foam lined carrying cases

Suppose one have an object which one routinely assembles and diassembles.
Suppose one wants to make a carrying case for it, something like a light
suitcase, filled with styrofoam and with holes in the foam where the
components are supposed to go. How does one do it?

I would probably make models of the parts and work with the models.
After the foam carrying case is made, I can put the actual parts in
the holes instead of the models. I can imagine some kind of molding
or casting process to fill the carrying case with foam with holes
in the right places, but I don't actually know how to do it. Can someone
point me to information on how this is done. It would also be good to
know whether it is expensive to do, since I'm interested in doing it
as cheaply as possible.

The actual object I have in mind is a telescope, its mount and its
tripod, but the question is perfectly general and I can easily imagine
wanting to apply the solution to something else sometime.

Instead of foam, one might want to use something else. For example,
I have a clarinet and a carrying case for it which is filled with
felt over some kind of plastic frame that I'm unable to examine.
I don't know whether a frame made, say, of old egg cartons and covered
with felt might be suitable.

At any rate, I'm interested in the various kinds of carrying cases one
might make to carry specific components. If the components happen to be
heavy, foam might not be suitable, although I don't really know.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

On 26 Nov 2004 03:17:33 -0500, Allan Adler
wrote:


Suppose one have an object which one routinely assembles and diassembles.
Suppose one wants to make a carrying case for it, something like a light
suitcase, filled with styrofoam and with holes in the foam where the
components are supposed to go. How does one do it?

Try searching for "Foam Filled Cases"

Here's one example (Pretty good idea too!)

: http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2E0210E9

Gene writes:

Try searching for "Foam Filled Cases"
Here's one example (Pretty good idea too!)
: http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2E0210E9

Thanks for the website. I feel I'm in good company if Michael Covington
has been thinking along similar lines. It cost him about $150 to make
his case. Of this, $110 went to purchase the following items from
McMaster-Carr: (1) One can of 3M aerosol foam adhesive (2) One set of
convoluted egg-crate foam (two sheets nested together) (3) Four sheets
of 24"x36"x2" "Uniform" charcoal-colored polyether-based polyurethane foam.

I'm not sure which of these three is the really expensive part, but I would
guess one can scavenge the foam one needs from discarded boxes that used to
hold electronics. However, he emphasizes that he chose these particular
products because, "after airing out for a day or so, they do not emit any
gases that might damage your telescope."

I didn't realize that there were any gases emitted by foam and glue that
could damage a telescope.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.

If you are looking to purchase them already filled with foam &
cut outs (Ideally I'd imagine you'd prefer one to your own spec's,
but...) I have found ALL kinds of cool stuff, including lots of cases
for various items on American Science & Surplus -
www.sciplus.com

Not affiliated, just a happy customer : )

You can find ALL kinds of stuff you didn't know you needed on the
site -

: )
--

Christi
Art Without Anxiety
www.ArtWithoutAnxiety.com
^,,^ ^,,^ ^,,^ ^,,^



"Allan Adler" wrote in message
...

Suppose one have an object which one routinely assembles and diassembles.
Suppose one wants to make a carrying case for it, something like a light
suitcase, filled with styrofoam and with holes in the foam where the
components are supposed to go. How does one do it?

I would probably make models of the parts and work with the models.
After the foam carrying case is made, I can put the actual parts in
the holes instead of the models. I can imagine some kind of molding
or casting process to fill the carrying case with foam with holes
in the right places, but I don't actually know how to do it. Can someone
point me to information on how this is done. It would also be good to
know whether it is expensive to do, since I'm interested in doing it
as cheaply as possible.

The actual object I have in mind is a telescope, its mount and its
tripod, but the question is perfectly general and I can easily imagine
wanting to apply the solution to something else sometime.

Instead of foam, one might want to use something else. For example,
I have a clarinet and a carrying case for it which is filled with
felt over some kind of plastic frame that I'm unable to examine.
I don't know whether a frame made, say, of old egg cartons and covered
with felt might be suitable.

At any rate, I'm interested in the various kinds of carrying cases one
might make to carry specific components. If the components happen to be
heavy, foam might not be suitable, although I don't really know.
--
Ignorantly,
Allan Adler
* Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions
and
* comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near
Boston.