Customizing an Ukulele Case

Has anyone ever tried to customize the interior of an ukulele case to fit to the contour of an uncommonly shaped uke? For instance, say you had a Fremont rectangular case and didn't want your uke to be bumping around inside while the case was being handled. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Littlegman said:

Has anyone ever tried to customize the interior of an ukulele case to fit to the contour of an uncommonly shaped uke? For instance, say you had a Fremont rectangular case and didn't want your uke to be bumping around inside while the case was being handled. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

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You could cut some small blocks of wood, sand them smooth and to fit, then cover them with some foam and cloth (possibly to match the interior, if you wanna be fancy), then put them in position to hold the ukulele steady and screw them in from the outside. Sure, there'll be visible screwheads, but that's what stickers are for.

I recently made a case out of cardboard covered in old t-shirt. Thge interior is 1" foam covered in some grey funny fur from the fabric shop. I needed very little and they let me buy a 1 foot strip. I hot glued the funny fur to the foam. MAybe something like that would work for you?

Bill1 said:

High density foam cut to size and wrapped in cotton or silk. Old clean T shirts( much cheaper).

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This sounds like something practical that I could do.

I took a soft case and bought some cheap hawaiian print cloth and sewed it inside the case. It's festive and cheap. I was going to make it a uke minute at one point but never did :/

One of my hobbies is prop making. As soon as I saw this tonight, I thought of a Youtube tutorial on how to make a vampire kit I ran across a few years back. I refer other prop makers to it a lot because it covers a lot of basic information.

As it relates to this conversation; it gives straightforward, detailed instructions on how to fit foam in a box, cut out special shapes, and cover the foam with fabric.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTNCS9fsk6o

Making case modifications

As a professional upholsterer and teacher of the craft two nights a week as adult education, I watched the YouTube shaking my head from side to side a lot. 3M glue is really expensive and stay wet too long. Call a local upholster and ask if he'll sell you one of his cans of spray glue. It should be no more than $10 a can. A kitchen electric knife is a much easier and safer tool to use than an exacto knife. Thrift stores have 'em for $2 or $3. Trying to stuff fabric in for the floor-wall and top surface area isn't the way to do it. Get a piece of 1/4 or 1/2" foam for the bottom. It can be a different density than what you use for the sides. The same material that is used for dashboard covers makes really great lining material. Since it is non woven, there is no fraying on edges. I have used a fleece material, which again does not fray on the edges. the inside edges get covered and then the top material goes on. That goes over the base material. JoAnne's is a great place to buy material. There are many different densities of foam. Do not squeeze it between your fingers-- use two hands palm to palm with the foam between it to see how it compresses. Thrift stores are good places for getting small to medium sized suitcases for multiple ukes, or equipment cases. This could go on and on. What that fellow was doing with a small box is NOT what you want to do for an instrument case. If you want help let me know. I have several unusual size instruments in regular shaped cases, and some in cases which needed to be padded to the shape. thecraftedcow@comcast.net

Is there a charge for my help? No..I am a professional but I am also an amateur---one who does it for the love of it. www.thecraftedcow.weebly.com

TheCraftedCow said:

I watched the YouTube shaking my head from side to side a lot.

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You must have been beside yourself that someone actually (GASP!) made a ukulele case out of cardboard and fun fur and was apparently pleased with their work... I mean hot glue! Someone used hot glue!

The HORROR!

Phluffy the Destroyer said:

You must have been beside yourself that someone actually (GASP!) made a ukulele case out of cardboard and fun fur and was apparently pleased with their work... I mean hot glue! Someone used hot glue!

The HORROR!

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I can totally understand how he feels!!

A couple things to think about.
1. the fremont cases usually don't let the uke move that much since the neck is held in place, holding it pretty securely. I have several and a lot of weird shaped ukes.
2. Spray glue and some foams off gas, meaning it could discolor your uke, or worse eat some finishes. Hot glue is not a bad method. be careful is all I am saying.

I think you completely missed the point. Cardboard is a perfectly acceptable medium. Hot glue is not. It is not flexible. Cardboard is flexible.When the shape of the case shifts, the hot glue cracks and lets go. The integrity of the case does not exist. Why spend time doing something with the wrong stuff? Stuffing one piece of fabric in a cavity cannot / will not get out all of the folds which will happen. Hot glue leaves ridges which make wear points on the uke.
Hot glue starts to cool as soon as it leaves the gun. You would hate being in one of my classes. There is a thing called a Standard of Excellence. It is yours or mine-- Which ever is higher--not which ever is lower. That some people are satisfied with what they have done does not make it functional or attractive. They pay me to learn how to do it correctly. That person showing his techniques was not a craftsman. Whoever recommended watching it lacked knowing right from wrong about foam-fabric-and adhesives. Perhaps your registered name fits you well.
As I understand it, this site is about discussing how to do things the right way. There are all kinds of comments about cheap strings- ukuleles- tuners- which are to caution people about such things. That fellow's case making tutorial ranks right up at the top for not needing a blinking yellow light attached, but rather a solid red one.

TheCraftedCow said:

I think you completely missed the point. Cardboard is a perfectly acceptable medium. Hot glue is not. It is not flexible. Cardboard is flexible.When the shape of the case shifts, the hot glue cracks and lets go. The integrity of the case does not exist. Why spend time doing something with the wrong stuff? Stuffing one piece of fabric in a cavity cannot / will not get out all of the folds which will happen. Hot glue leaves ridges which make wear points on the uke.
Hot glue starts to cool as soon as it leaves the gun. You would hate being in one of my classes. There is a think called a Standard of Excellence. It is yours or mine-- Which ever is higher--not which ever is lower. That some people are satisfied with what they have done does not make it functional or attractive. They pay me to learn how to do it correctly. That person showing his techniques was not a craftsman. Whoever recommended watching it lacked knowing right from wrong about foam-fabric-and adhesives. Perhaps your registered name fits you well.
As I understand it, the site is about learning how to do things the right way. There are all kinds of comments about cheap strings- ukuleles- tuners- and they are to caution people against doing the same thing. That fellow's case making tutorial ranks right close to the top for not needing a blinking yellow light attached, but rather a solid red one.

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My wife is one of the craftiest human beings I've ever met. She has used a hot glue gun on many things made out of cardboard going back to her Girl Scout days over 30 years ago. (She's a GS leader now, and still uses one on crafts with the girls.)

Point being, she's somewhat of a hoarder, and has kept a good deal of the cardboard creations she made when she was younger. One being a Valentine's Day box for Valentine's from grade school. She used it when she was in grade school, and my oldest daughter has used it for the last four years. Maybe she's just very fortunate, but it has never come apart.

Course, then again, maybe my wife has repaired it behind my back, and I've not seen it. She can be sneaky like that.

TheCraftedCow said:

I think you completely missed the point. Cardboard is a perfectly acceptable medium. Hot glue is not. It is not flexible. Cardboard is flexible.When the shape of the case shifts, the hot glue cracks and lets go. The integrity of the case does not exist. Why spend time doing something with the wrong stuff? Stuffing one piece of fabric in a cavity cannot / will not get out all of the folds which will happen. Hot glue leaves ridges which make wear points on the uke.
Hot glue starts to cool as soon as it leaves the gun. You would hate being in one of my classes. There is a thing called a Standard of Excellence. It is yours or mine-- Which ever is higher--not which ever is lower. That some people are satisfied with what they have done does not make it functional or attractive. They pay me to learn how to do it correctly. That person showing his techniques was not a craftsman. Whoever recommended watching it lacked knowing right from wrong about foam-fabric-and adhesives. Perhaps your registered name fits you well.
As I understand it, this site is about discussing how to do things the right way. There are all kinds of comments about cheap strings- ukuleles- tuners- which are to caution people about such things. That fellow's case making tutorial ranks right up at the top for not needing a blinking yellow light attached, but rather a solid red one.

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For starters, not everyone has a complete woodworking shop available to them. I'm even going to go out on a limb here and say that in all likelihood the vast majority of people here don't. So, no matter how high you pretend your standards to be, they are absolutely useless to the vast majority of people who are likely to want to build their own case.

Not everyone has the same crafting ability and some people just like things because they've done the work themselves. Not everyone wants their gear to be a carbon copy of everybody elses gear. I realize this may be a bitter pill to swallow considering the work displayed on your website, but some people want their stuff to reflect who they are, not who their grandparents were. For some people there is beauty in things that aren't prissy and perfect, and the flaws make them so much more interesting.

Incidentally, the guy in that video is a professional prop maker. Stiltbeast Studios business is supplying professional haunted houses and amateur film makers with handcrafted costumes, and props. Their work is seen by more people in the first weekend of any given October than are ever going to take your class. Whether you personally like it or not, he is a craftsman. HIS methods, even if they might need to be tweeked by using a uke friendly glue or different fabric are pretty simple for anyone to recreate using their own personal designs without having a shop full of professional quality tools.