The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #150882   Message #3518423
Posted By: JohnInKansas
23-May-13 - 11:37 AM
Thread Name: how to build a road case
Subject: RE: how to build a road case
Leenia -

I didn't look them up to make sure, but you probably can buy the finished cases from the people who made the video.

The hardware they use is likely to be something you'll have difficulty finding from many places, but some of the tricky details are little ones.

A minor concern is that lots of the stuff is put together with "POP®" rivets that people think are really simple to use - and they are if you stick to the 1/8" aluminum ones. You can get a "riveter" to install the little ones for $10/$15 (US) that will generally do a decent job. They appear to be using steel latches and hinges, and aren't clear about their reinforcing channels, and some of their rivets look like they may be up to 1/4".

If you use aluminum rivets through steel parts, you may need corrosion protections, which can come from the platings on the parts if you don't scratch anything getting it together, but may need a slobber of "barrier paint" during assembly. And most people get a "crooked pull" on about ten percent of 3/16" or 1/4" Aluminum Pops using the "hand installers." If the steel POP Rivets are needed anywhere, hand installers will bend half of them "ugly," even the little ones.

I have a pneumatic puller that will do a pretty clean job up to 1/4" steel POPs, but it's a $100 tool from the Chinese junk shop (Harbor Freight sold me mine) and a "real tool" is about $300 - and you need a separate one of the high priced ones for each rivet size.

It looks like a fun job, and with "attention to details" almost anyone should be able to make one that would give them lots of satisfaction with the box they get. I would suggest watching the whole video (all the parts) at least TWICE and "making a list and checking it twice" for all the parts and tools before launching the project.

The important part of any DIY project is having a good plan before you get started. If you follow the plan carefully, you'll know "exactly how you did that wrong" and it will be a lot easier to make it look like you did it on purpose so nobody will notice it.

(It's what's a little different about yours that makes it yours, and that's why DIY is fun.)

John