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Glassblowing Tool Boxes (Glassblower Tool Bags)

Photograph Description
Skitch's Tool Box inspired me to make my own glassblowing tool boxes (below).
Skitch used a rectangular guitar case.
The photo below is on top of lockers at East Falls Glassworks, to give a different perspective:
Skitch Glassblowing Tool Box with Glassblower Tools
Tony Patti (new) Tool Box.

I did a LOT of searching on ebay, for the perfect tool box to carry my glassblowing tools.
I looked at rifle cases, guitar cases, and tool boxes.
One of my concerns was the weight of the case and the tools, and I realized that I might as well get a case with wheels, and I found the perfect case, by seaching for ATA (Air Transport Association) shipping cases on ebay.

I needed a long and narrow case, but wider than the typical rifle case or guitar case (which may be 12" or less wide). I found that "keyboard cases" had the dimensions I was looking for, and the SKB 4214W (the "W" means it has wheels) was the right size.

According to Froogle, these sell new for $275 - $285 (plus shipping), but on ebay you may be able to find one in the $99 - $125 range.

Or, you can do a more generic ATA/SKB ebay search with "keyboard* case* (skb*, hard*, ata*)" in the ebay category "musical instruments", because sometimes sellers do not put the 4214W on the subject line, instead just calling it a case for a "61 key" or "66 key" keyboard.

And, just for completeness, you could try these other ebay searches instead:
"skb* (4214*, 61*, 66*) (key*, case*, ata*) -padded -bag"
or this:
"skb (keyboard*, synth*) wheel* -bag -soft"

Although they spec this case to have an interior of 42" long by 14" deep, that is with the standard foam installed to protect a keyboard. If you remove this foam, you have a case which is actually 44" long and 16" deep.

Also, in my searching, I found that some cases had their hinges exactly halfway through the height of the case, but other cases had a relatively thinner lid section. The SKB 4214W is one of those cases where the top and bottom halves are the same size, and both accomodate not less than 2 inches of foam.

My first attempt with pink foam (see below) from Home Depot did not work out very well,
and in
researching what real tool boxes use to cushion their tools, I narrowed my search down to Polyethylene which is a closed-cell foam which will not absorb water, and is easy to clean. I found a local foam supplier (L & R Shipping Supply) who would cut me the 44" x 16" x 2" PE foam I needed.

I've got everything but one or two items carved into the foam right now, and I've got some room for expansion in the top left corner.

Tony Patti Glassblowing Tool Box with Glassblower Tools Tony Patti (old) Tool Box

This was built into a single rifle case. Includes:

  • Eyeglass case with AUR-99 safety lenses (themost important tool in the entire case!)
  • two Putsch Jacks
  • Cutting Edge Large Combo Diamond Shears (my duck bill's are on order)
  • Pi Dividers (for rolling up cane)
  • two graphit paddles (both home made) -- the longer one in the bottom half of the photo is 13" long
  • 0.5" graphite rod with handle (hand made)
  • calipers (for witches balls)
  • Steinert blow hose (in zip lock bag)
  • Assortment of small hand tools (long needlenose pliars, ice pick, raking tool, etc.)
  • and of course a first aid kit with burn gel (Ed Schmid's book says you will get burned...
Although you may not be able to tell from the photo, each tool is cut into one or two layers of Polystyrene foam ($6.36 at Home Depot). More specifically, for most tools, the outline of the tool was cut into only the top layer, which was then glued to the bottom layer. For my tool box, two 3/4" thick sheets worked perfectly (laminated together).

Cutting Edge Products - Tool Wrap $45.00
Cutting Edge Products - Jack Wrap $45.00


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This www.glassblower.info glassblowing web page last modified: July 2, 2006