Re: Subject: [Harp-L] foam for harp case

Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx> · Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:28:32 -0400

On Mar 9, 2009, at 9:36 PM, EGS1217@xxxxxxx wrote:

The idea of covering the foam with fabric wasn't mine....Tom Baehr   
from the

Slidemeister board mentioned his wife had lined a cigar box case   
with foam

and then glued crinkled velvet over it as a special holder for a   
single

chromatic for him....it stuck in my mind.  Great minds clearly  
think  alike <G>

I used to make custom pistol cases. Guys would win prize pistols at  
the various shooting competitions. Sometimes the cases were custom,  
but sometimes they were just the plastic or cardboard the gun would  
normally come in.

 Basically what I was doing was going to the cigar stores and  
copying the humidors. I would then make smaller versions out of  
various exotic woods. The insides were foam pieces/scraps left over  
from my brother in law's custom van business.

I would outline the gun with a felt tip and then cut it with a hot  
wire knife. (Soldering iron with spade tip also works). Then it was a  
matter of fitting and gluing the foam with corduroy, felt, velvet,  
naugahyde, or some such material. I was putting more work into the  
boxes than I could sell them for. It turns out that guys don't mind  
winning a $325.oo pistol (well over $1,100.oo at today's prices), but  
wouldn't put $95.oo into a custom case.

 BUT, for one's own personal use, it's an idea.

...the site posted by Zig (Don Zeller) (mentioning the pluck foam   
for toy

soldiers)....also carries a special foam spray adhesive. I've   
already bought a

tacky spray adhesive for fabrics which I'd probably try first  though.

Try any adhesives FIRST. Some will melt the foam as the vehicle is  
petroleum based. There is a Swiss foam that we used to use for  
constructing fibreglass boat parts that doesn't melt around epoxy or  
polyester...so it's pretty tough stuff. I no longer know where you  
can get it, but regular foam should suffice.
smo-joe   (who would rather Puro now than Purolator)

_http://www.carrycasesplus.com/glue-1-p29856.html_
(http://www.carrycasesplus.com/glue-1-p29856.html)

I'm interested enough to give your approach a shot if my pick and   
pluck

doesn't work as well as I'd hoped, since the foam block I've  been  
using in my

train case did shred a lot (thanks to my chopping it  up badly in a  
rush). My

only excuse is that I was cutting it at  midnight  - no 'measure  
twice, cut once'

this time, ;) before an early  morning flight to Buckeye ...going  
on two days

with almost no sleep,  and simply too tired to dig out the electric  
carving

knife.
For the chromatics, I merely made a slit in the lower level  
(hinging  the

foam halfway)...pushing 3 CX-12's into the slits.  It held  them  
firmly. The 4th

CX and the Super 64 fit into the top layer, along  with the 10 or  
so diatonics

standing on end.... it was very tough to get them  back out, ergo  
my reason

for ordering the pick and pluck afterwards.
 Thanks for the information on your case.  One way or another  I'll  
have a

lighter weight and much better functioning harp bag which is still   
small and

'cool' for my next trip, and which will have cost me a fraction  of  
the major

'gig' cases. I'm not a professional player, so don't see  the need  
to have for

myself the kind of case which will withstand the rigors of  stage  
life. They

simply aren't a necessity for me,  especially since my shoulder  
injury and need

for a small, lightweight but rugged  case I can fit into my carry  
on for plane

travel.
I have the case, now it's just a matter of making it work.
Elizabeth
"Message: 3
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:39:47 -0400
From: "Tom Halchak"  <thalchak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] foam for harp case
To:  <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Good call on Jo-Ann’s Elizabeth.

I made what I consider to be a very serviceable harp case using  an  
old

briefcase and some foam and fabric purchased from Jo-Ann’s.  I  cut  
one inch

strips of the foam and glued them about ½” apart to a 1/8” sheet   
of plywood

that I had cut out to fit on the inside of the briefcase.  I  then  
covered

the foam with some soft crushed velvet type of cloth gluing and   
tacking the

cloth to the plywood in between the rows of foam.  I  overlapped  
the edges

with the cloth so no wood would show when I inserted it  into the  
briefcase.

The finished product holds about 20 standard diatonics, a  couple  
of tremelos

and a 14 hole 364 Hohner.  I’m pretty pleased with  the result  
because now I

don’t have to carry a show box full of harps and  harp cases around  
anymore.

Tom Halchak
Clearwater,  FL
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in  
just 2 easy

steps!

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