Re: Re: Re: Re: oversize flight cases


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Posted by Henry on September 19, 2003 at 10:00:20:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: oversize flight cases posted by Violin/Viola Cases on September 18, 2003 at 15:21:18:

Having crossed the "instrument so big it destroys itself through it's own inertial mass" bridge in the baritone/bass saxophone world I offer the following "pain in the neck" but, at least in my moving intense experience, universally successful method. Take a hard case sufficiently large to hold the instrument but sufficiently small that you can actually use it in something smaller than a transatlantic ocean liner crossing. Rip out every bit of the internal lining, padding, ETC of the case (at this point you sure hope the method wworks because your megabucks case is now utterly unresellable....). Trundle on by your local hardware store and buy several cans of foam insulation. Wrap the tuba in whatever cloth you are goint to use as a lining and then in turn place the cloth wrapped tuba in a plastic trash bag. Choosing some chunks of rubber, foam, cardboard, ETC to place at strategic points so that the tuba is at least an inch off the bottom of the case at contact points emplace the chunks and fix them in place with a hunk of tape or contact cement. Spray a few inches of foam into the case bottom and then lower the bag encased tuba into the mess. The foam is UNBELIEVABLY sticky and hard to get off; don't slop it around or get it on your body or garments or "you'll be sorry". Using due discretion and care spray foam into the top of the case, cover said foam with a single layer of trash bag, and then place the top into the closed position, snap the latches, have a cold beer, and prepare to wait for probably at least a day and a half while the stuff hardens, (differing times depending, as near as I can determine, on "the whims of the Gods....."- feel free to read the cans of foam.). You can probably extract the tuba after 12-24 hours. After all hardens, take some spray adhesive, spritz the upper and lower halfs of the case, and stick the fabric you chose for a liner to them to the two halfs. You now have a case which aias as perfectly form fitted to your instrument as is possible and which is about as resistant to inertial damage (falls) as you could require. Unlike an egg which has a yolk bouncing around in the shell, the tuba is all shell (convoluted shell, but shell none the less) and so the suspension approach offers no benefits in a situation where the internal configuration is truly fully form fitting. If the case is smushed you're still out of luck though and you, of course get my personal guarantee,; If the project goes South I'll feel really bad....." Good luck- Henry


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