Inexpensive chess piece storage

I am thinking either plastic boxes or cardboard.  I have been looking at many plastic storage boxes on line.  Do you have to worry about the plastic interreacting with the finish on the wood pieces? If the box is air tight that is fine as I already bought Boveda pouches to add as well as subtract to keep the perfect mositure control. A small price to pay for a couple better sets so they so not crack.

Some of you may have a favorite box that you can adjust the compartments to their size, a fishing lure box comes to mind but these are also expensive. Looking for something in the $5 to $10 price range.  Has to be safe as far as any chemical reaction over a long period of time. 

Cardboard I know will do the trick but is a bit pourous for the better sets to be stored in.

Let me have your ideas and if you have a favorite please state model # or include a link where a person can buy it, Thanks!!

And yes I know you can sometimes find a cigar box in a thrift store or even buy one on line but not looking for that, looking to buy 10 boxes at an inexpensive price.  

I have found that the Plano brand of fishing storage boxes work best.  I put some craft foam in the bottom of the container and it holds the set very nicely. 

For my 3.5" -3.75" sets I find their model 3700 works great.  It costs $8 or so.  The plastic is a translucent milky white that you can see the pieces through.  I put the set in the box first and then put the dividers in where appropriate to give each type of piece their own compartment.  For instance I might have 3 pawns in one of the smallest compartments.  The King usually gets his own compartment.

For my bigger sets, I found a couple of the same milky white plastic boxes that had handles at, my least favorite place, WalMart.  I believe they are also Plano brand.  They are a bit bigger but the whole set fits in nicely.  I bought those a good number of years ago, but I am sure they were no more than $20 each.

I get the foam at either JoAnn Fabrics or Hobby Lobby.  It is a white craft foam that resembles fiberglass insulation in its consistency.  I think I get the 1" depth and separate it thinner by simply pulling it apart by hand in layers.  I usually fill the depth of the container by half or a litte less so the pieces are snug and cushioned when the lid is closed.  I put nothing on top and it is never a problem.  I cut the foam to size with a scissors to fit in each compartment made for the pieces.

With this setup, I bring some of my chess sets to play rated Chess at our club on Monday nights and all with no problems.

Browsing Goodwill and other second hand shops, I have found a humidor, a jewelry box, and a wooden recipe box (with twin compartments), all of which worked great for storing chess pieces. With a few modifications, you can add latches and handles to make for easier and safer transport.

Learning by ordering :-)   Thoughts about boxes and give me opinions on liners if you use them at all.

Before ordering the Plano boxes or something similar from Amazon beware that more than one vendor buy sthe Plano boxes and has Amazon ship them out. I got hoodwinked into thinking I ordered two different boxes and it tuned out they were the exact same Plano box only with different colot latches.

Best buy I can see from Amazon is the very roomy and 4-15 adjustable compartments from Plano called the Deep Prolatch® Stowaway®.  This is the deep version of the Classic 3700 Stowaway which I will also try.  Dim are 14x9.13x3.25 or 35.56x23.19x8.26.  Model# 2-3730-05  coming in at a price of $6.57 shipped PRIORITy for FREE  if you are a Prime customer, which I am.

The box I paid way too much money for which turned out to be the same was called Creative Options. By the way when you get it it is stamped Plano and has every marking of the same Plano box I stated in the abobe paragraph. Why did I think it was a totally different box, plastic and all?  The Dim. were just a tad different. 14.125x9x3.25. I noiticed this seller was from the same city as where the Plano factory is. Really can't blame this seller, great way to make some money and really not much work to it, although you have to have some capitol to start up with the initial inventory and stock on labels putting your name on the box. Yes the plano trademark shows clearly and it is the same box. 

Now for the embarrassement, I paid $11.99 for this box also shipped for FREE with Prime.  

Oh well I am telling this so as no one else will make that mistake.

I bought the deep box to experiment with.  This is a great size and I think I will order the standard height box too.  I just wanted to see if I could stand up the P/R/N/ and maybe even the B in this higher box.  Also wanted to see if there was such as item as felt with a sticky side to it as so I don't have to mess with the spreading of glue.  Maybe even cork that they use to line a tool box would work well? 

wiscmike - My crafts store has some craft foam sheets with adhesive backing that you might want to check out. You can Google Foamies craft foam to see what I am talking about.

For my cheaper sets, plastic icecream boxes worked great for me until now. As cheap as it gets.

The Plano boxes being fairly inexpensive and the better ones that have the pro latch (almost air tight) are working great for me.  I still haven't shopped for the foam, if the weather gets above 15F one day I may go out. But we are now getting one polar vortex after another just like last year.  

I do not think the Plano plastic reacts with the wood or finishes of tghe chess pieces but I am not an expert. I do know the Plano boxes are of high quality plastic,, better than any import I have seen as of yet.

I use Sterilite Flip Tops.  I use the small version for all my chess sets, which have 3.75" kings.  You can get larger flip tops for larger sets.

http://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-18038612-Small-Flip-Storage/dp/B005H3GAM2

Can't beat $15 for 12!  With free prime shipping.