I’ve been thinking about making a case for my flute. Any of you here done that? Care to share some pictures and tips?
Hard or soft case? Wooden or delrin flute?
I only ask because some types may not be suitable for your intended purpose. 
If you decide you’d rather buy than build (or you’re just looking for a good case), I’d recommend this one from Cabela’s. It’s perfect for my antique 4-section flute.
Pat
If you have a saw and a router, just take a piece of lumber–I’d go with something two inches by 6 inches and however long it needed to be for whatever size the flute breaks down to. Saw it in half, then rout a channel in either half wide enough to take just over half the depth of the flute flute. Line the routed channel with foam or felt. Put hinges on one side and a clasp on the other.
You wouldn’t even need a router–forstner bits and a chisel would work
Bubble wrap and elastic bands wound round each piece then everything bubble wrapped together, with two more strong but not too tight elastic bands. This lightweight, drop proof package, takes little space in a jacket pocket, backpack or suitcase through x-ray machines and personal Customs’ searches … Don’t use Sellotape instead of elastic bands.
Best, Keith.
Bubble wrap is the most creative thing I’ve ever heard used for this! Not sure it’s a good idea to keep the keys depressed during transit, maybe better for keyless flutes?
My solution, until I can afford a French-style case from Northwind, is the smallest plastic pistol case I could find that would fit the flute, with tear-out foam blocks for a snug fit. This one is from Cedar Mill for $28 USD at Amazon:
http://www.ptjams.com/mb/img/flutes/aebi_plastic_case.jpg
You can get fancy wooden pistol cases too, but they’ll be a little larger and heavier. I searched and found some nice ones, but the prices are high enough that I’d rather just get a dedicated French-style case for that kind of money.
If you have a saw and a router, just take a piece of lumber…
In my experience that “box” would warp.
BobFor the second flute case I build myself, I took a case from Duragadget for electronic devices:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01N1ILGFX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I discarded the foam, that came with it and took some harder foam I already had.
I cut the gaps for the flute and parts a little bigger and covered the foam with chamois leather.
Looks fine for me and has a nicer grip than foam.
I took o normal glue for it and it’s durable.
It has room for a notebook and tuner, a cleaner and a tinwhistle as well.
David
The simplest and easiest case to make is to simply get some nice thickish cloth with a decent edge, add some velcro onto one end, fold it and sew it into a bag, invert it so the velcro is on the inside, and sew darts to sectionize it. I do this using place mats that I get for about $4.99 each (or less if on sale and there are coupons) from Cost Plus for my Folk Flutes.
A more elaborate padded case can be made using Cordura with a laminate liner. I get my fabric for this several yards at a time for my other keyless flutes. You can probably find similar fabrics at a fabric store that is geared towards sporting fabric as opposed to dressing fabric.
Another material that I’ve seen used is tapestry cloth with a lint free fuzzy liner.
I’ve never found a good solution for hard cases out of wood lined with velvet. It would be good if someone started producing these.
For my keyed flutes I have for years used zippered cloth cases made by my friend Mike Saunders but he is retiring from the case making business. Thus I will eventually have to work up a solution as soon as my stock for these runs out.
Casey
I’ve done a couple. I’m a weekend woodturner and not a particularly good boxmaker. it’s a skill in itself, but can be done if you can source the materials and are tooled up. The one in Indonesian Rosewood I did myself (clearly if you look at the quality of the mitres etc.). The second is a former cutlery box I upcycled and repurposed. It has some sort of Walnut stain onto plywood.
In both cases (see what I did there?) crushed velvet has been folded over a closed cell foam pad made up of layers cut from one of those camping/yoga type mats you can buy here at $2- type variety stores. They are glued together with pva glue to the required thickness.The bottom section has cut-outs to accommodate the sections of the flute. The top section is one piece holding them in place when the box is closed. They are edged with velvet glued over stiff cardboard to form a frame for the foam to sit in (though you could just leave that step out and have the wood edge).
As to cost, ( 5 years ago) the rosewood was about $40 AU ( the supplier cut and thicknessed the pieces to my specs.), the camping mat $15,the velvet $10/metre, brass hinges and clasp another $15. I have a woodlathe with polishing/buffing wheel system and shellawax, sanding discs, clamps and so on. Your finishing costs might have to be added. The rosewood one took me a full weekend. Repurposing the cutlery box about an hour, no costs as I had the box anyway. Best/quickest way to go if you come across one in a charity shop or somewhere?
Nice work Irishmuse…on both upcycling and from scratch. I am now on the lookout for cutlery boxes!
Eric
My first experiment in flute cases since getting a workshop again:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RKGgkaZf4YFMgf3o8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5aFW7f73WXxDK91F7
Inside is my 2 part folk flute wrapped in a Dish towel. The case is too long for the flute even so, since I was not aiming at a particular flute when I made it. This took a router table and jig for the finger joints though the corners could be done in other ways. The sliding top works ok but may be prone to warping; my next trial will have both base and top glued into the frame (making a single completely closed box) which I then plan to saw through on the band saw to give me a lower and upper part to which I will then fit hinges and clasps. The wood is oak sawn out of a largish commercially acquired plank.
There is no realistic way I can make these for anything like a reasonable price for the effort involved. To do so would require setting up more jigs and going into small scale production. Which I currently don’t plan to do. (or?)
I have fitted other boxes out with closed cell foam (karrimat…) and velvet glued over it. That has worked fine for me. I will do something like that when I have a box with which I am happy.
(Fitting out an existing box is 10% of the work of a new box and requires almost no tools, so, if you can find a suitable box then go down that road.)
my next trial will have both base and top glued into the frame (making a single completely closed box) which I then plan to saw through on the band saw…
That’s the usual method, the top and base panels should not be glued on all edges - to allow for movement.
Correct, Gromit. We’re all familiar with the 19th century flutes whose metal-lined heads and barrels cracked because they couldn’t shrink in drier weather or climates. At the same time, they were putting these flutes in (typically) mahogany cases made by gluing up a frame (typically with mitered corners) and gluing thin panels of timber to top and bottom. It’s quite common to find them with a big split running full length on top or bottom or both because the top and bottom shrink front-to-back, but the frame across the ends doesn’t. Ironic that the same problem faced both case and flute.
I have a chap who makes cases for me - Ken Free, these days living in Victoria. His cases feature box-jointed corners, with the top and bottom panels let into slots running all round inside the top and bottom of the frame. These floating panels are free to expand and shrink with the weather.
Another option I’ve used previously is to mitre the corners, and glue veneered ply or MDF panels into a rebate running around top and bottom. The ply and MDF don’t move significantly with the weather.
But these methods require having a reasonable workshop to play in, which is perhaps taking us away from a DIY approach.
I recently used close cell foam (1970’s Karrimat!), velvet and Copydex to fit out a very basic ABS flute case, having pulled out the nasty expanded polystyrene Boehm flute-shaped inner. I wanted something that fitted into a bag easily and was safe if dropped or tripped over on the pub floor.
Something I wonder, that I think would apply to the pistol-case type equivalents, is if that set-up is breathable enough for those of us who live in humid temperate climates. There nothing in there to soak up moisture and it can’t leak out. I leave it open after coming back from a session. I was going to use felt instead of closed cell foam but took the lazy “let’s get the job done now” option.
Any opinions?
I like cases that aren’t hermetically sealed, and allow at least a little air/moisture transfer through a gap around the edge when they’re closed. I keep most of our musical instruments in one room in the house that’s climate controlled for temp and humidity (more or less). So for “wet” instruments like a flute, I like a case that breathes a little, and can adjust to the room.
Right now, I have my Aebi flute in a cheap plastic pistol case with open cell foam (image link earlier in the thread). It doesn’t have a gasket, but it still seals a little tighter than I like. After coming home from a session I just open the latches and lift the lid slightly, so the damp insides can adjust to the room. If I was going to keep this case long-term, I’d probably cover the foam with velvet or some other material, to keep the foam from absorbing and holding too much moisture. For now, just cracking the lid while the flute is at home is enough.
My keyless Windward came with a Northwind “French style” case that I think is the ideal flute case, if a bit expensive. I’m going to get one for the Aebi when I can afford it. It’s a wood shell with rounded corners, covered in leather, with a fitted velvet interior. There is a tiny gap between the lid and base even with the latches closed, so there is a little bit of air transfer. I think a home-made wooden box, or one adapted from a wooden pistol or cutlery case could work in a similar way to “breathe” a little, if you build it so the edges aren’t a tight fit when the lid is latched.
I very much agree re: breathing. For touring I use Pelican cases and a decent double pistol case for the Burns A, but I’m sure to let them breath with the cases open in the hotel/friend’s basement/cardboard box I stay at.
As to the real topic, the last wooden case I built was a repurposed chef’s knife case. Lovely wood (thanks, Sabatier!) but it wasn’t as well made as I’d hoped - the finger joints came apart. If I did it again I’d start fresh, as with some of the lovely examples above. Mechanical joints and floating panels, even.
Oh, and billiard table felt lining, in RCMP red.