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Looking for Slightly Larger Hard Case


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Does anyone know where I can buy, preferably in the UK/Europe, a new ready-made wooden hard case, sized for a slightly larger concertina (say 7 1/2" / 19cm wide octagonal ends)? I'm looking for something in a similar style to this case that I supply with my standard size instruments, but about an inch bigger in all dimensions:

 

case_example.jpg.97cb55b09770ccfda5e0f72075ca658a.jpg

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2 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said:

Have you tried  Berwall    www.berwall.de    ?  They  have   a lot of  shapes  and sizes.

 

Thanks for the tip Geoff. They have one that would sort of work but isn't the ideal shape. If I can't find a suitable case off the shelf one option is to buy the flight case hardware and assemble a custom one, but I've been trying to find a ready made case that fits to save the client a bit of money.

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Pelican cases  makes a ton of sizes. And the foam is easily cut with an electric knife, 

not concertina specific. But very good, very cheap and can easily be modified for anything, and they are also waterproof.

 

being ubiquitous and universal. The upside is that depending on the circumstances, it does not scream, “I’m an expensive piece of gear, steal me now”

 

 

 

Edited by seanc
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1 minute ago, Rod Pearce said:

I've just seen this one. It has internal dimensions of 20cm x 20cm x 17cm. Not sure about the 17cm for your needs, though It might be worth a look

 

Thanks, unfortunately I don't think that one will fit.

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15 hours ago, alex_holden said:

 

Thanks, it is an option, but many players prefer something more traditional looking.


unless you are talking about a 6 or 8 sided wood or leather wrapped wooden cases.

 

imo Not having a ladies make up case with wonky/ iffy latches would be a selling point.
 

“Only  the Finest Corinthian hides of the endangered Naugas lovingly wrapping the superlative quality cardboard!” 

 

 

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8 hours ago, seanc said:


unless you are talking about a 6 or 8 sided wood or leather wrapped wooden cases.

 

imo Not having a ladies make up case with wonky/ iffy latches would be a selling point.
 

“Only  the Finest Corinthian hides of the endangered Naugas lovingly wrapping the superlative quality cardboard!” 

 

Hi Sean, I'm not sure why you think the alternative to a Pelican style moulded plastic case would be a cardboard makeup case with wonky latches. The Italian-made wooden musical instrument cases I (and other makers) normally supply are strong plywood boxes with decent quality steel hardware and a hard wearing PVC covering. They aren't as pretty (or expensive) as a hand made leather case but they are certainly suitable for their intended purpose.

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Hi Alex

This idea might not suit the customer’s needs, but you could try a vintage case  for example there is a Wheatstone Aeola TT size one on eBay (looks like a very well known seller...) for pennies. It would be an easy restoration for you.

I am having one restored by a leather worker at the moment and it isn’t expensive.

I love your blog btw!

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22 minutes ago, Tiposx said:

Hi Alex

This idea might not suit the customer’s needs, but you could try a vintage case  for example there is a Wheatstone Aeola TT size one on eBay (looks like a very well known seller...) for pennies. It would be an easy restoration for you.

I am having one restored by a leather worker at the moment and it isn’t expensive.

I love your blog btw!

 

Thanks, if we're thinking of the same one, the listing doesn't give the dimensions, but I'm tempted to bid on it anyway as I'm curious to learn how that style of case was constructed.

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  • 10 months later...

Just to follow up on this thread: in the end I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I made it myself. (I had initially hoped to avoid that because I knew it would be a lot of extra work.) It turned out really nicely though.

 

It’s a strong 9mm birch plywood box with a lip at the seam, covered on the outside with an imitation leather fabric called Arbetex. The inside is custom blocked to fit the instrument, padded with impact absorbing foam, and upholstered with pig suede. It has sturdy double latches for redundancy, metal corner bumpers, rubber feet, leather handle, and self limiting hinges.

 

no9_case_1.jpg

 

no9_case_2.jpg

 

no9_case_3.jpg

 

 

 

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Really nice work.
I would like to make one, but haven’t thought of a good design. The 9mm thickness of yours may be the key - I was looking at 5mm or so.

A few questions  - how did you make the lip; what joints did you use; and did you make the lid separately or did you cut it off the larger box.

Many thanks

Tiposx

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23 hours ago, Tiposx said:

I would like to make one, but haven’t thought of a good design. The 9mm thickness of yours may be the key - I was looking at 5mm or so.

A few questions  - how did you make the lip; what joints did you use; and did you make the lid separately or did you cut it off the larger box.

 

I primarily went with 9mm ply because my standard cases are also 9mm thick, and I wanted a reasonable amount of thickness for the hinge and latch screws to bite into without protruding on the inside. It is kind of heavy.

 

The sides of the box are dovetailed to each other (I did it that way because I was primarily using hand tools to cut the joints - I don't own a table saw). The top and bottom panels are simply glued and nailed onto the sides. The corner blocks act as additional reinforcement on the bottom half.

 

no9_case_4.jpg

 

The weather lips are made from small strips of hardwood glued on (bit of a fiddly way of doing it but it worked OK).

 

no9_case_5.jpg

 

no9_case_6.jpg

 

I made the top and bottom separately. I did end up with a tiny (less than 1mm) step at the seam that I simply blended together with a belt sander before I covered it.

 

The most difficult part is covering it with the Arbetex cloth without ending up with little gaps or bunched-up areas where it has to fold over the weather strip and two pieces meet. In hindsight it would have been slightly easier to do the covering before gluing in the corner blocks because it was tricky to work around them.

 

no9_case_7.jpg

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