Posted by Chuck(G) on January 17, 2003 at 11:41:02:
In Reply to: Re: Building your own flight case posted by Rick Denney on January 17, 2003 at 09:41:45:
If you're into woodworking, reinforcing the joints with biscuits or going to some sort of milled (e.g. mortise-and-tenon) joint would be even stronger. Using floating panels (fit into a milled slot in the framing members) would decrease the weight somewhat without substantially decreasing strength.
When I received my bass from overseas, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was shipped in a wood-frame crate, with 1/4" masonite panels. The framing members were joined with mortise-and-tenon joints throughout. And it was rougly shaped (truncated pyramid) to fit the bass. It's heavy, but not as heavy as you'd expect. Two people could easily pick it up and carry it with the bass inside. I can carry the empty case myself, although it's awkward--but then we're talking about something that's a bit over 7 feet tall.
Poplar's pretty weak stuff--I'd use good straight-grain doug fir or yellow pine, which is still fairly lightweight and very strong and still has quite a bit of "give" to absorb impact without cracking or breaking.
After you've priced good void-free marine plywood and estimated the amount of labor involved in building this case, you may want to reconsider purchasing one.