Corrugated Paper Boards

What is corrugated paper?
Corrugated fiberboard is a paper-based material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is widely used in the manufacture of corrugated boxes and shipping containers.
Corrugated board is manufactured on large high-precision machinery lines called corrugators, usually running at 500 lineal feet per minute or faster. These machines over time have become very complex with the objective of avoiding some common problems in corrugated board production, such as warp and washboarding.

Basic Corrugated Paper Boards

What 3-D mapmakers should know about corrugated carton board and cartonboard


Corrugated board is made largely of recycled paper and most commonly comprises three components: an outer and inner “liner”, (the flat, surface components), and a “corrugating medium”, the “fluting”, which is glued between the liners It is this sandwich-type construction that gives corrugated board its excellent rigidity and structural strength as well as its unique cushioning characteristics.


Over the decades, corrugated board has evolved and developed to provide a wide range of products for different applications. Standard and non-standard categories of corrugated board are based on the type of flute, whether coarse, fine or extra fine and the number of fluted walls whether single, double or triple layered.
For the purpose of 3-D modeling, options include single face-, single wall – and double wall corrugated board, each of which can be made in a variety of weights and thicknesses.
The standard range includes the coarse ‘A’ and ‘C’ flute, fine ‘B’ and extra fine ‘E’ and ‘F’ flutes. The ‘B’ flute is the most widely used. It is very robust (difficult to crush) and has good compression strength. The ‘C’ flute is larger with greater compression strength but offers less crush resistance and requires more space.


Single face corrugated board is manufactured in standard widths ranging from 56” to 36”. It is easily transported in rolls. Its ability to withstand compression (an important factor for the stability of a 3-D model) is determined by the quality and thickness of the liner and the corrugating medium. For 3-D modeling, the liner and the corrugating medium should be at least 185 g/m2 and 150 g/m2 respectively. The best solution is to request a specially manufactured corrugated board making use of a liner (175 - 185 g/m2) and a kraft liner (175 –185 g/m2).

The thickness of corrugated board (an important dimension in respect of scaling 3-D models) is conventionally measured as detailed in the Table below.

If transport is not a constraint, you may wish to consider procuring single or double wall corrugated board, making sure that you get the best possible quality in terms of strengths as discussed above.

Provided you order a minimum quantity, depending on the goodwill of the manufacturer, corrugated board sheets can be cut to the desired size ahead of the modeling exercise.

In this case, the size of the board should possibly match that of the base table and the base map.


Single and double-wall corrugated boards are classified as detailed in the Table below and offer additional resistance to compression.


The choice between the various media will depend on their availability or readiness of manufacturers to produce them according to the desired specifications and to the transport facilities available to you to haul the material to where the model will be assembled. Rolls of board are easier to transport, as they can easily fit into the back of a pick up. Large carton board sheets are necessarily placed on the roof of a vehicle or in a truck you may want to get for the purpose.

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Printing Types

Floodcoat
A Floodcoat is quite straight-forward. The box materials, be it paperboard or corrugated cardboard, are completely covered from head to foot with a one color “flood” of printing. This printing method is the most cost-effective, but leaves you with only one color. In order to have a logo on top of this, you must opt for the floodcoat and flexographic printing. Floodcoat printing is available in a wide range of colors, including the Pantone line of inks.

Flexographic
Flexographic printing is used when a logo or simple line art drawing is to be put on a plain box. Flexographic printing uses the same principle as stamping, only on a larger scale. Great for putting your logo on any shipping containers.

Floodcoat and Flexographic
This is a combination of the two principles above. First a floodcoat is applied and let to dry. Afterwards, the boxes are run through the flexograpic process and another logo or picture is applied in a different color over top of the base coat. You can achieve some very stunning results with this method.

Lithographic Laminate
Lithographic Laminating involves the glueing of a printed sheet to the cardboard of the box before the cardboard is die cut. With this method, you can achieve the higher-end look to your packaging. Lithographic Laminating is most often used on software boxes and cereal boxes. It removes the corrugated look from the cardboard, while ensuring the quality of complex logos, pictures and photographs.

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Cardboard Wall Construction

Cardboard Wall Construction
Although most people think that cardboard boxes have only one type of structure there are actually two different styles of wall structure that we offer to our customers. Depending on which characteristics and qualities you would like to have in your box, you can choose from single or double wall structure.



Single Wall Corrugated Cardboard
This is the most popular corrugation material used in the boxes we manufacture, it consists of only one layer of whichever type of flute you pick. It is available in a wide range of board strengths, from 23 ECT right throough to 44 ECT. Generally, depending on what type of flute you have chosen, this type of wall structure is not the best choice for shipping heavy objects.



Double Wall Corrugated Cardboard
This wall structure is made of one layer of “B” Flute and one layer of “C” Flute. Stronger than a single wall structure, double wall enables heavier objects to be shipped and should be used when a stronger box or extra padding is needed. Double wall is available in 48 ECT to 71 ECT and is excellent for stacking heavier items.

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Corrugated Cardboard Types

Corrugated Cardboard Types

It is very important to know the type of cardboard that you will require when ordering your boxes. There are two factors to consider when choosing the type of cardboard – the flute and the wall construction.

Flutes
When dealing with differing types and styles of cardboard, we often refer to its flute, or flutes. What is a flute? Well, it simply means the type of corrugation that is sandwiched between the two outer layers of cardboard. The larger the flute, the stronger the box. Below is a small break down of the three types of flute that we offer at Instabox and their respective strengths and weaknesses.


“C” Flute
Thickness = 11 / 64″
Flutes per foot = 41
“C” flute cardboard has a very high stacking strength and a higher resistance to being crushed. It is one of the most commonly used flutes for shipping boxes and tends to perform the best when holding materials such as glass, furniture and food products.


“B” Flute
Thickness = 1 / 8″
Flutes per foot = 49
“B” Flute cardboard is the perfect combination of strength and style. It has a higher resistance to punctures than the other flutes and usually consumes less space than the regular “C” Flute. It is most often used for boxes that have to be durable but also need to have some style. Generally used for stand up displays or ballot boxes.


“E” Flute
Thickness = 1 / 16″
Flutes per foot = 95
“E” Flute is the most lightweight of all the types of corrugated cardboard we carry. It is a stronger alternative to paperboard and performs great when used for die cut designs. “E” Flute has a superior printing surface and works best when used as software packaging or point of purchase boxes.

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Box Measurement

Box Measurement

When ordering your box, it is important to understand the correct way of measuring the box that you need.

Without exception, three dimensions always express the size of a corrugated cardboard box: length, then width, then height (also called depth). These measurements refer to the inside dimensions of the box. The length is the larger dimension of the box’s opening. The width is the smaller dimension. The height is perpendicular to the opening.

If there is still some confusion as to exactly which dimensions go where, you can always call one of our experienced sales people and they would be happy to aid you in determining the correct measurements of the box you require

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Alternatives To Cardboard

Alternatives To Cardboard

Corrugated Plastic
Corrugated plastic is a waterproof, versatile material that can be die cut the same as corrugated cardboard. Light weight and durable, this material has a decidedly longer shelf life than cardboard and is better at holding out moisture such as snow and rain. Available in most of the primary colors, corrugated plastic is silk screened instead of litho laminated.

Paperboard
This material is great if you don’t need packaging that is extremely strong and durable. While rigid like cardboard, paperboard is about half as thick and contains no fluting. It’s great for gift boxes, brochure holders and dividers as well as being extremely well suited for printing.

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DIE CUT BOXES STYLE

DIE CUT BOXES STYLE GUIDE