As of now, I’m waiting for my Dixon Low D to arrive, and having nothing else better to do, am planning a whistle case for it.
My easiest choice would be PVC, but I’m having doubts about it being strong enough. Might use something else, such as steel or some other metal.
Any ideas/suggestions on the interior? Should I just leave it as the material is (PVC/metal), or do something? Soft lining is out of my reach by the way.
Also, any ideas on the ends. What should I use and do so that the whistle doesn’t get knocked (oww) in case I put it in too fast or just plain drop it in? Can’t think of something safe now…
Felt’s not at all expensive and is reasonably soft…at least soft enough to prevent scratches and such.
As for the exterior, I would think that anything that’s relatively rigid and not terribly brittle would be reasonably protective, unless you’re planning to ship the whistle somewhere.
I ran into a fellow at a festival who appeared to be carrying most, if not all, of his whistles with him–including at least one low D. He had an elegant leather, multi-chambered holster for them, beautifully tooled with Irish interlocking borders.
Sigh. Not for sale–he made it himself, apparently, to get exactly what he wanted.
The leather didn’t scratch the whistles and it was fairly thick so they looked pretty well protected.
For my flute and accessories, I took a briefcase to a classic car upholsterer. He put a three-chambered section in the bottom half–foam with tailored, sewn, fitted fabric covering it. The top open section is where my whistles live, each encased in cloth. He also added d-rings to the sides so I could put a shoulder strap on. This upgrade cost me about $50, but I have no clue if that’s industry standard or if he was just amused by the request.
I’m in the midst of making a case for my Dixon Low-D. Currently, it’s in pieces on my workbench.
Construction is 6-ounce tooling leather, hand-sewn, with a sheepskin fleece lining. The reason it’s still on the bench is that I’m entirely covering it in carved knotwork, which takes a lot of time. Unfortunately, this means it has to compete with paying jobs. I’m hoping to get it done this weekend.
I’ve already made a small case of a different style for my inexpensive high-Ds. I just need to re-design it a little for the two piece whistles. Currently, it’s tight enough that they pull apart when attempting to remove them from the case. It’s made of 5-ounce tooling leather, fully lined in 4-ounce suede.
I just finished a case that houses both my brass Chieftain low D and my Copeland low D. I started with a 2" X 4" X 25" piece of curly bubinga wood that I split length wise to get two pieces 1" X 4" X 25". I then added a thin slice of Madagascar ebony to the cut side of the wood. I then hollowed out the two haves to form the case body. This gave me a dark, deep red, highly figured, wooden case body with a black accent stripe through the center. The case halves were hinged with heavy extruded polished brass jewelry box hinges and the closing latch was fashioned from six 1/4" X 5/8" rare Earth magnets. That is almost too much force holding the box shut. The interior of the case was lined with 1/2" foam that I had cut to size and covered with a very deep green colored crushed velvet. Your favorite tartan is another option for the lining.
Leather would be fine for a plastic or resin composite whistle. However, IMHO, leather should be avoided with metal and wood instruments because it holds moisture and will destroy either in short order. Something that would help with leather would be to line it with a heavy wool fabric.
I would be glad to put together a wooden case for you like the one that I made for myself. Contact me off line and I can e-mail you photos my case and we can discuss materials if you are interested.
Something else that works well is a heavy bag sewn from upholstery fabric. If you use PVC for a case it can be covered or painted so you won’t look like you are on your way to a plumber’s convention when you go to session.
I hope this helps some.
John
Just an idea, of course, but you might try buying a golf club tube (they go in the golf bags) for a buck or so in a sporting goods dept. Cut it to length and slip it into the cloth bag that comes with the whistle (assuming Dixon does so - my Dixon Low D did, but I bought it second hand and it might have come from the original owner). You’ll still have the nice felt case, but the tube would provide internal stiffening against most drops, knocks, etc. The tube isn’t stiff enough to save it if you drive over it, but most other things wouldn’t either and you really don’t want to be lugging a 2" i.d steel pipe around anyway.
I also used these tubes, cut to varying lengths and standing on end in a crock to hold my whistles at home. Keeps them separate but easily accessible.
On 2002-08-02 21:17, Elkcreek wrote:
Leather would be fine for a plastic or resin composite whistle. However, IMHO, leather should be avoided with metal and wood instruments because it holds moisture and will destroy either in short order. Something that would help with leather would be to line it with a heavy wool fabric.
True, with exceptions. Sheepskin with the natural fleece left on is ideal for storage. There really isn’t anything better. Great for shock-absorption, too. Many folks who keep historic firearms store them in fleece-lined containers.
Chrome-tanned leathers like suede and some other soft leathers should generally not be used for storage with unpainted metals, since moisture can cause an adverse reaction between the chromium salts and the metal. However, this is really only a significant problem with long-term storage where the item is not handled/cleaned/removed for long periods of time. (Months - Years)
Vegetable-tanned leathers are fine, with the lone issue that they can attract moisture. Veg-tanned leathers that have been well-oiled don’t generally have this problem. This is the type of leather used for saddles and most holsters.
i believe the cheapest and best way for a full set of whistles or more is PE pipes, very durable compared to pvc. insolulating plumbing pipe for your padding, comes in all different sizes and will fitt every whistle, just stick it in the pipe and put the caps on. this keeps my whistles save and handy, by the time i’ve gott a full set(burkes!!),i’II buy an oblong guitar case (75 dollars and arrange my PE pipes in order fasten them with some plumbing pipeholders. then you would have spend about 100 dollars!!
Maybe this is too basic. But I’ve been carrying many of my high-end whistles around in backpacks (on a daily basis) and in luggage (occasionally) for many months now. They are in 2" diameter white cardboard tubes that I get at the office supply store for less than a few bucks. I cut them to the appropriate lengths (allowing for the end foam and such), glue a round piece of foam to each end cap, seal one end permanently, line the remaining unpadded length with pipe insulating foam (from plumbing supplies). And then appropriately afix a velcro strap over the access end. It’s cheap, light weight, easy to make, can be sized to fit up to a low-D, and I’ve never had a worry about dammage or even scratching. It wouldn’t stand a truck driving over it, but if that ever actually happened I’d be more than a little surprised. Anyway, it’s an option to think about.
On 2002-08-03 12:10, Whistledrum wrote:
Maybe this is too basic. But I’ve been carrying many of my high-end whistles around in backpacks (on a daily basis) and in luggage (occasionally) for many months now. They are in 2" diameter white cardboard tubes that I get at the office supply store for less than a few bucks. I cut them to the appropriate lengths (allowing for the end foam and such), glue a round piece of foam to each end cap, seal one end permanently, line the remaining unpadded length with pipe insulating foam (from plumbing supplies). And then appropriately afix a velcro strap over the access end. It’s cheap, light weight, easy to make, can be sized to fit up to a low-D, and I’ve never had a worry about dammage or even scratching. It wouldn’t stand a truck driving over it, but if that ever actually happened I’d be more than a little surprised. Anyway, it’s an option to think about.
You could do the same thing with PVC pipe and end caps. And I think it would easily survive a truck driving over it
On 2002-08-03 13:11, The Weekenders wrote:
If you end up using foam inside, remember the old crafters trick: electric meat carving knives cut through foam better than anything else.
And the second-best thing is a long serrated bread-knife.
Where do people get the “end caps”? Sounds like there could be a size problem. I can see where the various tubing comes from, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen end caps at the local Home Depot . . .
On 2002-08-03 14:11, tkelly wrote:
Where do people get the “end caps”? Sounds like there could be a size problem. I can see where the various tubing comes from, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen end caps at the local Home Depot . . .
TIA,
Tery
But that’s where they do come from, Tery. Either look around that dept, or ask a clerk.
