This past weekend, @CO and I went to the Coney Island Maker Faire in Brooklyn, NY. We spent three incredible days hanging out with hundreds of like-minded makers.
In preparation, we built a custom road case (or flight case) to carry all of our equipment and to serve as the backdrop of the Our Next Make booth.
We first identified where to source all of the metal parts, and found https://www.diyroadcasesstore.com/
Then we modeled a basic concept in SOLIDWORKS for Makers to make sure everything will fit and to figure out how much material and parts we need to buy.
It turns out, that we should have spent a bit more time designing things, because we ran into a snag with the placement of some blocking. We had to remove it, which caused some damage to the inside of the case.
If you're going to build a case of your own, be sure to check out the video below so you don't make the same mistake we did. Otherwise, building the case is actually really straightforward. The aluminum pieces cut with traditional wood working tools and the rivets are satisfyingly simple to install ...though it does get tiring as you approach your 250th rivet :)
What I think I like most about this project is that it's so customizable. You've got a library of standard parts and some plywood and you can let your imagination run wild and build anything you want. It's kinda like building with LEGO!
Check out the full video to see how the project came together: