This is for those looking for inexpensive whistle case ideas. This week, I was thrilled to make a whistle case for under $3! It holds 4 high whistles and looks great.
… found an old backgammon game at a thrift store: $1.99
(high D whistle to show scale)
… added foam inserts, cut to size: $0.50
ok … the whistles do add to the cost a bit 
Great idea! Backgammon cases tend to be very nice looking. The smaller ones can relined and used as small gift boxes. One tip is to let the whistles dry out before closing the case for storage to avoid moisture build up.
Wow! That’s really cool! Sooner or later, I’m going to find myself a whistle case as cool as that one!
Collin
I have done something similar. I like to recycle where possible. Since I retired I had a briefcase that was doing nothing useful. I took a different approach though. I made a bag that holds a few essential whistles that fits in the briefcase with my notebook that has music I have printed out, etc. The bag can be seen here.
https://home.comcast.net/~rskiley/whistle/whistlebag.jpg
Ron
That’s a great idea, Ron. It’s easy/inexpensive to make, and the whistles are protected by the briefcase. I also like the idea of having the whistles/music all in one place.
Since I play mainly low whistles…I went and bought 2 shot gun cases to hold most of my whitles.
How did you cut the foam so neatly? What is that kind of foam called?
Ron, also a nice idea. I have a similar set-up for my knitting needles.
I agree with BillChin about letting whistles dry out before air-tight storage.
Why not purchase the great whistle case from the bigwhistle website(www.bigwhistle.com)?? It iz magic!!! I use one and they hold everytrhing with room to spare!! They hold four low whistle and two alto and two soprano. That iz the one i have but there is a new model coming on the market in the next month and at only 499.99 GBP , NOT BAD 
PS If you buy one could you mention the name MATHEU WATSON it would help me greatly seeing as I owe him af avour 
???
Here’s one I made earlier!! LOL!! (No this is actually the older version of the big whistle bag)
I echo Cynth’s question: HOW do you cut the foam so precisely? What type of foam is this?
Best.
Byll
Do you get stopped at airports now?
(I once had a teacher tell me that an oboe, in the wrong hands, was a deadly weapon.)
Do you get stopped at airports now?
(I once had a teacher tell me that an oboe, in the wrong hands, was a deadly weapon.)
I bought the foam on ebay … not sure what it’s called, but I got a whole stack of it cheap. It’s pretty high density, about 1" thick. I cut it to size using a curved xacto blade and one of those long, see-through quilting rulers with all the markings on it. I ran the edge of the blade against the ruler for a straight cut.
VERY cool! You could go into business! I bought a hinged case at Gordman’s and added a nice antique brass handle to match, then I put in foam which I covered with a soft cloth (kind of like the inside of a clarinet or flute case). It looks really nice, but I didn’t cut the foam to fit the whistles. That would have been a nice touch. I will have to borrow a digital camera and post pictures. It looks nice, almost like a “real” instrument case.
I am very impressed by your skill with an exacto knife and ruler. How did you dig out the channel part, the bottom? Is it two layers and you cut all the way through the top layer and then stuck them together? The bottoms of the slots look so smooth. I don’t see how you could cut the foam out of there.
Actually, I was lucky because most of the foam pieces I bought had a black vinyl backing stuck to them. I did a rough cut of the slots. The sides were straight, but the channel was really bumpy … the xacto didn’t cut all the way down, and I pretty much had to dig the foam out in a very non-elegant way. Then I was able to get the xacto in there to cut down to the edges to the vinyl, but not through the vinyl. This was easier than you might think - I could feel the knife through the vinyl with my supporting hand, and the sides of the channel provided a straight guide. Then I simply peeled the excess foam out (the vinyl backing forms the thin bottom layer).
You could get thinner foam and cut all the way through, then, as you say, glue or rest it on a bottom layer. That would be easier. My foam is too thick for that, at least with this particular case.
Lisa
LisaD, thank you for taking the time to go into such detail! At least you can tell I was very impressed with your case. I am always interested in the way something was done, and this really had me stumped. I never would have thought of the foam having a backing on it. It still sounds pretty hard to me. Congratulations on doing such a lovely job and enjoy your new case.
Whistle and backgammon are my two new hobbies. If I had one with foam cut out for the two dice shaker cups, a Clarke, and a Dixon… what a box of goodies.