violin case to ukulele case

Once the Grizzly was made, it needed a case. My first plan was to try and revise the Gaspar gig bag, but then I lucked into this old violin case on freecycle. It turned out to be a perfect fit for a soprano ukulele.

As with the Grizzly, my documentation is spotty; but it's a fairly straightforward conversion. The old lining comes out and a fitted, padded lining is glued in its place. I used wood glue to attach fabric to plywood, but Super 77 made a smoother, stronger adhesion whenever foam was involved.

Some notes if you make your own version:

• try to keep the nap of the fabric running the same direction
• dry fit all the parts before you commit to glue
• don't be afraid to revise along the way (pictures below show how much revision I ended up making to the neck support before I was happy with it)
• feel free to substitute your preferred materials or what you have on hand.

materials used
wooden violin case
1/2" velcro strapping
piled fabric (mine was a scrap of Minky), about a yard
1/2" high density foam, about a yard
particle board or thin plywood scraps
wood glue
Super 77 spray adhesive
leather scrap from an old belt
short wood screws
corrugated plastic scraps
decorative paper

Mod Podge

lining removed from bottom half

cross-section: fiberboard, foam, fabric

wood glue brushed inside case

new lining added around edge

the old lining pulled out easily

small compartment under neck; lid is pressure fit

a broken belt used for the compartment strap

belt cut down and attached with short wood screws

the fully padded body area

Above the headstock, a removable container made from coroplast scraps and covered in origami paper 

Another compartment in the lid can store spare strings and papers

If you do make your own case, please consider linking to it in the comments below. I'd love to see other designs and ideas.

In other ukulele news, my ukulele group has grown over the last year, so I started a new blog for us here. If you enjoy uke talk, I hope you'll visit.