Alternate cases for bowlbacks?

[Joel Glassman]

I'd like to adapt a sax or horn etc case to hold a bowl back mandolin.
Used student cases are super cheap. Basically bowl back cases
are too expensive. I've spent too much restoring my instrument,
and wouldn't be transporting it anyway.
My alto sax case is too small. Can anyone suggest
a type of case which would be a suitable size? Flugelhorn? ;^)
Thanks--This would save me a lot of research.

Here's how it would eventually look:
177165

[MikeEdgerton]

Look at luggage and cases that aren't made for musical instruments. You're basically looking for a box.

[Joel Glassman]

Look at luggage and cases that aren't made for musical instruments. You're basically looking for a box.

Thanks for the suggestion Mike.
I've been looking but haven't found anything suitable.

[Marty Jacobson]

If you don't care about it looking fancy, just find a box as Mike suggests. Then fill the void space inside with egg crate foam or similar, then a few bucks worth of nice looking fabric tucked down around the edges. If it's not going to be something you travel with, it could be in a drawer or compartment of a piece of furniture you already own.

[MikeEdgerton]

Building a box isn't all that hard either. It's pretty basic. By chance do you have the dimensions you're looking for?

[allenhopkins]

I've built cases for a bowl-back mandola, a National Triolian resonator mandolin, a bowed psaltery, and a Polk-A-Lay-Lee (don't ask). They're crude, unprofessional-looking, thinly padded, and I'm not proud of them. They do work. The Washburn mandola went to Phoenix and back in the luggage compartments of airplanes, and emerged unscathed.

So: a plywood box, with foam inside, some kind of hinged lid, and a handle. That's basically an instrument case. Keep your standards low-to-reasonable, buy some plywood and some foam, and give it a try. It will be a learning experience, and you don't need all the specialized tools of a luthiery shop to do it. Saws, drills, screwdrivers, and some Elmer's glue suffice.

And, fringe benefit is that no one will be tempted to steal your mandolin, in that crude, wood-butchered case -- which still protects it adequately.

[Jim Garber]

How about this tenor sax case (https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SELMER-TENOR-SAXOPHONE-CASE-1920S-1930S/382990748488?hash=item592c070b48:g:hOoAAOSw~G9bzio F)? It has the cool Selmer badge.

You would at least have the box done though you would have to recover it. I am not sure how deep it would be either. Check with the seller. Just a thought.

[Beanzy]

A friend of mine uses model helicopter cases as they’re pretty inexpensive and a good size match for a bowlback