OK, so I've got this idea of building a case for my Ukulele. Should be a fun little project but I'm still gathering my thoughts on how to go about it so I thought I'd turn to the forum, perhaps some members here have experience with these things. My idea is to build a case similar to that of my acoustic guitar, but on Ukulele scale.
First question: What are guitar cases made of? I'm especially curious about what material would be used for the sides which are curved to the shape of the guitar body.
What I currently have in mind is to cut the base and the top of the case from 3mm plywood (or some such) and possibly use Masonite for the sides. I'm hoping Masonite can be shaped that accurately as steaming and shaping plywood is perhaps a little above my skills.
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Does anyone know if Masonite can be shaped like this or am I being unrealistic? Obviously the sharp angle where the neck meets the body will not be bent. I'd probably rather join separate sections of the side panel there.
Second question: Any ideas for how to join the side panel to the bottom panel? I have a number of ideas but I'm not sure any of them are particularly good. One would be to have little L shaped brackets bent from aluminium and pop rivet the side panel and the bottom panel together. Another would be to take a long piece of wood (with square or right triangle cross section) and cut a number of transverse grooves so that it can bend to follow the shape of the edge of the base panel. The base and side panels can then both be glued to this. This is the way, I believe, most guitars have their different panels attached to each other.
Third question: Where do you get that plush lining that goes inside the guitar case?
Fourth question: Where can I get the hinges, clasps and handle for a guitar case? I've seen that StewMac has these items available but I'm sort of hoping I'd be able to find it locally. Also, the regular sized hardware might be a tad big for a Ukulele case like this. Any ideas that I could explore? Getting suitable hinges would probably not be too difficult. I'd imagine most hardware stores will have some type of hinge that can be used but I'm not sure about the rest.