Bumper Tray Inserts

Author(s)

National Museum of the American Indian 
Smithsonian Institution
Research Branch Move Project Team

Photo Credits: Angela Yvarra McGrew & T. Ashley McGrew

Publication: 2014

Bumper tray inserts

Description

During the course of the five-year Move Project, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian moved more than 800,000 Native American archaeological (607,089) and ethnographic (168,622) objects from the NMAI Research Branch, a crowded warehouse in the Bronx, New York, to the museum’s Cultural Resources Center, a purpose-built research and storage facility in Suitland, Maryland.  Every piece underwent a registration check, conservation cleaning/stabilization and pest management treatment, digital imaging before packing for transport by truck from New York to Maryland.  This support was developed to help move small objects safely through the move process. These supports can be used as tray inserts but they would also be great liners for  permanent shelving and drawers.

Materials, Tools & Supplies

• 1/8” Polyethylene foam sheet
• Tri-rod® polyethylene foam
• Foam knife
• Glue gun

Construction

1. Cut the foam sheet to the desired size of the insert base.

2. Cut a piece of Tri-rod® foam the same length as the perimeter of the foam sheet base.

3. Using a foam knife make angled cuts part way through the foam in three places corresponding to the dimensions of the base; bevel the ends so that they fit together at a right angle. If these inserts are to be mass produced it may be most efficient to construct a jig (see image below) to notch several pieces of Tri-rod® at once.

Components for creating bumper tray inserts.

4. Next, slice this piece of foam in half (each piece of cut Tri-rod® will produce two bumpers).

5. Glue the flat side of the Tri-rod® down onto the polyethylene foam sheet. Get the glue close enough to the inner edges to keep things from slipping underneath.

Adapted From

Arenstein, R. P., C. Brady, N. Carroll, J. French, E. Kaplan, A. Y. McGrew, A. McGrew, S. Merritt, L. Williamson. 2003. NMAI Living: Moving a la Martha. Tips from the National Museum of the American Indian collections move . Objects Specialty Group Postprints. 10. American Institute for Conservation 31st Annual Meeting. Arlington. Washington DC: AIC. 92–106.

Arenstein, R. P., N. Carroll, J. French, E. Kaplan, A. Y. McGrew, A. McGrew, L. Williamson. 2003. NMAI good tips: applications and bulking of cyclododecane, and mass production of supports . Objects Specialty Group Postprints. 10. American Institute for Conservation 31st Annual Meeting. Arlington. Washington DC: AIC. 176–187.