BPG Corrugated Clamshell Box

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Book and Paper Group Wiki > Housings > Corrugated Clamshell Box

Wiki Contributors: Sue Donovan, your name could be here

Copyright 2025. The AIC Wiki is a publication of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). It is published as a convenience for the members of AIC. Publication does not endorse nor recommend any treatments, methods, or techniques described herein. Information on researching with and citing the wiki can be found on the Reference and Bibliography Protocols page.

Cite this page:

American Institute for Conservation (AIC). "BPG Corrugated Clamshell Box." AIC Wiki. May 20, 2025. https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/BPG_Corrugated_Clamshell_Box.

Diagram

Sequence of Operations

Sourced from Alan Puglia

1. Measure book for height (H), width (W), and thickness (T).
2. Cut board to following size:

• Length= 5(T) + 2(W) + 5.4 cm
• Width = 2(T) + (H) + 1.4 cm

1. Mark for vertical folds, working from left and right edge inwards.
2. Make vertical folds.
3. Mark horizontal fold lines on both left and right edges.
4. Trim out as indicated.
5. Make horizontal folds. Note that folds on inner and outer trays are not aligned horizontally.
6. If box "yawns" and won't stay shut by itself (often occurs in books <1" thick), you may adhere a small (1/4" to 1/2" piece of Velcro with PVA to the inner fore-edge of the outer tray and to the outer fore-edge of the inner tray.
7. Use PVA to hold fore-edge walls in place.

Variations

• Via an exchange over Tumblr, University of Notre Dame Preservation and New York University Preservation shared their variations of the corrugated clamshell box. See here Tumblr exchange with NU and NYU Preservation, including informative GIF
  

Materials

• B-flute corrugated board (Gaylord has recently changed their supplier, so the board available is no longer baby-blue but a slate-blue color, with no other perceivable differences)
• PVA to hold fore-edge walls in place
• clamps (such as Irwin quick-grip) to hold walls while PVA dries
• scalpels or box-cutters
• bone or Teflon folders
• straight-edge