a homemade case for my new concertina

[Lappy]

I purchased a Troubadour concertina which was shipped to Pembina, North Dakota. I picked it up on May 5 and brought it home to Winnipeg. I’m still getting used to the fingering. I love the chords I can play on it. I made a case for it from 1/4 inch Baltic birch plywood.

[wschruba]

Looks nice--how is it constructed?  Laps, dovetails, fingers, nails, etc?

[Lappy]

On 6/16/2025 at 7:17 PM, wschruba said:

Looks nice--how is it constructed?  Laps, dovetails, fingers, nails, etc?

Thanks for your comment!

no nails….Gorilla glue 

I pyrographed the design and painted it with acrylics. I varnished it with three coats of oil based polyurethane. I saved the handle from an old countertop oven.

Edited July 18, 2025 by Lappy
spelling mistake

[David Barnert]

Is the inside blocked, to keep the bellows “squeezed”?

[wschruba]

I like the look, but am concerned that if longevity is a priority, you might want to add corners on the 8 vertices that fully encapsulate them, and use mechanical reinforcement (more edges/corners) along the sides/tops.  You'll see this on older instrument cases that were destined for humid places, due to the propensity of hide glue to weaken/separate when humidity got exceptionally high.

 

Lee Valley, who's main distribution is in Canada, has a selection of corners pre-made, https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/hardware/chest-hardware .  Edging, you could make yourself from sheet brass (or angle brass, if you could find a local-ish supplier).  I like to use KS Metals for that, but the legs might not be long enough on their pre-made brass angles to encapsulate both pieces where they are joined.

 

You can even use a fret saw/jewelers blades to cut similar curlicues into the pieces.

[Lappy]

13 hours ago, wschruba said:

I like the look, but am concerned that if longevity is a priority, you might want to add corners on the 8 vertices that fully encapsulate them, and use mechanical reinforcement (more edges/corners) along the sides/tops.  You'll see this on older instrument cases that were destined for humid places, due to the propensity of hide glue to weaken/separate when humidity got exceptionally high.

 

Lee Valley, who's main distribution is in Canada, has a selection of corners pre-made, https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/hardware/chest-hardware .  Edging, you could make yourself from sheet brass (or angle brass, if you could find a local-ish supplier).  I like to use KS Metals for that, but the legs might not be long enough on their pre-made brass angles to encapsulate both pieces where they are joined.

 

You can even use a fret saw/jewelers blades to cut similar curlicues into the pieces.

Thanks for your advice. I reinforced all vertices with 1/4 x 1/4 inch bars  of maple. 

Edited June 18, 2025 by Lappy

[Lappy]

16 hours ago, David Barnert said:

Is the inside blocked, to keep the bellows “squeezed”?

It’s blocked.