Custom Cutlery Boxes
A cutlery set is a box full of hard, heavy, mirror-finished objects that will be shipped across a country and then given as a present. If any two of them can touch each other, they will, and the set arrives marked.
- Builds
- Rigid lid and base, folding cartons with reinforced base, corrugated canteens
- Inserts
- Die-cut trays with individual channels, cut to your handle shape
- Safety
- Card sheaths on every blade; points held below the board line
Get a price for Cutlery Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Every piece in its own place
The insert is not there to stop the set rattling — it is there to guarantee that no two pieces share a space. A tray with individual channels does that; a foam pad with everything lying on it does not.
Handles are the part that varies. A set with square handles nests differently from one with rounded handles, and a tray cut for one holds the other loosely.
Send the actual set. Piece counts are standard; handle shapes are not, and the tray is cut to the handle.
Sheath the edges before anything else
This is a safety requirement rather than a presentation one, and it is the first thing we specify on any set containing knives.
- Knife edges cut through card in transit and then cut whoever opens the box.
- A die-cut card sheath over each blade costs very little and removes the risk entirely.
- Fork points push through corners; the tray has to hold them below the board line.
- Serrated edges are worse than straight ones — they saw rather than slice.
Weight, and the base that carries it
A canteen is a small box with the weight of a full shopping bag, and the base carries all of it at the moment somebody lifts it by the sides. A tuck base will let go.
| 16-piece set | Around 2 kg; reinforced folding base |
|---|---|
| 24-piece set | Around 3 kg; rigid or corrugated build |
| 44-piece canteen | Well over 5 kg; corrugated with a full insert |
| Single serving pieces | Light; a sleeve or a small carton is enough |
It is usually a present
Cutlery sets peak at weddings and at Christmas, and they are handed over rather than taken out of a bag. A lift-off lid, a printed interior and a tray that presents the set turn a heavy carton into something worth giving.
A box that has to be cut open with a knife undoes that in a second — the gift-build reasoning is set out across our kitchenware packaging range.
Tarnish, and the board around it
Silver and silver-plated cutlery tarnishes on contact with sulfur compounds, some of which are present in ordinary recycled board. For plated sets, a tarnish-resistant liner or an anti-tarnish cloth in the tray is worth specifying.
Stainless steel does not have this problem, which is most of why it took over. If your set is plated, say so — it changes the material, not the shape.
Cutlery Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Builds
- Rigid lid and base, folding cartons with reinforced base, corrugated canteens
- Inserts
- Die-cut trays with individual channels, cut to your handle shape
- Safety
- Card sheaths on every blade; points held below the board line
- Board
- Reinforced base as standard; corrugated above about 3 kg
- Plated sets
- Tarnish-resistant liner or anti-tarnish cloth available
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build cutlery boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetallised and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: cutlery boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Cutlery Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about cutlery boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Why does my cutlery arrive scratched?
Two pieces sharing a space. The tray has to give every piece its own channel, not just stop the set rattling.
Do you need my actual set to make the tray?
Yes. Piece counts are standard but handle shapes are not, and the tray is cut to the handle.
What board for a 24-piece set?
Rigid or corrugated with a reinforced base. At around 3 kg a tuck base will eventually let go.
Will the board tarnish plated cutlery?
Some recycled board can. For plated sets we specify a tarnish-resistant liner or an anti-tarnish cloth.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes, with trays cut to your set.
Do knives need guards?
Yes — an unguarded edge cuts through the carton in transit and then cuts whoever opens the box.
Why does my cutlery arrive scratched?
Two pieces sharing a space. The tray has to give every piece its own channel, not just stop the set rattling.
Do you need my actual set to make the tray?
Yes. Piece counts are standard but handle shapes are not, and the tray is cut to the handle.
What board for a 24-piece set?
Rigid or corrugated with a reinforced base. At around 3 kg a tuck base will eventually let go.
Will the board tarnish plated cutlery?
Some recycled board can. For plated sets we specify a tarnish-resistant liner or an anti-tarnish cloth.
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