- #1
Artman
- 1,512
- 36
Even as I type this note, my fingers are sticking to the keys.
"Why?" You might ask.
Because I decided to build a guitar case.
That should be easy, I thought. It's just a hinged box, I thought. Cover it with some leather-like material and "voi-la" (sp?) you have a guitar case, I thought.
But nooooo. So far it has cost me twice as much as a store bought case, it weighs nearly twice as much as a store bought case, it's not as strong as a store bought case, my guitar barely fits, and IT'S STICKY! The inside is sticky, the outside is sticky, the edges are sticky, where the guitar sits is sticky, everything is sticky EXCEPT the edges of the box-shaped cloth that I set into hold picks and stuff, the glue on that won't stay stuck in place!
I thought, Okay, I need to make the case a few inches bigger than the guitar to have room to pad it out, right? So I proceeded to make it 4 inches larger on all sides. Doesn't sound like much, but It's huge! A small family could live inside if it weren't so blasted sticky. I can't store it anywhere. I'm not even sure it's going to fit in my car. I guess I could just put it on the roof, It's so sticky it's not going to fall off.
"Why is it sticky?" You may ask.
Two words that will strike fear into my heart from this day on any time I hear them. SPRAY ADHESIVE!
I decided that the best way to hold the leather-like material on the outside of my box would be with spray adhesive. Makes sense, right? So, being cold in our area, I was working inside. Spary adhesive has a strong odor and the vapor can explode so I worked in the basement. You know, where the boiler water heater and electrical panel are located. :tongue2: I did take the precaution of turning off the boiler.
So, with my box all assembled and my cloth cut out to fit around the box, I was ready to start spraying. I shook the can, made sure I was pointing it away from me, and pressed the button to spray. The vapor left the nozzle quickly turned 180 degrees in the air and stood my hair on my arms straight up like they were hit with an aresol hair spray. My clothes and every exposed hair on my body was laquered with the stuff.
I finished spraying my box and proceeded to make make an astounding discovery: spray adhesive can defy gravity! It's true. If you spray the adhesive on a surface and hold that surface over something that you DO NOT WANT IT TO STICK TO that object will rise into the air and stick to the sprayed object! Caution though, this only works with objects that you do not want to stick. So after you pry them apart, getting spray adhesive ALL OVER EVERYTHING, and you finally get to press it onto the object you want it to stick to, it has gathered so much dog hair, human hair, dust, dirt, small animals, paper, clothing, body parts, etc., that it has lost its ability to stick to the intended surface, so you have to spray it again. :yuck:
So the next part is the inside protective material. I used styrofoam and foam rubber for edging and wrapped them in a rust colored swede-like material. When you cut styrofoam, it desintigrates into thousands of little balls of foam. You have to realize that styrofoam, on a good day, sticks to everything when you cut it just because of static cling, but add to this that I have used spray adhesive... So, I have all these little static clingy balls of foam racing all around searching out all of the places where spray adhesive may have hit, my shoes, the basement carpet, my pants, my hands, all of the exposed hairs on my body, my poor dog, etc...
Well, two weeks after starting my project, I am almost finished. It's beautiful. Really. With its black leather-like sides, brass fittings (I got two really cool window latches for the top latches), brass handle, it is quite nice looking. The cloth on the inside is a rust colored swede-like material that is really cool and looks great against my black guitar. It is a little heavy and too large, and there are still the occassional clingy little styrofoam balls that make an appearance, but if it fits in my car it will be okay.
Really, if you are considering making one of these, do yourself a favor and go buy one. Making one is just not worth the trouble.
"Why?" You might ask.
Because I decided to build a guitar case.
That should be easy, I thought. It's just a hinged box, I thought. Cover it with some leather-like material and "voi-la" (sp?) you have a guitar case, I thought.
But nooooo. So far it has cost me twice as much as a store bought case, it weighs nearly twice as much as a store bought case, it's not as strong as a store bought case, my guitar barely fits, and IT'S STICKY! The inside is sticky, the outside is sticky, the edges are sticky, where the guitar sits is sticky, everything is sticky EXCEPT the edges of the box-shaped cloth that I set into hold picks and stuff, the glue on that won't stay stuck in place!
I thought, Okay, I need to make the case a few inches bigger than the guitar to have room to pad it out, right? So I proceeded to make it 4 inches larger on all sides. Doesn't sound like much, but It's huge! A small family could live inside if it weren't so blasted sticky. I can't store it anywhere. I'm not even sure it's going to fit in my car. I guess I could just put it on the roof, It's so sticky it's not going to fall off.
"Why is it sticky?" You may ask.
Two words that will strike fear into my heart from this day on any time I hear them. SPRAY ADHESIVE!
I decided that the best way to hold the leather-like material on the outside of my box would be with spray adhesive. Makes sense, right? So, being cold in our area, I was working inside. Spary adhesive has a strong odor and the vapor can explode so I worked in the basement. You know, where the boiler water heater and electrical panel are located. :tongue2: I did take the precaution of turning off the boiler.
So, with my box all assembled and my cloth cut out to fit around the box, I was ready to start spraying. I shook the can, made sure I was pointing it away from me, and pressed the button to spray. The vapor left the nozzle quickly turned 180 degrees in the air and stood my hair on my arms straight up like they were hit with an aresol hair spray. My clothes and every exposed hair on my body was laquered with the stuff.
I finished spraying my box and proceeded to make make an astounding discovery: spray adhesive can defy gravity! It's true. If you spray the adhesive on a surface and hold that surface over something that you DO NOT WANT IT TO STICK TO that object will rise into the air and stick to the sprayed object! Caution though, this only works with objects that you do not want to stick. So after you pry them apart, getting spray adhesive ALL OVER EVERYTHING, and you finally get to press it onto the object you want it to stick to, it has gathered so much dog hair, human hair, dust, dirt, small animals, paper, clothing, body parts, etc., that it has lost its ability to stick to the intended surface, so you have to spray it again. :yuck:
So the next part is the inside protective material. I used styrofoam and foam rubber for edging and wrapped them in a rust colored swede-like material. When you cut styrofoam, it desintigrates into thousands of little balls of foam. You have to realize that styrofoam, on a good day, sticks to everything when you cut it just because of static cling, but add to this that I have used spray adhesive... So, I have all these little static clingy balls of foam racing all around searching out all of the places where spray adhesive may have hit, my shoes, the basement carpet, my pants, my hands, all of the exposed hairs on my body, my poor dog, etc...
Well, two weeks after starting my project, I am almost finished. It's beautiful. Really. With its black leather-like sides, brass fittings (I got two really cool window latches for the top latches), brass handle, it is quite nice looking. The cloth on the inside is a rust colored swede-like material that is really cool and looks great against my black guitar. It is a little heavy and too large, and there are still the occassional clingy little styrofoam balls that make an appearance, but if it fits in my car it will be okay.
Really, if you are considering making one of these, do yourself a favor and go buy one. Making one is just not worth the trouble.
