Box Treatments, and How to Solve the Case of the Missing Case

It is not hard to make a good box or case for tools or instruments. And you can often improve the usefulness of an existing box by judicious addition of foam or flaps. By foam, I mean closed-cell polyethelene packing, not to be confused with styrofoam. Styrofoam is weak and crumbly; closed-cell LDPE (low-density polyethylene) is tough and durable. I have a socket set where I replaced the vacuformed insert with LDPE nearly 20 years ago. After years and years of use, with hundreds of removals and re-insertions, the foam is still resilient, still grips the tools, and is ready for decades more.

Step 1: Getting Started

What you need: box or case, foam, felt tip marker, art knife, hot-melt glue.
Sometimes needed: cardboard, paint.

Plug the glue gun in so it can heat up while you think.

Closed cell foam is saved from appliance or equipment boxes. LDPE is what you want. It's easy to glue in place, and very easy to cut. If you don't have a single piece of foam big enough to fill a particular area, you can glue smaller pieces up to fit.

Comments

[mole1]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I need this ible!!!

[milesfromneihu]

So glad you find it of interest and of use! it was fun making it too.

[curbowman]

I've been using this exact method to carry my beloved bass amplifier from gig to gig. I converted a raggedy old wheeled suitcase into a heavily padded device, complete with 2-tone felt lining to match the Carvin Redline style. And, unlike most 2-space racks, I can store the footswitch, effects pedals, cables, and even sheet music without having to lift them.

An added benefit is the fact that I can walk around with it with a more peaceful state of mind since no one can know I am carrying a valuable piece of equipment in an ordinary suitcase!

[milesfromneihu]

Good camouflage value. It's great when equipment, instruments, tools, vehicles, etc. stay around so that in addition to paying for them, you can actually use them too. Peace of mind in a not-yet-ideal world.

[milesfromneihu]

Very nice. I like the relief for the control knobs.

[Cavechild]

Fantastic, I did this recently to convert an old makita drill box so that I had a home for my boxless angle grinders. Just waiting for some more LDPE to come my way so I can give my jigsaw the same treatment.

[leftfootleashed]

See also: http://www.machinistblog.com/pamper-your-tools/

[milesfromneihu]

By the way, has anybody noticed that there has been a shift in saw naming? What used to be sabre saws are now jigsaws. Former jigsaws are now called scroll saws. What do they now call the former scroll saws? Power fret saws? Funny eh? But they still call jigsaw puzzles jigsaw puzzles, not scroll saw puzzles. Of course most jigsaw puzzles have not been made with jig... I mean SCROLL saws for a long time. Jigsaw puzzles are die cut. We could call them die cut puzzles. But I don't want to be the only one.

[kelseymh]

LDPE is a really great material for this! And you can recover/recycle it from the shipping and packing material used for printers, monitors, TVs, stereo systems, etc. It cuts really well with a chef's knife or box cutter, and even after cutting and shaping stays firm and resilient. Great Instructable!

[milesfromneihu]

Hey, glad you like the 'ible!
LDPE is indeed great stuff: works fine, lasts a long time.