AI Translated from Chinese

Preface

As a not so senior “disc person” (CD enthusiast), while collecting regular CDs, I naturally have some strange collections. Especially some old同人 CDs, which are often made in unusual shapes, for example, CD in 32mo size, which looks out of place when placed with regular CDs.

A while ago, I had the honor of receiving 《現夢 -genmu-》 — a Touhou Project同人 CD released in 2011, with packaging as a pure paper box containing two discs and two booklets — which cost me quite a bit of pocket money. Protection measures naturally need to be maximized: moisture-proof, pressure-proof, shock-proof, otherwise some accident might happen one day — especially during graduation when moving things home — and damage this precious collection, which would be a double blow to both my wallet and my psyche.

Current protection measures only achieve moisture-proof: two moisture-proof ziplock bags, bag within box, box within bag. Clearly, this is not enough. It’s necessary to get a protection box. Treat it as a family heirloom (??) After some research, I decided to customize a protection box for the CD.

Protection Box Design

CD plus single-layer moisture-proof bag volume: 200x150x20 mm.

So I decided to customize a book-style flip-top box (somewhat like a mooncake box). The lining uses two pieces of sponge: 265x185x47.5 mm at the bottom, with a 200x150x20 mm recess cut out in the middle; the lid is a piece of 265x185x27.5 mm. This way, the CD can be perfectly fixed in the middle of the sponge, with the outer layer protected by hard cardboard, achieving moisture-proof, pressure-proof, and shock-proof in one package. Should be no problem.

Top view sketch of the bottom:

Twist and Turns

Box Customization

At first, I planned to directly customize a complete box with lining on Taobao or Xianyu, but the price was shocking: often over 200 yuan. Because these merchants mainly serve customers with large batch orders, for someone like me who is a “retail customer,” customizing one is obviously not cost-effective, so I had to find another way.

After browsing Taobao, I suddenly thought: could I buy a ready-made box and then customize the lining, wouldn’t that be more cost-effective?

No sooner said than done, I actually found one with suitable size and price:

Lining Customization

I chose black EVA for the lining: a new environmentally friendly plastic foam material with good buffering, shock resistance, heat insulation, moisture resistance, and chemical corrosion resistance advantages. It’s also non-toxic, non-water-absorbent, widely used for shock absorption and sealing in electronic appliances, and as linings in various packaging boxes and metal cans. Although it will have a bit of smell, it can basically dissipate after a few days outdoors. Friends who介意 can consider other materials.

Lining customization wasn’t as smooth as expected either. Naturally, EVA cutting is also wholesale-oriented. For personal customization, most require mold opening, which also costs one or two hundred at the slightest:

Fortunately, in the end, there was still a store willing to manually cut and paste for me. To avoid mold opening (otherwise the price would be considerable), the lining dimensions were changed to:

  • Bottom: 265x185x45 mm, recess 200x150x20 mm
  • Lid: 265x186x25 mm

The store was very patient, even though I’m a difficult customer with little money.

The final quote was —

39.21 + 20 = 39.21, less than 40 yuan solved the problem that previously required 240 yuan for customization!

Result

Size fits perfectly, one customization nailed it! No more worrying about damaging my beloved discs!

The material is light and thick, although there is indeed a bit of smell. After a few days in a cool place on the balcony, it’s much better. You need to put your nose right up to it to smell it (when it just arrived, opening it gave a direct whiff of plastic to the brain).

Afterword

A very successful customization. The only downside is that there’s almost no DIY component. Friends who like to do it themselves can buy raw materials and try it themselves. I’m just throwing out a brick here to get a jade.