I just acquired a used 2012 six-key Gilles Lehart flute in mopane (which I like very much). Quickly searched the flute forum quickly without any luck. Am looking for persons who make custom wood (or other material) cases for flutes. Since this is keyed I’d like to protect it in an appropriate case. Any ideas?
I like doskocil pistol cases…less than $15, and you can cut the foam so it’s customized for your flute…and they’re tough as nails. Even if you want a nice wooden case, the pistol case will come in handy while you’re waiting for a nicer case, and it’s sturdier for travel, too.
Eric
I really like the look of these 8 sided cases made by member Aerowhip referenced in this thread:
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/hard-case-for-keyless-flute/75008/1
I have a northwind case for my keyed flute which is nice but does not do a very good job of keeping in the moisture in the winter. There was a thread i saw sometime here (in 2011 i think, maybe) that had someone’s flute case work which was hardwood with very nice inlay on the lid but i can’t seem to find it now. Maybe someone else remembers.
Ah! here it is! these are really unique and personally, i’d be just as afraid of damaging the box as the flute and maybe the box would need a box 
http://www.fine-boxes.com/
I have a Northwind French case that was custom-made for my 7-keyed flute and it really does a great job. Not cheap, and not as indestructible as a pistol case – I wouldn’t sit on it or anything – but for general use and light, space-efficient protection it’s well worth the money.
http://www.northwindcases.com/special.htm
At least it makes me look like I know what I’m doing. 
On the other end of the price scale, I’ve kept my six-keyed flute in a Doskocil case for 10 years and it’s worked wonderfully. And yes, I have sat on that one (albeit accidentally)!
(Accidental double post - don’t know how to delete this..)
An alternative is to make your own…or more accurately, modify an existing one with a good outer shell.
I used one of the generic plastic-shell cases for Boehm flutes that you can buy at any music store.
The outer portion is very good and strong, the latches dependable, metal (not leather) hinges, etc.
The padding in the lid entirely serviceable.
The tray in the bottom part is rubbish. Thin plastic sprayed with flocking and hot-glued in. Skinny for Boehm sections.
You can rip that out pretty easily.
Here’s the bottom, just to show how I attached a divider. Hardwood strip about 1/2" square section or thereabouts.
I made it less than the full case length - to permit padding to be inserted at case ends later.
Drill holes through the bottom and into the wood (put screws in as you go for positioning the remainder).
Then remove, apply glue, and re-screw. Use pan-head screws so heads won’t project beyond the recess in the case.
I also glued a thin strip of quality closed-cell foam (Ensolite) to the top of the rail for extra padding plus height.
On the inside I tack-glued in thin pieces of quality open-cell foam to the bottom of the case, into the trays at both sides of the rail. This was spare foam from Pelican case inserts. If you use crappy foam it will disintigrate after some years!
Next, I cut heavy brocade upholstery fabric to a width less than the case length - to allow for padding at ends later.
Formed a fold-over roll on one end and glued it together with spray adhesive, then glued it to one side.
Working piecemeal with 3M spray adhesive, glued the fabric to the foam in one tray, then up over the rail, then into the next tray. At the other side, formed a fold-over roll as before and glued that in place.
This leaves the ends un-covered. That’s fixed by making folded-over rolls of the brocade, trimming to size, glueing into gaps at ends of trays (recall that I made the dividing rail shorter for this).
Internal tray dividers can be made from pieces of the same fabric, with or without a closed-cell foam core.
I later removed one in the upper tray that’s seen in the picture, so it could accomodate one or two-piece center sections. I now use a section of wine cork for an optional divider when needed.
This case has some advantages over the lovely Northwind case, or nice wooden ones. It’s quite light, very strong, doesn’t need protection for the case itself, so you can just throw it into a pack or whatever without concern. If you want to regulate humidity, you can put a wee tube like the one seen next to the cork grease, with holes and stuffed with wet bits of towel.
This is a C-foot case by the way. The McGee with long foot fits snugly with slide collapsed; the Olwell Pratten (long foot) fits easily without needing to collapse the slide. But if you do this, buy the case at a store rather than online, know the lengths of your sections, and bring a tape measure.
Once I thought it through and assembled materials, this took around two hours to do. You could spend considerably more than two hours trying to find a suitable case. Just sayin’.
Depending on where you live, I can recommend Klawus Company in Germany (http://www.klawus.de). They are located in an area with a very long tradition of instrument making and make all sorts of cases for musical instruments, including custom made cases. The style would be around Northwind cases, with suitcase style cases being also an option, but they don’t offer flightcases. Me and a friend of mine both got the cases for our flutes from there. Solid and beautiful, although maybe not fit to protect the flute if somebody would jump on the case.
Anyway, good luck - I hope you’ll find something good!
Mo
i posted before some time some informations about breandan o’hare’s ( belfast) custom made wooden boxes for flutes …
here is link for that old topic : http://thesession.org/discussions/29674
marin