Nesting Apple Boxes?

Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

VHS Member Old Skool
I am planning to make a couple of sets of apple boxes. In my quest for some plans I came across some nesting ones. I like the obvious advantage of a space-saving design, but I am concerned about the sacrifice in strength for the full apple.

I've seen and used full apples to support a lot of weight. Has anyone ever used the nesting version, or have any insights to share?
 
I don´t see why a nesting box should carry less weight if done right.
If you use the same material, same specs and same wall thickness it should work the same in my book.

What kind of "connection" are you planing?

my ct2

Frank
 
Well, if they're nesting there is no center support and an opening at one end. I would think that those 2 things would make a difference regarding the weight they can handle.

All of the boxes I have used have a center support.

Not sure what you mean by "connection"
 
O.K. did not know about the center support and yes, that would make a difference.

I thought you would make them more like a russian doll.
So you would have connect the two halves somehow.

Frank
 
No, the 1/2, 1/4 and pancake all slide into the open end of the full. Sorry I wasn't clear on the design. It's a great idea for saving space, I'm just concerned about the strength.

There's a pic of a set here about halfway down the page:
 
You might be better off buying apple boxes. I think its like $100 for a big set of them which is probably what you will spend making them (materials/time)
 
Wow, those Basso blocks look cool.

As for building vs buying, I am a moderately experienced carpenter with all the tools I need. A good sheet of 1/2" birch ply goes for less than 40 Bucks. I can knock a set of these out in an afternoon.
 
Wow, those are cool Jim. I have never heard of nesting Apple boxes, glad you made us aware of them. I could use them. I have a full set of two of each regular apples and they take up too much room since I don't own a grip truck.

Dan
 
Erik Olson said:
The sides, center support and ends are 3/4" ply, not 1/2".

e
Click to expand...

That seems an odd choice from an engineering standpoint. The larger unsupported surface area would be the weak point. SInce the tops and bottoms have more surface area, those should be thicker, not thinner I would think. I would speculate that a horizontal piece of same thickness plywood would give out sooner than one on end, so I don't really understand why they would do that.

I know that the exposed ends of the ones I have measured on shoots has been 1/2", but I've never taken them apart.

Anyway, good to know.
 
Actually, I mis-spoke a bit. The sides are often 1/2", but the ends and center are always 3/4". That said, what people do now might be different. I'll just tell you what we did when my company supplied all the apple boxes to Fox and Universal.

Full Apple: 8" x 12" x 20"

Ends and Center Support: 7" x 11" x 3/4"
Top and Bottom: 12" x 20" x 1/2"
Sides: 7" x 20" x 1/2"

The tops and bottoms are always 1/2" ply. The ends and center support should always be 3/4 as they carry the majority of the load. They feature two 1 x 5" slots as handles. The long sides provide shear resistance and are commonly 1/2" material with two 1" holes as handles.

We did make MDF boxes for SFX work out of 1/2" MDF for all dimensions. The MDF or HDF take paint better than the plywood, which is left either raw or finished in dark walnut stain. I'll just add that you should assemble these with a high-quality wood glue and narrow crown (two legs) staples - not finish nails!

Routing (1/4" round-over is good) of handles must be done prior to assembly because you'll want to round-over the insides as well.

e
 
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