(Editor's Note: David Chick is sixteen years old and a junior at the Acton-Roxborough Regional School in Acton, Massachusetts He has studied the oboe for seven years, of which three have been with John Holmes, formerly of the Boston Symphony. He has played with the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.)
As I became more involved in musical organizations, I found the need for two certain accessories that would ease transportation of my instrument and extra equipment as well as give my instrument more adequate protection from bumps, shocks, and the weather. These two items were a carry-case and double stand to hold an oboe and an English horn.
After trying commercially built products that failed to stand up to normal wear and tear, I decided to attempt to build a case and stand of my own design. Because I have found these accessories very useful and have received many positive comments on them, I thought that some of the IDRS members might be interested in reproducing them. I have therefore submitted these instructions for use by those desiring to build a copy.
I have been using my case and stand for over two and a half years now and they haven't failed me yet. Both were economical and fairly easy to build. Many people ask me where I bought my stand and are astounded when I tell them it is home-made. In cold weather, my case has protected my instrument better than any other case for any instrument that I have yet seen. It has withstood all abuse inflicted upon it by careless airline baggage handlers. I like to think it is the ultimate in perfection as far as cases go. To sum it all up, both the stand and the case look professional, are convenient to use, sturdy, and very economical (approx. $60). I'm sure that anyone who builds them will agree.
Block foam can be purchased at any upholstery shop. Make sure the foam is soft and squishy and not rigid like styrofoam
Begin by cutting 2 1/2 in. wide strips of plywood for the cross-pieces. The long crosspiece should be 18 inches long and the short cross-piece just over one foot long. Measure exactly 13 1/2 in. from an end of the long piece and cut a slot 1 1/4 in. from the bottom edge and 3/16 in. wide. Do the same with the shorter piece 8 inches from the end (see sketch 1). When the pieces fit nicely at the slot, test-fit the cross in the case so that the biggest compartment is in the rear, left-hand corner. If the pieces are too tight in the case, trim off the shortest ends of the cross (see sketch 1).
When the pieces fit easily yet snugly, glue in the cross with epoxy, gluing only the ends of the cross-pieces to the inner sides of the case. Do not glue the cross to the bottom of the case.
Next take the wood block and along one edge, cut or sand off a slant edge (see sketch 1). Glue the wood block in on the edge of the instrument compartment with the slant edge up, making sure that the block doesn't interfere with the hinge.
When the glue is dry, cut the sheet foam to cover all the wood without having too much over-lapping (see sketch 2). Use silicone rubber adhesive to glue the foam down to the cross, and use it sparingly. Only a thin layer will be needed.
Next, cut the vinyl in the same fashion but leave one inch flaps on the edges that border the interior of the case (see sketch 2).
On the block, flaps are only necessary on the front and bottom edges, not the rear edge for it may interfere with the hinge. Glue the flaps to the inside of the case using silicone adhesive. Do not glue the vinyl to the foam for it will spoil the sponginess of the foam.
The hard part is done. Now you can cut the one inch thick sheet foam to size and place it in the instrument compartment. For the small compartments, some block foam can be fitted in. With a few slots and holes, these can hold many items in a very organized fashion. This is some of the equipment that I have stored in my case:
The long, thin compartment will hold the double stand for the oboe and English horn if you plan to build it.
If you are planning to build the double stand for the oboe and English horn, the materials you will need are:
To begin, cut the wood base pieces to a desired length, keeping in mind that they must fit into the case compartment. I cut my main-piece a little under 12 1/2 inches and the cross-pieces to about 10 inches (see sketch 3).
Thus, when disassembled, a foam block could be cut to hold the pieces in the case. Cut two slots in the main-piece, leaving at least 4 1/4 inches between the two. Do not cut the slots more than 1/4 inches deep because the nuts will have to fit in the bottom (see sketch 3). Check periodically to make sure that the slots do not get too wide. The pieces must go together easily yet without much wobble. Now do the same in the center of each cross-piece. This time, make the slot about half as deep as the thickness of the piece. You will not have to cut it deep enough so that the intersecting pieces are flush.
The next step is to drill the pilot holes for the threaded rods. Place one of the cross-pieces into a slot on the main-piece. Then, making sure the spot is centered, mark a place to drill through. Use only a 1/8 in. drill at this point. Check to make sure the holes are aligned when the cross-piece is put on both ways. If not, run the drill through again. Now use the same cross-piece to mark the hole for other slot on the main-piece, and use the main-piece to mark the hole for the other cross piece. If this is all done correctly, both cross-pieces will be interchangeable.
Measure the width between the flat sides of the nuts. This is the measurement of the drill that will be used to drill holes for the nuts that will hold the threaded rods. Widen the 1/8 in. holes from the bottom of the main-piece being careful not to drill deeper than the thickness of the nuts. The pilot holes will keep the wood bit centered enough so that the threaded rods will screw into the nuts easily. Now is the time to drill the remainder of the holes out to 3/8 in. so the rods will fit through. To insert a nut, simply place the nut over a large hole and pound it in evenly until it is completely driven in.
Take a moment now to sand all the pieces down. If you really want to get fancy, like I did, you can taper off the ends of each piece a bit with a table saw (best done before installing the nuts). This will give it a professional look.
Using the silicone adhesive, glue two rubber feet at the ends of each crosspiece. For this I used 1 1/4 in. rubber furniture leg caps and cut off the top section that goes around the end of the leg, using only the bottom part. Whatever you use, it should be at least 3/8 in. thick. Cut out two rectangles from the sheet cork or rubber. Make sure they are long enough to protect the bells of the instruments from the hard wood. Glue them down with silicone adhesive, then, with a very sharp razor or exacto knife, carefully cut out the areas over the peg holes.
With a hacksaw, cut two sections off the threaded rod 6-3/4 in. and 4 in. long. Squirt a little oil on the spot where you are cutting while you work. This will make the cutting process smoother and quicker. After both sections have been cut, file at least one end of each rod so that they will fit in the nuts. Next measure the amount of rod that will be inserted into the base and cut some fuel tubing to cover the remainder of the rods. Leave a 1/4 in. excess of tubing at the top of the posts.
To glue on the tubing, cover the ends of the rods that do not need to screw into the nuts with silicone adhesive, then push the tubing down on each rod until it reaches the point where the rod will go through the wood to the nuts. While you are pushing it down, make sure there is enough adhesive covering the entire rod under the tubing. It is better that you push it down a bit too far than not enough since the excess can be trimmed later.
When these are both on, use the silicone sealant to fill in the top of the tubing and make a nice dome shape in the end. Set it to dry.
Slowly drill a 3/4'' hole through the center of the cork stopper with a hole saw. Be careful not to drill too fast or the cork will crack. Use silicone adhesive to glue the stopper around the base of the small post. When it is dry, wrap black tape around the side of the cork and wipe some sealant around the top to give it a tapered finished look.