able to salvage the rest and recycle to a new use,major expense time experamenting
heat circulation and temp very important .Had a lot of fun ,but a lot of time,works very well ,I almost forgot a temp.reading device.

Hope that helps!
My Very Best !Carl

[KTravis]

Very nice. I too shrink wrap but use a more economical (financially and time investment) set up. I believe your "home made" system definitely gets more consistent results. I admire people who can machinery from scratch like you did.

My solution was to purchase a heat sealer, hot air gun (hair dryer would probably work), and bags. All around $100 - 125. Works good and looks great!

[wood-n-things]

I did the same thing as Kip, I have a thermal sealer (thanks JohB for the tip) heat shrink bags and use a hair dryer, heat gun may be faster but I had a cheap hair dryer on hand. No fuss no muss and it works great . i have had to replace the heat strip once already after about 2 years of use. Not heavy use but I guess the resistance causes the metal strip to break down and after a while it breaks. It comes with 2 replacement heat elements.

[Carl E Jacobs]

I did the same thing as Kip, I have a thermal sealer (thanks JohB for the tip) heat shrink bags and use a hair dryer, heat gun may be faster but I had a cheap hair dryer on hand. No fuss no muss and it works great . i have had to replace the heat strip once already after about 2 years of use. Not heavy use but I guess the resistance causes the metal strip to break down and after a while it breaks. It comes with 2 replacement heat elements.

Your both ,right on target,you will not burn many holes thru the wrap with a hair dryer,I do not start up the tunnel except when doing a bunch ,of the same
size ,otherwise it's just easier to use the heat gun,if you have not tried covering stacks and slabs for future use try it ,no warpage no dirt ,just perfect when you are ready.The only limitation you have is bag size. Thats why I am thinking of making a 48" barsealer then with my rolls I could make closures for whole boards .moisture ,warping ,and dust and dirt mud dobbers have raised havoc
with my supplies that go unattended for months and months.plus vertually any thing else including boxes and rarely used tools! I use alot of stretch wrap now I't is not nearly as neat ,or easy to handle or remove!
I am thinking of making it twin C-clamp style instead of sizzer for versality
As you can tell , versality should have been my middle name.
Glad some one else ,finds it very useful!
My Very Best to Both of You!
Carl