Fixings signage to a freight container advice please?

[Peter Normington]

magnets?
or a banner maybe? could be affixed to the lifting holes?

Peter

[Stephen Murray1]

Thanks Peter. i did think of a banner with wire tensioners or even Bungees.
The company did ask if we could find a magnetic solution. Obviously a printable magnetic vinyl would not work because of the corrugation, is there a product that would have the strength to hold a 1mm ferrous panel on to the side securely. The panel only has to be 2400 x 600mm and last for a month ?

Steve

[Lee Attewell]

Print on Tyveck and apply with double sided tape?

[Robert Lambie]

bit of an unrealistic request mate…. so when their container arrives in Hong Kong with thousands of pounds of stock in it. but the sign has fell off in England… what then? who’s to blame?

Vinyl is the cheapest, solution.

a composite or aluminum panel with tech screws is quick and will do the job exactly as requested. i doubt some 5mm holes in the container is going to do anything.

alternatively you could fix the aluminum panel on the front end of the container.
once its closed up, simply use plastic, elastic or metal cable ties around the front locking bars to the container.

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[Peter Normington]

I dont think the container is actually being shipped Rob, not in the sense of a proper container. rather being use for equipment maybe on an oil rig?
I dont think the people who hire out the containers would be pleased with holes drilled in it.

there are some pretty strong magnets available, ok it would be a risk, but if the client is aware then in could work
Peter

[John Childs]

I think you need to consider the environment in which containers operate because it is as harsh as you are likely to find anywhere, apart from the surface of the moon. Wind howling across the deck, salt spray constantly drenching the container, not to mention the rough way they are handled and stored.

Magnetic and banner won’t last five minutes. If they even withstand the handling to get them on the ship, as soon it sets sail the wind will get behind them, up the corrugations, and they’ll be gone. I wouldn’t hold out much hope for tie wraps either, plus your signs would have to be removed for customs inspection at both ends of the journey. I bet a pound to a pinch of pigsh1t that they wouldn’t get put back on.

Vinyl will do the job (if it’s good stuff), but if the customer is specifying flat, then the only way is screws through the side of the container. I understand that the container owner won’t allow that because it will then no longer be waterproof.

Basically, I think you’re stuffed. Sorry. 🙁

As an aside, when I brought containers over from the US there were no lashing points inside, which we needed to tie the bikes down. Screwing or nailing to the floor was forbidden so, on both occasions, we had to wait for an end of life container that was going for scrap as soon as we had finished with it.

[Shane Drew]

Remember too, anything temporary (magnetic or tied) will be easily removed, so could easily be stolen. Who pays for the job then?

I’d use a removable glue on vinyl stickers (3M 180 is ideal) and tell your client that is the best you can offer given the circumstances.

He’ll have to compromise on something.

[Stephen Murray1]

Thanks for the replys guys, Yeah peter was right they are going to be on a Oil Rig in the middle of the North Sea, which means they are going to experience some pretty extreme conditions. I’m not keen to take the blame if the banner or magnet idea fails. It could cause injury to persons and equipment. If you thing that H&S is bad for us it’s really tight Offshore.

I think i’m going to have to go back to the client and tell them if they won’t allow us to secure a Dibond panel with tech screws or pop rivets that the only solution we can provide it to vinyl over the corrugated sides.

Thanks again folks

Steve.

[Peter Dee]

Don’t you just love this type of customer.

Anyway, from a distance, vinyl over the corrugations would read fine.
Just need to check the paint adhesion quality.

[Stephen Murray1]

God Damm it Jim, I’m a sign maker not a miracle worker. :lol1:

[Lee Attewell]

I thought that semi divination was a pre requisite for the job 😉

[Phill Fenton]

Have you considered rigging up a slide projector system to project the logo onto the container side?

This avoids the need for fixings and gets around the corrugation problem distorting the graphic…

The only slight hitch is it’ll only work in the dark:-?

[Kev Cringle]

Hi Stephen
How about making a timber or metal frame to match the size of your di bond buy beg steal or borrow or even ask the client if they have any heavy duty ratchet straps that the hauliers use to hold there cargo to there trucks, put the straps 2 maybe 3 of them around the container slide your frame in behind the straps tighten the straps and ratchet the straps tight and no way they will move then put a few wood screws through the straps into timber frame to stop the frame slipping up or down then screw your sign to the face of the timber frame and hey presto ? and if you don’t want to see the timber frame make the dibond as a tray that fits snug around the timber frame and make cut outs where the straps are if that makes sense ? then you could screw the tray to the timber around the edges so the screw fixing is not seen the same ?

Regards
Kev

[Robert Lambie]

i think what you need to consider is how much they are willing to pay for your time here and is it for only "one container?".
if its zero fixings, short term signs on a budget then a good vinyl with a removable adhesive is really their only choice. im not sure the info on the container but stretching the graphic to 120% and applying in and out the corrigations should appear more or less normal/100% when viewed once applied.
send them an email with various options by all means… but if its a single container, short term signage, stuck out in the north sea, then they probably wont be looking to spend much on it.

[Stephen Murray1]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions.
I informed the client that due to H&S reasons applying vinyl was the best and most cost effective solution. They still wen’t keen with it on the side, so we have come to a compromise of applying a smaller label to a flat section on the container door.

Happy signmakin’ y’all

[Craig Brown]

If it helps your case you are welcome to show your customer these images of containers we do…not deep corrugations on these ones admittedly but the impact of the image is not lost and still gets message across

[Stephen Murray1]

Nice one Craig.

Hopefully it will ease his mind about the readability of the logo over the corrugated sides. Bigger logo… mo money 😀

Steve

[John Childs]

Nice job Craig.

Steve, Rob’s advice is good but, if your container has standard corrugations, then I’d be inclined to stretch horizontally by a bit more than 120%. Maybe as much as 150%, but probably somewhere in between those two figures.

[Warren Beard]

quote John Childs:

Nice job Craig.

Steve, Rob’s advice is good but, if your container has standard corrugations, then I’d be inclined to stretch horizontally by a bit more than 120%. Maybe as much as 150%, but probably somewhere in between those two figures.

so 135% then 😉 :lol1:

[John Childs]

quote Warren Beard:

so 135% then 😉 :lol1:

Yeah, probably.

But you can work it out. If you know what length your original logo should be when flat, just measure the depth of the corrugations, do a few sums, and you can work out how much the logo needs stretching in order to maintain the proper length. Simples.

But I’m more likely to just go with the 135%. 😀