DIY print bin?

Finally making the jump to good panels (found used on this site), but the cost of print bins seems outrageous for what you get. I'm fairly handy, so can probably figure it out, but if there are already some decent plans out there for DIY foldable bins,  why reinvent the wheel?

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  • How big are you looking at going, and are they freestanding, or on top of a table of some kind?

    Freestanding, I'm sure you could build something like any of these: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Darts-c...

    Couple pieces of conduit, bent 90 degrees in two places each, one slightly smaller than the other, with a couple bolts to hold them in place, and a piece of canvas, maybe a couple of supporting rods between the sides and a piece of stiff plastic glued into the canvas for a flat base. Or the same thing with wood and no canvas required.

    I haven't tried that style, but it seems pretty decent. The wooden ones that look a bit like wooden TV trays are *awkward as hell* to transport and store. They don't fold flat.  At least the ones I have don't. 

    If it's going to be on a table, the crates Robert mentioned are nice. I saw an artist up at Krasl who had knocked off all but one of the slats on the front of one, stained it a dark walnut, and lined it with some kind of deep grey fabric - looked really nice.

  • It depends on the sizes you have for the flip bins. If you're talking about 12x16 or smaller, it's a lot easier to pick up wooden crates from Sam's Club or Hobby Lobby. I have two of the 44" Propanel flip bins for for 24x30 and 18x24 matted pieces, but hate to drop the little stuff in there as it clutters up the bins too much. The Propanel hanging bins attach to the panels, but that sacrifices two spaces for framed pieces or canvas pieces. What works well is to stack a couple of tubs on top of each other, drape them with fabric, place the crate on top with the smaller flip bin pieces in it.

    I have a couple of matched tubs, 18 gallon and a 12 gallon container, mounted top to top to make a tall container for 18x24 matted pieces. I toss unneeded stuff in that, drape it with the fabric, and it turns into a pedestal. That way I now have a pedestal and part of my storage problems are taken care of.

    If you have objections to the raw wood slat construction of the crates, lightly sand them down, stain it some nice wood finish, and spray it with clear acrylic to finish it off. The crates are anywhere from $8 to $12. 

    For larger pieces, such as 18x24, Office Max has the rolling open hanger files that use the wire frame construction and plastic wedges that go around the legs underneath the shelving corners. Those are relatively inexpensive and I used those for several years. Drawbacks are that it's a pain to put them together at each show, but they do look decent.

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