Having recently purchased a roll perforating machine (!) of which more
at some other time, I have been looking into purchasing a quantity of
roll boxes, starting with the small 2" size.

I have received a quote from a maker that is in line with the suggestion
made earlier, in the lower part of the $2-3 range, although I'm in the
UK where prices tend to be a little higher for these sort of things.

From my research there are two types of makers: (1) those with fully
automated operations, whose prices drop fairly fast with increased
volumes, and (2) those with manual operation who'll meet smaller orders
at higher prices.

The traditional roll box is something like a "2-piece paper-covered box
and full-cover lid with finger notch", and it's easy to get ones made
just like the old ones.

You can specify which grade of card you want, and I did a bit of
measuring to see what to go for.  Many modern boxes are perceived as
being rather flimsy, and buyers used to originals have been a little
disappointed.  Original European boxes seem to be a fairly uniform
0.070" wall thickness.  I was rather surprised to measure a goodly
number of American boxes at around 0.040" thickness (Duo-Art, for
instance), with only a few such as Ampico at 0.070".

Modern boxes tend to the lower thickness, such as Duo-Art boxes by
Keystone or those offered by the California Player Roll Co.  (Although
very light, these are a very economical $1.20 with bulk reduction.)
The Tonnessens [Custom Music Rolls, Richardson, TX] offer choices of
0.040" or 0.065" and regular buyers of recuts will probably find
examples of both on their shelves, to see the difference.

You can gauge the wall thickness by squeezing the boxes in the middle
(pretend you're at the grocer's testing fruit).  The 0.070" boxes are
pretty stiff and only give slightly, while the thinner ones will bend a
fair amount.  Both do the required job pretty well, and I'd not noticed
the way the walls gave until I started working out a spec, but the
heavier card does definitely add to the feel of quality.

The weight of the boxes I measured varied between 2.5 and 4.75 ounces,
because the card bulk varies as well as its thickness.  The quote I've
got is for something that'll be around 0.060" (I think).

What's been rather fun is the choice of covering paper.  In the UK the
fashion was for textured "leatherette" papers, and I've been sent a
swatch book of modern papers.  To my surprise, some are nearly identical
to originals.  One is an exact match with pre-WW1 Aeolian Themodist
boxes, a rather handsome dark maroon, although the available textures
don't quite match (you get very fussy when offered too much choice).
I'm probably going to resist the temptation of a fairly lurid alligator
skin even if this means forgoing slogans such as "the snappiest music".

Julian Dyer