Plug display cases question
 

I have questions about plug display cases if any of you can help me.

Assuming the cases are to be used to either put on a wall or carried to another location and put on a table or something, what holds the plugs in place? or are they just loosely placed in there and no way to mount to a wall vertically? :huh:

maybe some kind of nails into the back?

what is best for the backs? felt or foam?

I think having the lid on a hinge is wise and maybe also have some kind of hardware that can prop the lip open as well. Do they usually have real glass I assume, not plexiglas?

thanks for any hints or additional tips :D:wavey:

cases can be made to stand upright on a table ,,hinged together or leave as a single unit to hang///working from the face of the unit[if using glass] 5/8 to 3/4 for wood then glass 1/8" then about an inch of dead space to the face of your fatest plug..then for backing use 1/2" homosote overed in some cotton cloth which is all glued to the plywood backing behind that........use what they call T-pins..these can be found just about anywhere....they are a pin with a T on top instead of a button.....these's are then placed in the nose/tail loop as well as any belly swivel you see fit.and pushed into your backing....they'll hold any plug reguardless of it's size.

T-pins come in a few different lenght's..if to long, just cut or snip to what length you need.

yes..reel glass .

Thank you Steve :) :kewl:

Can you incorporate one into a bathroom vanity.:rollem:
Go with the non reflective glass if you can.

If you're gonna stick them to cloth covered homosote, you could use some printable fabric that they sell a Staples and such. Your old fishing photos would make a pissa backdrop.

1/2" homosote $23 and some change ,,,,homies... Seen dumpsters filled with the stuff ... not anymore .. :wall:

Just a thought to add to this. If you are looking for a nice "classic" display case for vintage plugs try finding an old printers drawer. I have one on my wall and use it as a traditional nick nack shelf but all of the compartments are well suited for smallish vintage plugs.

Ya Paul, I can do that but will the wife be happy:huh:

please explain to me non reflective glass

I was thinking just regular 1/8" double strength glass
but if I can get it in some kind of non reflective at a similar cost then I'll ask.but I never heard of that

thanks bbj,tagger,and fishon


I wonder what color fabric I should use??? anyone?

Like the glass on a picture, painting.. I have some with regular glass and the reflection sux when trying to view the painting. Have some paintings with non reflective glass and makes view more enjoyable. Think price wise it is more expensive. Check out the frame shop on 28 towards the statey barracks they might be able to help, but they are expensive. Micheal's, Taunton, may have some info too.

Non-glare glass is usually almost a "frosted" type glass like some bathroom windows. The farther away from the glass your stuff gets the less you can see the items/artwork. It works for posters and artwork that is closer to the glass. I don't think it will work for a display case unless you get some very expensive museum quality glass which may have a coating on it to cut down glare.

Good point Matt. I didn't think of that.

Ask what glass they recommend for shadowbox display types. I believe I got non glare and UV protection for shadow boxes with signed game jerseys fo my son. The whole framing of these was expensive. Marshall Faulk retired yesterday, so his should go up in value....

Slip...a very lite tan works well for the cloth.

use reg. glass..the space between the glass and the plugs at most maybe an 1"1/2 if that....

Thanks Steve about the tan, I wish I saw this before Sat. when I got gray, they had no tan but that is what I will get for next time.

here is how the first one came out.
23"x35" x 4" deep total, hinged lid with a lock. Spanish cedar(mahogany) with 3 coats of lacquer. Hangs on the wall with a shopmade bracket = simple and strong. I haven't assembled the second one yet.
I was thinking about selling them if there is any interest , but I have found some online half this size going for $233.00 and mine are twice the size. It takes a lot of work to make and more money in materials than you'd figure, I'd have to get about 200 bucks for them for guys on the site if I were to make them to sell.


the second picture has the lid open

those look good...alot of work in those cases..found out on the first two I made.

Very nice Bruce!

DZ

Wowzer
nice Slip, may need to place an order from ya :rotf2:
VB

You would need 50 of them.

The lock is for when BM comes visiting

Thanks you guys

a lot goes into these for sure. I added up materials and was surprised it's about $80.00 :eek: each
so if each one takes about 4 hours of shoptime,and that doesn't include gathering the materials, let's see, at say $55 per hour shoptime, I'd need to get $300 each so as typical with fishing stuff, the payrate would have to be much less :rollem: more like $30 an hour. Maybe I can find a way to streamline things and keep the costs down so I don't have to live on Ramen noodles like I used to when I lived in Arizona starting out in a cabinet shop:bsod:

I have to say it looks way better in person, than the picture, and Melissa allowed me to put it in the living room :D

Bruce,
2 suggestions/ideas.

1. Paint grade wood - for the mega collector crowd and for shows.
Antique show people can use them. Don't limit yourself to the lure crowd.

2. Sell kits without the glass. paint grade and show grade.

thanks Striperknight, when you say paintgrade, do you mean unpainted so the customer can paint it himself? If so, ya that makes sense to keep cost down a little, the materials will be less and save an hour labor or so too. Thanks

I was thinking serious collectors might be interested also. and professional builders may want them for displays at shows as well as antique lure collectors. so I guess I should offer them in different sizes, or just custom make them to order.

without glass is a great idea, just include the mirror clips or something and anybody can get a piece of glass to fit at any glass place easy enough. the glass only cost me $26 for 2 pieces.

pooplar wood-sprayed gloss black...seems to be the norm in cases.Doesn't take away from it's contents...you can always up grade from there......butternut/clearcoated:drool:

less expensive wood.

$80.00 in material is not alot ,, I'd like the spanish ceadar if it was me.. $300.00 isn't alot for a quality handmade piece like that .. nice brass hardware all datto'd in sweet .... I'd say that piece is fine furniture quality.. sheet of homosote $23.00 .. how much you going to shave off going poplar ? The world is full of poplar ,,particle board crap,, Nobody builds things like that anymore.. I say keep the quality ,,,its unique..Excellent work Slip .. I say that being a carpenter over 30 yrs.,, known a couple of thousand of them ..

Bruce these look beautiful. Somehting to consider would be a small vent for air to circulate through the box itself. All those dif. sealers and clears etc, hook dressings will want to let off or exchange gasses. By building in a vent you create a please for all these dif vapors to air out or escape. Speak with Marty Livewyre on the site. He's pretty deep into collecting and he put me onto the small vents to allow any vapors etc to leave the box. the vents he showed me sell on ebay and they're about a half inch in diameter and a nicely finished I think maybe plated gold or polished brass or something, adds a nice funtional touch. These look awesome though slip!!

thanks Victor, there is an air space under the lid/door

Great work Slipknot.
I am interested in purchasing one.

Sure thing Matt, whatever you want.

pm me a number, and I'll call ya :call:

You could always do what I do for saving coins on the glass, I get them from other contractors that are replacing windows in houses. The old aluminum storm windows are perfect because most are 24" square to begin with and if you need a smaller piece just cut it yourself to the size you need, and storm windows seldom have any scratches on them so they are perfect, 2nd best thing is most contractors will give them to you free.