Anyone re-lined a vintage case ?

[Ads]

Has anyone re-lined or partially re-lined a vintage sax case, I`ve a Yamaha one which needs doing as the flashy blue metallic fur is stained, balding & holed in the accessories compartment and the part where the sax fits is loose in the case , the sax "tray" and lid are ok-enough fur wise and likely a nightmare to do well

I may just do the accs compartment as it won`t have to match (close is close enough) but it`d be better if I could do the sax part as well .. the sax sits in a specially formed piece of expanded polystryrene (Yup even in the 70s) and a lot of glues attack this stuff so was wondering what glue to use to stick new fur and at least to stick the thing firmly back in the wooden case ..

 

[jonf]

I've done bits of relining and reattaching loose lining. I would never do much more than that, as the used cost of a case is too low to justify spending much time on one - easier and cheaper to replace.

With glue, the thing to avoid at all cost is anything with solvents in - the sort that herberts in hoodies sniff. Because I've got kids we always have childrens' craft glue in the house, and that's what I've used. If at all unsure, test a small drop on a non-visible bit. High Tack Fast Tack and Grafix Craft Glue are the ones I've used.

 

[Ads]

I was hoping EVOstik would be OK , prob not then 🙁 .. cases are worth fixing when they`re good ones to begimn with (Yamaha is a typical example of this) and it`s great to have the original case with a 40yr old horn, especially when the outside is in nice nick , it`s part of the Vintage aspect . I`ll stick to replacing the Accs compartment fur and sticking the whole thing back together then

 

[jonf]

Depends on what sort of EVOStick it is - they have different formulations in their product range. If you can find one made of boiled down horses instead of solvent it might be OK.

 

[Ads]

What about PVA? will it adhere to the stuff (and with no ex grand national winners harmed)

 

[ProfJames]

Cascamite would be better.....cat gut

 

[Sunray]

Cascamite would be better.....cat gut

@Targa - Exits stage left ...

 

[jonf]

What about PVA? will it adhere to the stuff (and with no ex grand national winners harmed)

Yes, it'll be fine. In fact, modellers use PVA to seal polystyrene prior to spraying with nasty spray paint, acting as a barrier to prevent the paint attacking the styrene.

 

[Ivan]

 

[Jay]

What about PVA? will it adhere to the stuff (and with no ex grand national winners harmed)

The trouble with PVA is that it soaks into (fur) fabric, making an obvious hard patch, and perhaps flattening the 'fur'.

What about this stuff? expanded polystyrene glue. Says it works with ex.p. and fabric....

 

[Tenor Viol]

"Hide" glue - i.e. made from old bones, horn etc is the standard glue for fixing string instruments. It's big advantage is that it gives when shocked. So, if you drop the instrument, the instrument will fall apart along all the glue lines. This means that it just needs to be glued back together. If yo used a modern glue, it wouldn't do that the instrument would be seriously damaged. I suspect that the animals concerned are beyond needing the relevant parts...

'Cat' gut is an old word based on 'kine' which is an archaic plural of 'cow' but used to mean any cattle. The gut used for strings is in fact sheep's intestine. Just so that you know. 😉

 

[kevgermany]

Even bigger advantage of hide glue is that you can disassemble with gentle heat.

There's a con to this - it can get hot enough in a car for the glue to melt. And string tension does the rest.

For this I'd go with Jonf's suggestion. Or expadded polystyrene glue. But watch the expanded polystyrene glue. I've seen some glues that foam and expand.

 

[Ads]

Thanks Folks - I can stick the sax-tray into the case with PVA (have loads) and the fur back into the compartment (where there is no Exp-Polystyrene) with EVO-Stik , the fur on the polystyrene is actually OK ,I was more bothered about how to stick the Poly back into the wooden case

 

[Pete Thomas]

OK ,I was more bothered about how to stick the Poly back into the wooden case

Double sided carpet tape.

However much better stuff for this than expanded polystyrene is stuff called ethafoam. It is more flexible, doesn't shed off annoying bobbles and is OK to glue with evostick.

 

[old git]

Double sided carpet tape..

Brilliant suggestion, Pete and if you use Persian Carpet, no need to worry about shipment by air.

 

[Ads]

I`ve usded D/Sided carpet tape before for this kind of thing before (guitar case) , its lifespan was a bit short, probably because of bumping around etc

 

[ProfJames]

PM me and I will send you a case!

 

[AndyWhiteford]

Excellent - you guys are giving me ideas for an old Yamaha tenor case
which was 'used' by my old cat, now deceased.
[ And I don't mean 'used' for carrying her saxophone around.]
I had to strip out all the fabric, it is sitting in the loft,
I never found a satisfactory glue for the (tiger stripe ftw ;-) ) fur-fabric I bought to reline it.

p.s. Anybody want a case-project, much cheapness??

 

[Pete Thomas]

I was more bothered about how to stick the Poly back into the wooden case

Another thing you can do, if you really must use expanded polystyrene, is to tape over it with gaffa tape. You can then use evostick on that.

 

[Jay]