Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: DRon knife on March 10, 2012, 12:14:58 pm

Title: stave by usps?
Post by: DRon knife on March 10, 2012, 12:14:58 pm
hi guy's,Quick question,does anyone know if you can mail a stave through the post office or does it have to go ups? Thanks for any help. Ron
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bevan R. on March 10, 2012, 12:17:45 pm
Almost all my staves come post office. (my route carrier really hates me lately ;))
I have gotten many from sellers on ebay. They have all come Post Office.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: DRon knife on March 10, 2012, 12:19:17 pm
haha,Thanks Bevan!
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Pat B on March 10, 2012, 12:29:39 pm
I send everything USPS. Never had a problem. My postal carrier thinks its funny that we send fence posts around the country.  ;D
  I usually wrap the ones I send in white wrapping paper and some just use shrink wrap. Don't want our postal workers getting splinters now do we.  ;)
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: criveraville on March 10, 2012, 12:32:46 pm
Post office for me too.

Cipriano
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: osage outlaw on March 10, 2012, 01:03:46 pm
Post office for me also.  I got a roll of black plastic that I wrap mine with.  If you are sending them pay attention to the length and girth.  They will measure them and if its over a certain amount it will cost a lot more.  I don't send staves over 70" and I've never had to pay extra.  If you ship to Canada its very expensive.  If you keep it in the lower 48, it isn't bad.  For me it's usually around $15 for a stave.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Prarie Bowyer on March 10, 2012, 01:12:50 pm
USPS for anything long and skinny.  UPS will be a waste of money.

Staves you can just wrap in shrink wrap slap a label on it and send it.  That will minimize bulk which affects their pricing algorythm.  FOr bows I get free Fridge boxes and cut them in to strips and bend up a triangular box +2" in length .  It will take R/D bows and flat bows.  Recurves are a different story but they are shorter anyway.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bevan R. on March 10, 2012, 01:17:17 pm
I have found a tube I like to use in shipping finished arrows and bows. I get a 4" x 10' 'solid waste' tube from Home Depot. Costs me about $8.
I can get a bow tube and an arrow tube from each one. I make 'plugs' from pine scrap. It is darn near crush proof. Light weight. Post office has had no issues with it yet.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: country on March 10, 2012, 01:17:27 pm
usps here.... although if Bevan would stop outbidding me I would have more   LOL    :)
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bevan R. on March 10, 2012, 01:18:30 pm
I have quite outbiddina ANYONE on ebay. The last piece of osage was a fluke. Did the min bid and nobody else bid. :laugh:
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: paulsemp on March 10, 2012, 01:21:47 pm
Hey Bevan, I was going to sabotage you but I was playing nice >:D
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bevan R. on March 10, 2012, 01:48:26 pm
PLEASE, sabatoge me next time!! ;D
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: DRon knife on March 10, 2012, 01:52:30 pm
lol...play nice you two!!

It went usps,73"@15$

What I used to wrap it was some 15" painters masking paper and some masking tape.

Thanks for all your help!! Ron
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: seabass on March 10, 2012, 02:03:47 pm
remember to cut cardboard strips and tape them on the back of the stave when you shrink wrap them.this will keep the backs from getting dented..
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Dean Marlow on March 10, 2012, 02:50:10 pm
Yes you can use the post office on shipping wood. Maximum length is 80" and up to 70lbs. I use Parcel mostly because of cost. Some times it is very slow to get to it's destination though. I shipped 2 staves to a guy on the East coast and it took 3 weeks to get there. Amazes me how they can't find a 6 foot long piece of wood.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: DLH on March 10, 2012, 02:59:48 pm
This is kinda off subject but I didn't realize ups delivers a lot of usps packages for them I was surprised didn't think they would do that?
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bevan R. on March 10, 2012, 03:01:57 pm
I get stuff all the time that was shipped UPS that is delivered by the post office.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: JW_Halverson on March 10, 2012, 03:53:57 pm
It's called sub-contracting. 
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: beetlebailey1977 on March 10, 2012, 04:19:21 pm
I have never used ups and I use usps for staves or wood all the time.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Justin Snyder on March 10, 2012, 04:32:17 pm
USPS for me, and my letter carrier loves it. She likes to stop and visit whenever I get wood or rocks. She wants to know all about what kind and where in the world it is from.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Carson (CMB) on March 10, 2012, 04:35:03 pm
For usps, the magic number is 84" combined girth and length.  If you keep the combined length and girth under 84" you avoid the oversize surcharge.  For example a stave that had a girth of 12" at the widest spot along its length would not envoke a surcharge if kept under 72".  If I keep it under 84" it is usally around the $10 -15 for parcel.

From USPS website...
"Parcel Post pieces measuring over 84 inches in combined length and girth, but not more than 108 inches in combined length and girth, and weighing less than 20 pounds are mailable at the price equal to that of a 20-pound parcel for the zone to which the parcel is addressed (balloon price)."

Same applies for priority.
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: bubby on March 10, 2012, 07:34:36 pm
yeah, up to 108" combined is the top end of the standard fee, over that it can get spendy, Bub
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Bryce on March 11, 2012, 04:41:13 am
i always do ups ground. i know im impatient  ;D
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: Del the cat on March 11, 2012, 06:30:06 am
A cautionary note for anyone shipping to the UK.
A guy sent me some billets, his wife posted them and for some reason wrote $500 as the value on the paperwork :o
They arrive in the UK and I get charged 20% of the 'value' as tax before they'd deliver >:(
I manged to claim it back by send of loads of paperwork and letter from the letter explaining the error.
Maybe she meant to write $50, or thought $500 woule be nice for insurance (as if they'd pay out ::))
Del
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: osage outlaw on March 11, 2012, 08:10:23 am
Good point Del.  When I send something to Canada, I write craft supplies and am usually very generous with the value, just in the correct direction  ;)
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: gstoneberg on March 11, 2012, 10:18:28 am
I just sent a yellow stick to Canada yesterday.  It was a very inexpensive stick. ;)  I usually find it costs about twice as much to go to Canada as somewhere in the US.  There's an oriental man that works in our post office that is fascinated that I send staves.  He talked to me for a long time the first time I went through his line.  Now, whenever I come in and he sees me with a stave or bow blank he smiles and mimes somebody drawing a bow.  That starts a lot of conversations for me with the other customers. 8)

George
Title: Re: stave by usps?
Post by: crooketarrow on March 11, 2012, 01:10:48 pm
  I mail a few staves every month way cheaped than UP'S. Here's alittle help I get 4 inch tubs from the center of rugs at a carbet store. I mail my staves this way for years. That about right GEORGE it's almost dobble it's also a killer to mail to the west coast for me in WV.