I am looking at making a cue case using a single tube shaped the same as a Ron Thomas or Its a George 2x4. Does anyone know the type of tubes that they use and were to obtain one?
Ron Thomas or Its a George tube interior
- Thread starter jackthehat
- Start date
RBC
Deceased
The tubes used by those case makers are extruded with custom die's.
I've looked into the It's George cases and know that the company had special Die's made to extrude the parts they needed.
You would need 2 die's for each size of case, one for the tube itself and one for the connector tube. This does not deal with the ends, just the tubes. The Die's typically stay with the extruder company, but are the property of the company who paid for them.
It's not inexpensive to get into. There are minimums on the quantity of tube most companies will extrude at one time, and to get a reasonable price the quantities can be quite high.
Of course, things may have changed, but that is what I found out when we looked into it.
I've looked into the It's George cases and know that the company had special Die's made to extrude the parts they needed.
You would need 2 die's for each size of case, one for the tube itself and one for the connector tube. This does not deal with the ends, just the tubes. The Die's typically stay with the extruder company, but are the property of the company who paid for them.
It's not inexpensive to get into. There are minimums on the quantity of tube most companies will extrude at one time, and to get a reasonable price the quantities can be quite high.
Of course, things may have changed, but that is what I found out when we looked into it.
For a one off- can you buy an existing case you like the configuration of, and strip its outside off so you can put your outside?
Disclaimer, I don't know how cases are made and if this is possible, lol.
Disclaimer, I don't know how cases are made and if this is possible, lol.
this is the easy way to do it.....find a caes beat to hell on the on outside with a good inside and strip it.....then you have to worry about the thickness of the leather.....then go from there....
Cheers
Thanks for the responses now I have some more food for thought
Thanks for the responses now I have some more food for thought
I have been playing around with making cases myself. Some of what I am doing is new, but not yet ready for public view. I have been working on the oval tube issue as well as many other things like training myself in leatherwork. The oval tube issue is interesting.
There is an easy solution. Thermoforming PVC pipe.
Yes, the mass producers use custom dies, but YOU DON'T NEED A DIE. You just need heat. It can easily be done by hand forming the PVC with wood blocks etc. You want a die if you are going to make many.
Even then, if you want to make a die it's easy to do with wood. You can use wood blocks and split wood dowels for the curved edges.
You can stretch the PVC to make a lid that slips over another tube as well.
See here to get an idea of what I mean:
http://smftutorials.com/drupal/how-to-make-an-oval-soap-mold-tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzdnlBkG2mI
This can be done with ABS as well, but I like PVC better for numerous reasons.
There is A LOT of information about this on the web if you care to look around. People make all kinds of things doing this with PVC.
You can make oval tubes, flat oval tubes, triangle tubes, flares, bends, anything you want. If you split a pipe you get a sheet of PVC that can be formed any way you want as well.
I'll tell you right now that I was told by people, including some very smart people that make cases that this can't be done. It was a plumber that told me I could, and he was right.
My first tube case was made with a tube salvaged from a beat up cheap case. You can do that as well, of course. But if you have a heat gun and some scrap wood you might want to give this a try. If you do it, you will probably start thinking of all sorts of things you can make.
.
There is an easy solution. Thermoforming PVC pipe.
Yes, the mass producers use custom dies, but YOU DON'T NEED A DIE. You just need heat. It can easily be done by hand forming the PVC with wood blocks etc. You want a die if you are going to make many.
Even then, if you want to make a die it's easy to do with wood. You can use wood blocks and split wood dowels for the curved edges.
You can stretch the PVC to make a lid that slips over another tube as well.
See here to get an idea of what I mean:
http://smftutorials.com/drupal/how-to-make-an-oval-soap-mold-tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzdnlBkG2mI
This can be done with ABS as well, but I like PVC better for numerous reasons.
There is A LOT of information about this on the web if you care to look around. People make all kinds of things doing this with PVC.
You can make oval tubes, flat oval tubes, triangle tubes, flares, bends, anything you want. If you split a pipe you get a sheet of PVC that can be formed any way you want as well.
I'll tell you right now that I was told by people, including some very smart people that make cases that this can't be done. It was a plumber that told me I could, and he was right.
My first tube case was made with a tube salvaged from a beat up cheap case. You can do that as well, of course. But if you have a heat gun and some scrap wood you might want to give this a try. If you do it, you will probably start thinking of all sorts of things you can make.
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Plastic can certainly be molded with heat. It also cools pretty quickly. So getting the heat applied evenly over a 30" surface in order to get the tube to shape properly is the problem. However it's certainly possible and a question of how many hours you want to spend making jigs and mold and applying pressure to form the tube?
This is a 1ft piece http://smftutorials.com/drupal/how-to-make-an-oval-soap-mold-tutorial
Made for the production of a product that doesn't have to be the same size and shape along a 32" length. The technique to reshape the tube is sound but the actual process does not scale well to a longer tube without additional heat and a proper jig. Especially when the tube itself is the foundation for the case. When you put leather over a tube you will see every imperfection in the shape. So if you didn't form it to the same dimensions all along the length then you will end up with a lopsided case. That would suck after doing all that work.
Americans have more tools in their garages than most small Chinese factories have in the building. Americans also grow up building tree houses, go karts, rockets and the like. Americans have creativity and ingenuity. So there is no doubt that one can build the right jigs to make a workable tube for a Fellini-Thomas style case. The question is whether it's worth it or not? Well, if you have the time to spend then it's probably worthwhile to build your own case this way. A good custom leather case costs $400 and up on average so there is the starting budget for a personal project.
The other good suggestion is to simply look around for a case that can be stripped and used for the tubing. GTF KopyKat models are $150ish for the 2x4 brand new. Used they probably cost $100 or maybe less. The time and efforts and tools invested in heat-forming a tube vs. the cost of re-purposing an existing case is certainly worth looking at.
This is a 1ft piece http://smftutorials.com/drupal/how-to-make-an-oval-soap-mold-tutorial
Made for the production of a product that doesn't have to be the same size and shape along a 32" length. The technique to reshape the tube is sound but the actual process does not scale well to a longer tube without additional heat and a proper jig. Especially when the tube itself is the foundation for the case. When you put leather over a tube you will see every imperfection in the shape. So if you didn't form it to the same dimensions all along the length then you will end up with a lopsided case. That would suck after doing all that work.
Americans have more tools in their garages than most small Chinese factories have in the building. Americans also grow up building tree houses, go karts, rockets and the like. Americans have creativity and ingenuity. So there is no doubt that one can build the right jigs to make a workable tube for a Fellini-Thomas style case. The question is whether it's worth it or not? Well, if you have the time to spend then it's probably worthwhile to build your own case this way. A good custom leather case costs $400 and up on average so there is the starting budget for a personal project.
The other good suggestion is to simply look around for a case that can be stripped and used for the tubing. GTF KopyKat models are $150ish for the 2x4 brand new. Used they probably cost $100 or maybe less. The time and efforts and tools invested in heat-forming a tube vs. the cost of re-purposing an existing case is certainly worth looking at.
You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT SIR, if the goal is to save money. If it is being done as a hobby, all bets are off:grin:
I've already done it. It's not terribly difficult.
JB was actually one of the people who told me PVC could not be thermoformed.
And since this post is by his brother, who has never made a case, I am wondering.....
Did the person making those post ever personally thermoform a 30 inch oval PVC pipe?
I have. And with simple scrap wood, it can be done virtually perfectly.
A "proper jig" does not mean thousands of dollars in engineering and materials. It can and has been done with simple scrap wood and a little garage engineering.
That does not take into consideration the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
The investment of time? Maybe an afternoon. Materials? Inconsequential.
The leather is the expensive part. And the talent to work it will take a heck of a lot more development than the tube.
The tube is the easy part.
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That is interesting since we form plastic all the time in our shop. Perhaps you could provide a tutorial for all the aspiring casemakers to use as a guide. We are certain that this would be extremely helpful and save a lot of time for those who are interested in heat forming their tubes.
We are particularly interested in all solutions. We regularly pick up some very good tips from the various leather working groups we are members of.
We certainly hope you will share your knowledge and jigs with the group. We will be happy to repost it giving you credit of course. What better way to give back than to share your method of making cue case tubes? Just as you found instructions on the web now you can contribute.
We thank you in advance for contributing to the art of making cue cases.
www.jbcases.com