Making a new case

[RWL]

The material is 1/4" plywood and the tabbed edges were cut for me on a laser cutter by my son at the university.    The tabbed edges made a strong glued joint.  After gluing it, I sawed off the box top.  I added the hinges, twist latch, and weather shield prior to covering the outside of the case in 900 denier nylon fabric.  I spray painted the case black in areas where there would be seam joints in the cloth to obscure any gaps that might occur in the cloth seams.  I used brush on contact cement on this one.  On a previous case I had used spray on contact cement and it didn't hold the fabric as well.  After the exterior cloth was on, I reassembled the hardware and weather guard.  The pieces of the weather guard needed to be shortened once the cloth was placed, so fitting this previously just made a little more work than necessary.  The only reason I made the weather shield was to give the box a little more strength in this area.  It is just pieces of 2x4 ripped to about 3/16" thickness and sanded.  I did need to give the outer edges a few degrees of bevel so that the lid closed on it without interference.  More photos of finishing the interior in the next post.

[RWL]

I used green suede as the cloth lining and thin cardboard (about the thickness of cardboard from new shirts) as the backer.  I glued the fabric to the cardboard with spray-on contact adhesive and it worked well for this purpose.  I used double sided cellophane tape to adhere the lining to the interior of the case.  This is not holding as well as I'd like and on one or two panels so I might go back and redo those areas with either double sided carpet tape or glue dots.  I covered the corner blocks with the same fabric but used hot melt glue to adhere it to the wood.  I used two drywall screws per block to affix the corner blocks.  You can see the screw heads on the outside of the case.  Aesthetically this is the only part that I don't like, but I didn't know of a better way to do this.  In theory I could have glued the blocks to the interior of the case, but it would have broken up the interior lining into multiple small sections, which I wanted to avoid.  As you can see from the completed case, I left room to the right of the instrument for incidentals.  I typically carry reading glasses and a screwdriver in my case.  The space is also large enough to add a hand held recorder.  I have a few odds and ends to complete.  I haven't bought a handle for it yet and I need to add corner protectors - anybody have a recommendation for corner protectors?  I will probably recess the nuts for the hinges and latch into the weather guard.  I also like to have a carrying strap for my case - it helps at the NE Squeeze In where the walks from workshop to workshop are on uneven ground and a little longer than the usual walk from the car to a building.  I need to make the strap hardware yet.

[Devils' Dream]

Hello RWL:

This is a beautiful case with a lot of thought. What I don't get, personally, is why you decided not to build it with a closed cell type foam, especially on the bottom, top, front and back?

 

Also, why not seal off the accessory compartment; don't want your screwdriver rattling around the fretwork!

[Wolf Molkentin]

Perhaps there’s a case for the screwdriver set, fitting nicely into the slot...

[RWL]

2 hours ago, Devils' Dream said:

Hello RWL:

This is a beautiful case with a lot of thought. What I don't get, personally, is why you decided not to build it with a closed cell type foam, especially on the bottom, top, front and back?

 

Also, why not seal off the accessory compartment; don't want your screwdriver rattling around the fretwork!

I'll have my son 3D print a pencil/screwdriver holder for me as in the photo below of my Edeophone in its case.   Before I had the plastic pencil holder, I used a thin plastic tube that held the screwdriver upright. It was secured to the cloth in the corner with double sided cellphane tape - which didn't hold very well. The case for my Edeophone does have foam backer surrounding the instrument.  There's enough room in the new Wheatstone's case that I could still add the foam padding.  Making a new case for the Edeophone is on the agenda.  The 1/2" plywood I used for that is too heavy.  You can see the strap "rings" sticking out on the sides.  I'll add those to my Wheatstone case too.

[sleepymonk]

What a beautiful box!

[Devils' Dream]

Now it only needs one final touch for anti-theft control....

Edited August 15, 2019 by Devils' Dream
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[RWL]

I bought the plywood for another case yesterday.  The next one will be for my Edeophone.  I'm getting tired of the weight of the original case I made for it.  The Edeophone is a tenor treble, so it's a little heavier to begin with.  I can see why they made some instruments with aluminum reed shoes.  Hopefully the new case in 1/4" plywood will be substantially lighter.

 

Another label idea would be to identify it as a doggy doo carrier.  I'd miss my instrument if were stolen, but one of the band mates has a violin that's valuable enough that he never lets it out of his sight, including bringing it into the restaurant when we go to lunch after a late morning practice.  The Edeophone is pricey, but not in the same league as his fiddle.  It stays in the car for short periods unless the temperature is really extreme.

[Wolf Molkentin]

1 hour ago, Devils' Dream said:

Now it only needs one final touch for anti-theft control....

 

I reckon the choice of "poison" might be even more promising... ?

[Devils' Dream]

This might be better...