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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: ander on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:00:14

Title: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:00:14
I was looking for a way to store my keyboards that'd work vertically and open, for everyday access; and horizontal and closed, for storing them away.

Cardboard boxes seemed like a logical (and free) solution. But regular single-walled boxes aren't strong enough to hold a bunch of heavy keyboards upright, or to stack one box of them on another.

Two words: banana boxes.

Unlike most corrugated boxes, banana boxes are double-walled:


[attachimg=1]


...so they're twice as strong (I did the math). And they're a great size for keyboards, up to large 101-key boards like Model M's. To store your keyboards vertically and open, you can use the bottom of one as-is:


[attach=2]


Whether you bubble-wrap them or not is up to you. I've wrapped mine completely (using small pieces of transparent packing tape) for the 2nd part of this article. For regular access like this, you can make each board a bubble-wrap "pocket" by wrapping all but one long side of it, so you can easily slip it in and out of its wrap.

Using these boxes for horizontal, stacked storage is a bit trickier.

I'm sure there's a good reason, but banana boxes have a rectangular hole in their top and bottom:


[attach=3]


[attach=4]


The advantage is, most people don't want boxes with holes like this, so they're easy to get. I don't worry about the top hole, either, as I don't find it affects the box's integrity.

But that bottom hole? You may think the box is strong enough even with it. That could depend on the size and weight of the boards you're storing. I can't make that choice for you—but what I can do is show you how I cover the hole and reinforce the bottom.

If these descriptions and photos seem like overkill, I'm posting them for the benefit of our less-handy members (you know who you are!). I also live in the suburbs, so this qualifies as excitement.  :?|

1. Place a newspaper section under the box bottom to protect the surface you're working on:


[attach=5]


2. Measure the area of the box where it looks like some cardboard is missing; then cut a piece that size from a regular single-walled box:


[attach=6]


3. Squirt some yellow carpenter's wood glue on the box's two exposed surfaces, then use a Popsicle stick to spread the glue evenly. Don't use too much glue, only as much as you need to spread it to the edges of the areas:


[attach=7]


[attach=8]


Carpenter's glue is stronger than white glue—and much better for woodworking projects, too—so it's worth picking some up. You can usually get it at dollar stores. They also sell Popsicle sticks there, which they call "craft sticks".

4. Place your cardboard piece over the glued area:


[attach=9]


...and cover it with a piece of aluminum foil at least 1" bigger than the cardboard piece on all sides:


[attach=10]


5. Now place two piles of books over the glued areas. The foil should protect them from the glue—but don't use any books you really care about, especially on the bottoms:


[attach=11]


Minimum drying time is 30 minutes, but for the strongest bond I let it dry overnight.


[attach=12]


You now have a box strong enough to stack another box of keyboards on top of it. Don't stack them more than two high.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: 1swt2gs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:03:19
Very innovative and well thought out even including a DIY!

:D
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: nmur on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:04:47
will this work if i use a pineapple box instead of a banana box?
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Fruit boxes need holes for air circulation so that the fruit can breathe.

Why not just cut the bottom and top filler panels the full size of the box?
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: zcmy on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:14:08
Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Fruit boxes need holes for air circulation so that the fruit can breathe.
Fruits have lungs?

Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Why not just cut the bottom and top filler panels the full size of the box?

Might be easier. However, I'm not OP so I can't say for sure.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: Bucake on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:14:51
next gen keyboard storage

Doctors hate him!
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: 1391406 on Mon, 06 June 2016, 09:05:22
Quote from: zcmy on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:14:08
Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Fruit boxes need holes for air circulation so that the fruit can breathe.
Fruits have lungs?

What, you've never heard of (or eaten) banana lungs? I'm not sure where you're from but in the United States the Produce Cruelty Act (Prop 1) was enacted in 1997 which basically considers it a Class A misdemeanor to subject any produce (including bananas) to cruel mistreatment (including injury or death) prior to sale for consumption. Thus, it's currently illegal for supermarkets to store bananas in any container that's not well-ventilated.

Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: zcmy on Mon, 06 June 2016, 23:40:06
Quote from: 1391406 on Mon, 06 June 2016, 09:05:22
Quote from: zcmy on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:14:08
Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Fruit boxes need holes for air circulation so that the fruit can breathe.
Fruits have lungs?

What, you've never heard of (or eaten) banana lungs? I'm not sure where you're from but in the United States the Produce Cruelty Act (Prop 1) was enacted in 1997 which basically considers it a Class A misdemeanor to subject any produce (including bananas) to cruel mistreatment (including injury or death) prior to sale for consumption. Thus, it's currently illegal for supermarkets to store bananas in any container that's not well-ventilated.

Whoa. Whoa, here, Banaas don't have rights. We ship them with air holes...or bullet holes, now that I think about it.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Tue, 07 June 2016, 02:32:30
Quote from: nmur on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:04:47
will this work if i use a pineapple box instead of a banana box?

Don't think so, unless the KBs you're packing aren't higher than pineapples are thick:

(http://www.agroeden.com.ec/images/sliders/pina-md2/pinamd2.jpg)

Of course you may just be pulling my modem cable by asking. I don't mind; I love fruit-box-related questions.


Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Fruit boxes need holes for air circulation so that the fruit can breathe.

That'd be my guess too, but further investigation seemed beyond the scope of this topic.

Quote from: fohat.digs on Sun, 05 June 2016, 20:07:18
Why not just cut the bottom and top filler panels the full size of the box?
I don't know what you'd be putting in there (bowling balls?), but simply filling in the middle 1/3 makes a box plenty strong enough to carry around 8 Model M's, and stack another one on it. This seems sufficient.

Speaking of carrying stuff, I forgot to mention another nice thing about BBs. Unlike most supermarket boxes, they have handles:


[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: Wazazaby on Tue, 07 June 2016, 04:14:27
Funny way to store your boards!!
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: chyros on Tue, 07 June 2016, 05:55:27
I moved all my stuff to the UK using banana boxes. I can't find them around here anymore though, which is a shame.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Thu, 09 June 2016, 23:47:05
Quote from: Wazazaby on Tue, 07 June 2016, 04:14:27
Funny way to store your boards!!

It works, and it's (almost) free! Plus it's fruit-related, which always reminds me of the fruit you got as power-ups in classic video games like Pac-Man, which seems like a good connection to keyboards, theme-wise.

Quote from: chyros on Tue, 07 June 2016, 05:55:27
I moved all my stuff to the UK using banana boxes. I can't find them around here anymore though, which is a shame.

Perhaps they just pronounce "banana" differently. People in the UK often use English words, as we do, but for some reason they emphasize different syllables. Try visiting a produce merchant and asking if they have "BA-nana" or "bana-NA" boxes. Let us know if this helps. If it doesn't, stopping in at the nearest pub for a pint is a good fall-back plan, as long as you're careful to sit in a booth and not on a bar stool.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 02:32:32
It's pronounced "ba-NAH-na" here. Back home you can collect them for free from big bins at the entrance of supermarkets, but Sainsbury's don't appear to be so generous. Maybe if I ask them.

I presume in Canada they say either "ba-NEH-na" like your Southern neighbours, right? Or maybe "banana-eh"? :P
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: fohat.digs on Fri, 10 June 2016, 06:56:43
Quote from: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 02:32:32
It's pronounced "ba-NAH-na" here. Back home you can collect them for free from big bins at the entrance of supermarkets, but Sainsbury's don't appear to be so generous. Maybe if I ask them.

I presume in Canada they say either "ba-NEH-na" like your Southern neighbours, right? Or maybe "banana-eh"? :P

In the US it is pretty much always "ba-NAN-uh"
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 07:52:04
Quote from: fohat.digs on Fri, 10 June 2016, 06:56:43
Quote from: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 02:32:32
It's pronounced "ba-NAH-na" here. Back home you can collect them for free from big bins at the entrance of supermarkets, but Sainsbury's don't appear to be so generous. Maybe if I ask them.

I presume in Canada they say either "ba-NEH-na" like your Southern neighbours, right? Or maybe "banana-eh"? :P

In the US it is pretty much always "ba-NAN-uh"
Yes, but you pronounce "nan" like "nen" :p .
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: fohat.digs on Fri, 10 June 2016, 08:04:41
Quote from: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 07:52:04

Yes, but you pronounce "nan" like "nen"


Tricky business, those vowels.

I spent a year reading the "Lord of the Rings" to my kids, about one chapter per night at bedtime, and I pronounced the 2 "a" letters in "Gandalf" the same.

When we went to see the movies, they used the harder "a" sound for the first syllable and the softer one for the 2nd.

The "banana" version that I am referring to is the way the actors pronounced the 1st "a" in Gandalf.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 13:10:43
Quote from: fohat.digs on Fri, 10 June 2016, 08:04:41
Quote from: chyros on Fri, 10 June 2016, 07:52:04

Yes, but you pronounce "nan" like "nen"


Tricky business, those vowels.

I spent a year reading the "Lord of the Rings" to my kids, about one chapter per night at bedtime, and I pronounced the 2 "a" letters in "Gandalf" the same.

When we went to see the movies, they used the harder "a" sound for the first syllable and the softer one for the 2nd.

The "banana" version that I am referring to is the way the actors pronounced the 1st "a" in Gandalf.
I'm probably thinking too Southern - I imagined it sounding more like ba-NAYUH-na :)) .
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Tue, 14 June 2016, 03:54:43
Here in Canada we say bah-NAN-ah, as most people do. The "eh?" is optional, and equates to how people in the UK add "what?" ("Lovely day, what?") and jazz musicians "you dig?".

Chyros, I'm sorry to hear you have such trouble picking up these lovely cajas de fruta. Today Safeway were glad to give me several more, which my wife wanted for our upcoming move. She tells me her friends are catching on to the sheer storage power of these double-walled beauties, once they're correctly reinforced (the boxes, that is, not my wife's friends, who hardly need reinforcement). The fact that they're just the right size for KBs (a tremendously useful abbreviation, BTW, that I'm disappointed my otherwise highly efficient GHers have failed to embrace) is only a bonus.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Sun, 10 July 2016, 21:24:48
A follow up on my Banana Method posts:

Depending on the brand of boxes you use, some may seem too narrow to accommodate wider keyboards (such as Model M-101s). This usually isn't because the boxes are too small, but because they've been smushed inward a bit from being stacked so high during shipment.


(http://ionovietnam.com/images/2014/09/10/banana-day-6.png)


If this happens, you can take the bottom half of the box and return it to its original size by gently pushing out its left and right sides—first in the middle, then closer to each corner.

I'm so helpful.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: Aran.E99 on Thu, 14 July 2016, 16:34:14
i might actually try this...

on the bright side, if someone breaks into your house for the specific purpose of stealing vintage mechanical keyboards, they will see a box of bananas and be like 'eww, bananas' and leave empty handed!

-Aran
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: ander on Sun, 24 July 2016, 05:10:36
Quote from: Aran.E99 on Thu, 14 July 2016, 16:34:14
i might actually try this... if someone breaks into your house for the specific purpose of stealing vintage mechanical keyboards, they will see a box of bananas and be like 'eww, bananas' and leave empty handed!

This, too, is a distinct advantage of a fruit-oriented approach to KB storage. It may also end up affecting your wardrobe:


(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/64/f0/e4/64f0e4e624140b9c17b96ffef28fd016.jpg)
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: Screwdriver on Mon, 25 July 2016, 18:49:33
Nice..!
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: hwood34 on Tue, 26 July 2016, 00:27:10
Quote from: ander on Sun, 24 July 2016, 05:10:36
Quote from: Aran.E99 on Thu, 14 July 2016, 16:34:14
i might actually try this... if someone breaks into your house for the specific purpose of stealing vintage mechanical keyboards, they will see a box of bananas and be like 'eww, bananas' and leave empty handed!

This, too, is a distinct advantage of a fruit-oriented approach to KB storage. It may also end up affecting your wardrobe:


Show Image
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/64/f0/e4/64f0e4e624140b9c17b96ffef28fd016.jpg)


so we finally get to see a picture of the elusive ander
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: SBJ on Tue, 26 July 2016, 05:20:13
Quote from: Aran.E99 on Thu, 14 July 2016, 16:34:14
i might actually try this...

on the bright side, if someone breaks into your house for the specific purpose of stealing vintage mechanical keyboards, they will see a box of bananas and be like 'eww, bananas' and leave empty handed!

-Aran
They will have to take them from my cold dead hands! :D
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: spiritanimals on Tue, 26 July 2016, 07:52:25
Nice write up! I'm definitely going to incorporate this at work, where I have keyboards stacked on shelves all willy-nilly.
Title: Re: How I store my keyboards: the banana method
Post by: Aran.E99 on Tue, 26 July 2016, 10:19:37
wait - what if you have to buy a box full of bananas... guess i will have to put my keyboards in my banana box and my bananas in my keyboard box...