Dukenukem117
New Member
I need empty 3" ID cores to act as take-up reels. I called my media suppliers and none of them have them. Is there anywhere else I can get these? The ones advertised for shipping have walls that are too thin.
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Where to get empty cores
- Thread starter Dukenukem117
- Start date
CanuckSigns
Active Member
My dumpster has tons...
Dukenukem117
New Member
I suppose that raises the other question of what do people usually do with empty ones? Just dump em?
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
I have racks full of them
Dukenukem117
New Member
Maybe I can just hit up some local print shops. I'm not in the sign business, so maybe they won't see it as competition?
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Should work. They are a nuisance once you run out of clever ways to use them around the shop.
We are within smelling distance of a recycling company so it is easy enough to load up the shop truck & dump them off.
Dukenukem117
New Member
What clever ways are there? I know they use thick cardboard tubes for pyrotechnic work.
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
We nail them to 2x4s with the core caps and use them to roll off material when trimming stuff out.
We install banner wraps on roadside monument signs here and they are 160" tall. Tape 3 cores together and backroll the banner onto them - one guy can roll the wrap onto the sign - set the bottom then get on the ladder and secure the top. No folding of the wrap - no creases.
One night I was working late - upstairs tenant sprung a leak and water started dripping down hitting a cross beam and splashing onto my printer and supplies. I used a core, some duct tape and plastic to catch and redirect the drip into a bucket until the landlord could take care of the pipe.....
shoresigns
New Member
We always keep a bunch on hand for the takeups on our printer and laminator, and we recycle the rest. All our media comes on 3" cores, so we always have more coming in.
ddarlak
Go Bills!
i had about 100 30" and 10 or so 54" i had been saving for about 6 months, i took them home and built a teepee, leaned a couple old wooden doors on it and set it a blaze....
oh my, the flames were about 30 feet tall and absolutely cooking!
neighbor called the fire department, they showed up, i had a hose with me (cuz i already knew the drill)
they asked me "do you have a hose", i said yep, and they said ok, have a nice day.
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I made a cat tree put of them
We get dozens a week. Most go into our cardboard bin to recycle. We keep 5-10 of each on hand for our take up.... But if you go into any sign shop odds are they'll give you as many as you want.
I bought some 3" caps on uline.... And I started to ship single prints out in the cores. We don't get many single prints... So that's very rare. But if you're shipping wall decals or something that's under a few ft.. You can roll them up and throw them loosely in the core.
We get dozens a week. Most go into our cardboard bin to recycle. We keep 5-10 of each on hand for our take up.... But if you go into any sign shop odds are they'll give you as many as you want.
I bought some 3" caps on uline.... And I started to ship single prints out in the cores. We don't get many single prints... So that's very rare. But if you're shipping wall decals or something that's under a few ft.. You can roll them up and throw them loosely in the core.
jagsouthern
New Member
3” pvc sewer pipe from any big box hardware place. Works great , relatively inexpensive, last forever.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I use to ship in the cores but FedEx surcharge $15 each time you do it... they dont like them anymore.
Yup... It's the same over here. Cylinders are an extra $10... I guess because they can't stack them easily.
There's a local third party shipping provider that doesn't charge more for them though... Funny enough they cross the border into Washington and ship all their packages (even Canadian destined ones) out of usa... And it costs half the price as it would to ship domestically. Canadian shipping sucks.
So I use them when I can depending on what it is. The whole cross border thing adds a few days... So I use them if a buddy on the east coast wants a wall decal or something.
There's a local third party shipping provider that doesn't charge more for them though... Funny enough they cross the border into Washington and ship all their packages (even Canadian destined ones) out of usa... And it costs half the price as it would to ship domestically. Canadian shipping sucks.
So I use them when I can depending on what it is. The whole cross border thing adds a few days... So I use them if a buddy on the east coast wants a wall decal or something.
Dukenukem117
New Member
What if you put them in a cheap square box first? The tube provides more strength and the box removes the surcharge.
https://www.uline.com/BL_3656/Square-Tubes
We keep a few of our vinyl boxes for this.... and cores. But usually when we put them in the box, we wrap the prints around the core... throw the plastic sleeve that came with the vinyl over top... Put the cores back in so the print is centered in the box, and ship it that way. Never had any damage or scratches on the prints when doing it like this.
