We have a very large collection of engineering drawings that we saved from a steel mill and have pledged to donate to a local historical society. They are quite interested in the drawings of course but do not have the space to store the drawings. The only space that I have is in a shipping container with other parts and equipment that we have in storage. As we don't have any money to buy flat files, I have thought about building plywood boxes to store the drawings in. 30" x 40" x 12" deep, in whatever number we need to fit all the drawings. This is about the best solution that I can devise. Anyone have any other ideas?

The Tod Engine
todengine@woh.rr.com

Are the drawings rolled or flat? If rolled, a "pigeon hole" rack made with PVC pipes cut to an appropriate length makes a fine storage unit. Cut the pipes and let them "outgas" before using. Also, regarding the plywood cabinets, wood is not the best choice for storing paper.

> We have a very large collection of
> engineering drawings that we saved from a
> steel mill and have pledged to donate to a
> local historical society. They are quite
> interested in the drawings of course but do
> not have the space to store the drawings.
> The only space that I have is in a shipping
> container with other parts and equipment
> that we have in storage. As we don't have
> any money to buy flat files, I have thought
> about building plywood boxes to store the
> drawings in. 30" x 40" x 12"
> deep, in whatever number we need to fit all
> the drawings. This is about the best
> solution that I can devise. Anyone have any
> other ideas?


Railway Preservation Resources
jsmatlak@earthlink.net

PVC is a no-no for storing a lot of archival materials. I think it was Sacramento who was using a polyethelene pipe they found. Not sure if ABS pipe has any nasty problems.

Richard Wilkens

> Are the drawings rolled or flat? If rolled,
> a "pigeon hole" rack made with PVC
> pipes cut to an appropriate length makes a
> fine storage unit. Cut the pipes and let
> them "outgas" before using. Also,
> regarding the plywood cabinets, wood is not
> the best choice for storing paper.

they are all flat, and if stacked on top of each other would be about four feet high of a pile. Wood may not be the best choice, but what is the alternative? Can't make a plastic box that big that will support any weight, and steel would cost too much, so what else can be done?

The Tod Engine
todengine@woh.rr.com

> they are all flat, and if stacked on top of
> each other would be about four feet high of
> a pile. Wood may not be the best choice, but
> what is the alternative? Can't make a
> plastic box that big that will support any
> weight, and steel would cost too much, so
> what else can be done?

Enclose the drawings in acid free plastic sheets, then store in the wood boxes?
M.Nix



http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bhsm/toh/eckley/eckley.asp?secid=14
2rivers@upstel.net

> Enclose the drawings in acid free plastic
> sheets, then store in the wood boxes?
> M.Nix

Such as a plastic liner for the boxes? Now that might be an idea.


The Tod Engine
todengine@woh.rr.com

Check out "sterilite" for their "storage locker" if the link doesn't work.


http://www.sterilite.com/images/storage_images/sto
lamontdc@adelphia.net

> PVC is a no-no for storing a lot of archival
> materials. I think it was Sacramento who was
> using a polyethelene pipe they found. Not
> sure if ABS pipe has any nasty problems.

Right, PVC outgasses. ABS degrades in UV light. You can get corrogated polyethelene, but I don't know how strong it is.

In the other thread they were talking about wood construction, just beware that glues in plywood can outgas, not to mention wood itself is acidic.



webmaster@tmny.org

> We have a very large collection of
> engineering drawings that we saved from a
> steel mill and have pledged to donate to a
> local historical society. They are quite
> interested in the drawings of course but do
> not have the space to store the drawings.
> The only space that I have is in a shipping
> container with other parts and equipment
> that we have in storage. As we don't have
> any money to buy flat files, I have thought
> about building plywood boxes to store the
> drawings in. 30" x 40" x 12"
> deep, in whatever number we need to fit all
> the drawings. This is about the best
> solution that I can devise. Anyone have any
> other ideas?

Rick,

Looks like you have gotten a lot of sound advice. Just to relate my own experience. I am a retired Electrical Engineer accustomed to drawing schematics. Since retiring I have been digitizing photos and drawings to use in making model RR decals in all scales. Not being able to afford AutoCAD, I use CorelDraw. A poor substitute I admit, but usable for my purposes. I digitize on a small bed hp scanner, being able to scan up to 1200 dpi if that accuracy is needed. I then use Corel to regenerate the image in a vector format, overlaying my new image on top of the original photo or drawing. I usually have little info on the dimensions in photos. In drawings I have some dimensions to start with and keep the objects in the drawing to scale.

One feature I'm sure you are aware of is that once regenerated by computer, the drawings can be scaled to any size printer available. In my case I work in HO on the computer, then when complete simply scale from N to G with scale factors for printing out the decals.

Hope this is of some help.

dan


svry@attbi.com

There are a number of firms that make solid wall cardboard tubes, in a number of sizes, complete with end caps. We use these at work for storing our archival engineering drawings.

Another source of the cardboard tubes may be your local concrete supplier; conrete contractors use these large diameter tubes as concrete forms.


sflinh@stlmsd.com

Caution: Concrete forming tubes are coated with mold release .. unless you special order them they come "preoiled".


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Plywood can be used for for a short while but you must seal it with Ployurethane or some other material.

Try contacting your state historical society or AAM for more info.

DON'T TRY TO TAKE CHEAP SHORT CUTS.

They simply don't exist.

Paul


Stuhr Museum
pfdx@aol.com

These particular drawings in question have had a rough life. They started life between about 1905 until the mid 1970s as original ink on fabric drawings by the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. As original drawings they were stored in files in the engineering department. In the mid 1980s all of the Brier Hill Works drawings were transferred to Hunt Steel who had purchased the Brier Hill Works. They were retained as "reference" drawings, but because of their bulk it was impossible to find a certain drawing when it was needed for "reference". So they ended up on the second floor of the Brier Hill pattern storage building. This was a dark, dry, but extremely dusty place and many drawings got trampled underfoot, rolled up haphazardly and sometimes just thrown in trash cans.

About 5 years ago I come along and acquired the collection, picked them all up and moved them to another mill building, and into an old locker room where they are on some makeshift shelves, but at least they are now stored flat and no longer in danger of landing in a dumpster. This area isn't too secure, its damp in there and is still quite dusty, so the preservation problem remains. Yes I know that "cheap shortcuts" aren't a good idea, but the drawing collection is a second priority behind the Tod Engine. We simply don't have the money to do very much with them, except continue storing them in less than ideal surroundings until they can be properly archived by another organization. However the discussion in this thread has caused me to think about things, and what the future for these drawings shall hold. I will be making a few calls and perhaps other arrangements can be made to get them into a climate controlled building.

Many of the general arrangement drawings and dwgs of items of importance have already been pulled out and are sitting behind my desk in flat files. Those are being properly archived, and the extremely important ones have even been deacidified and placed in sleeves.

It is important to mention that the complete set of drawings for our Tod engine was found in that pile of drawings on the second floor of the pattern storage building. These are the ones that will be scanned and placed on CD ROM.

The Tod Engine
todengine@woh.rr.com

Rick,

There are a number of archival storage suppliers. And you can get just plan archival grade mylar to protect the drawings. I suggest that you talk with any local libraries, archive centers, or museums to get ideas from them.

The several main suppliers are:

Light Impressions
www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/

Gaylord
http://www.gaylord.com/

Also suggest that you seach for the terms archival supplies. Google has a whole bunch of returns.

Brian Norden

bnorden49@earthlink.net

You might want to talk to the fine folks at the Chicora Foundation, I always found them very helpful..they have trained conservators on staff and I believe the advise is free, at least they never asked me for money.. which is nice when your museum's library just went through a hurricane.

http://chicora.org/

http://chicora.org/
rudd@cogdellmendrala.com