Hi Guys,
I just got my first 10 plain valve boxes.
Since they are expensive, I was toying with the idea of
breaking one at the seam, to make a template to produce some of my own.

I wonder if anyone has some original boxes they could scan
at hi resolution to use as a template to create more mock ups..

Does that require wrecking the box? .. I wouldn't know, I only have a box from a modern production valve.

I will be out of town this weekend though next week I should be able to find some AWA, Mullard and Philips boxes. Sometimes the glue on the older boxes dries to the extent that the box falls open. If I can manage this I will scan some large and small boxes on the photocopier at work which converts the scan to a coloured PDF file which I can upload to this thread.

Wish me luck.

I have interest in wishing you luck,
and thanks ahead of time for trying

Maybe others will benefit, and could contribute too.
Maybe laser prints on thick paper/board would end
up cheaper than new boxes, and I don't think anyone would
say no even if the boxes were a bit tattered, and that came
through in the copy.... about the only type of print job out there
where this could potentially be desirable

If there is any choice, and it's not pushing my luck,
it would be good to begin with Philips MiniWatt boxes of any length
Then at least I will commit to being the guinea pig,
and try putting to real practical use straight away.

I would go for photoshopping out the specific valve types
to make a more generic mock. I can still do this with PDFs.

What size boxes did you buy and what size are you after. I have many early boxes, large and small.
Peter

They are small boxes, $5 AU for a pack of 10 boxes.
I have ordered medium for when they arrive.
It's no dig at Evatco, they have been really good.
I already knew the boxes would come flat, and could probably be photocopied with their pre-indented creases.

I'm going to end up with all sizes to house except for very
large valves, just in building up spare sets for two chassis,
but since I have the most of those MiniWatt valves found in
portables, I thought I'd try to locate those... with Google image search.. no luck

That's a great idea. I once bought some valves in very old plain boxes. I was surprised when I opened them to find they were made from old cereal boxes. Someone back in the day was very thrifty. They looked like the real thing from the outside.

My wife does scrapbooking and has an insert for her paper trimmer that scores the cardstock ready for folding. Very professional.

I really thought some random templates would be out
there to find on Google, even if all foreign brands, but no.

I've been meaning to look into how think Officeworks
poster/sign printing paper can be...
to make a big collage of them at once.

I gave it a test run with plain paper:

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Not bad considering I started with something I stumbled on:

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I don't know if it's 1:1 scale. It turned out about right for 6V4,
but that's not the valve shape in the picture.

If anyone does it, the image needs to be accompanied with a measurement (in millimetres),
between two known points, preferably the longest, such as from end to end,
unless you know it will print 1:1 scale.

Should be right, I got this lot from Gumtree $50

Image Link

Will share some results

Here:

Image Link

Image Link

I restored something

I have a friend who owned a print shop.

He told me that for about $90.00 US, he could get a cutting die made for his press.

He could then die cut the boxes, and leave them in a full sheet of assorted size boxes per sheet to minimise wastage.

One could then purchase double sided tape, punch or cut the box from the sheet, and put the tape on the seam flap or glue the edge seam flap with contact cement.

A bit of work, but a whole lot cheaper than buying "ready mades" for extravagent prices.

I don't see why that wouldn't work there, or maybe a number of folks could put together a huge order to a supplier to knock the price way down, then post them to the members from a central point. Maybe even add a few cents to thecost, and have it go towards supporting the forum?

Standard die-cut sheets have some attractions, but really all that is needed is for people who have boxes to carefully unstick and flatten them, scan them in A4/Letter sheet compilations, and share the scan files as one would share any other printed info. Forums like this could very simply host an archive.

Any home or office colour printer that can print envelopes can handle a heavy paper or light card suitable for a box, and anyone who can hold a soldering iron can probably hold a pair of scissors and a glue-stick to assemble the box from the printed pattern.

I well remember when cereal packets came printed with patterns for cardboard models, encouraging kids to "insert tab A into slot B". I made a cardboard submarine once (it sank) and an aeroplane (it didn't fly), and I've certainly made numerous small boxes (with more success) over the years employing the same principles.

Maven

There is a brand of new production valves called Electro Harmonix.
They have a sneaky way of producing the box so it requires no glue at all.

Most of the ready made ones are pre glued,
It's only the very largest I have purchased that I had to glue myself, and I used Loctite.