Custom Case

[Acousticraft]

I nailed to sheets of 6mm ply together with panel pins and drew around my ES335 style guitar then added another 15mm for lining, padding etc.

I cut it out with my jigsaw, sanded with the drill press sanding bobbin and laid down sheets of plastic cling wrap and screwed the back down to my work table. Using the ply camlock disks I made with the hole saw in the drill press I screwed down about 15 of them around the outside of the back.

For the sides I am using 4mm "bendy ply" which is ply which is designed to be bent in one particular direction and the plys are laid in the right direction to achieve this. I cut a strip 120mm wide the full length of the sheet and glued it and pulled it around clamping it with my cam locks as I went. I also needed to fit some extra blocks to push it in tight here and there. I had to add in a piece about 200mm long to go right around.Once the glue is dry I will glue in the front and once that has dried I will laminate another piece round the outside and make the join on the other side to make the case stiff and strong. Pics so far.

[Jon]

Great work! Hopefully it will be durable and not shift over time when you complete the case.

[coolio49085]

Would you be interested in writing a tutorial on this? I have '67 harmony rocket that really needs a fitted case because regular hard shells dont fit it.

Edited December 25, 2006 by Maiden69

[whitetrashrocknroll]

yeah tutorial would be nice.

[Acousticraft]

OK I finally finished it a few days back but my wife has had me busy doing house maintenance so haven't had a chance to visit.

So going from the first picture I cut out front and back together out of 7mm plywood making it 15mm bigger all round than the shape of the guitar and I ended up using the fake fur to line the inside so when it was finished it is a good fit.

The only mistake was at the headstock end, I didn't allow for the tuners sticking out so it is a firm fit at that end but OK.

If you want thick padding then you need to allow more clearance but the fake fur has all the padding to protect your work of art.

Anyway back to the case construction, I screwed the case back down on my work bench so the back wouldn't move and with plastic cling wrap under neath so the glue doesn't stick the whole lot to your bench.

The height of the sides was determined by laying the guitar on a flat surface with a block under the neck so it was sitting with headstock well clear of surface and measuring the highest point. I added about an extra 20mm for height clearance and cut the strips of 4mm bendy ply, in my case 120mm full length down the sheet so they were about 1220mm long.

Start gluing and clamping so the joins end up on the straight sections of the neck area. Its too hard to join on a bend.

I started pulling the ply around from the tail stock area gluing and clamping as I went. I made cam clamps out of some 10mm ply (just cut out with a hole saw about 40mm dia with hole drilled off centre so when turned will lock) and screwed them down at regular spacing. Turn the clamps with multi-grip pliers in the direction so they are always forcing the sides forwards to keep all gaps tight and work your way around bit by bit as you go until you get to the end which should be on a straight section. The other end is repeated on the other side. I used plenty of glue and did a small section at a time then clamped it as soon as possible so you need to make sure you have all cam clamps ready with you cordless screwdriver charged up and all screws to hand. There will be extra places that need to be clamped do I had small wooden blocks and used panel nails so i could nail them where needed.

Once you have everything clamped you will need to add a piece depending on your sheet size.

Leave overnight to dry and release all clamps.

The front can be then glued in. I ran a good bead of glue both around side and top. I put about 6 screws sticking out along the top so I could get grip to pull up to get the top flush as I went. The trick is to angle the top and push it down inside then pull up on the low side until flush. I used the small panel nails and drove them in as I went to clamp to shape.

Once the glue was dried its time to put on the second skin which will stiffen the case up no end. This is an easier job and using clamps and panel nails you should get a nice snug fit. Remember to make your join on the opposite side of the case for the second skin as this makes the joint really strong.

Once it has dried overnight you can mark a line to cut to. I marked 80mm up so I had a lid with about a 40mm rim on it.

That 1/3- 2/3rd ratio gives the case a good look. Use a panel saw and cut it carefully in half working around the side making sure your final cut through matches perfectly and voilà a top and bottom for your case. I found the odd place where there was a gap in the two skins so I mixed some sanding dust with glue and filled those as well as filling all screw holes and nail holes. all panel nails need to be driven below the surface with a nail punch and filled.

I will give more detail later as it is late now.

[Unrealize]

wife has had me busy doing house maintenance

I know the feeling buddy.. hehe..

It looks really awesome.

I'm thinking about building a case for my explorer, so a tutorial would be nice, I second that.

On the other hand, there are some readymade cases that are really cheap out there. It depends on how

one would make the case, to make it a little unique, if not, then I don't think it is worth the hazzle...

Cheers!