Display case

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Spent a lot of time recently trying to find a supplier of decent display cases. I finally placed an order with a company for my engine and it arrived today. I am tickled pink by the workmanship and have emailed them and told them so.

The case is made from 5mm acrylic and comes with an oak base with green baize felt. The best bit is that the edges have been bonded so that no bubbles or imperfections show. A really nice touch is that the front and rear top edges are radiused (how the hell do they do that?)

With delivery and VAT the case came to £157.80. For something which is 52cm high (20.5" in English) and so well made I thought my case was good value.

I could have had it made in thinner material which would have made it cheaper but I will reserve that option for some of my smaller models when I place further orders.

I have nothing to do with the company in question other than being a very satisfied first time customer.

If you would like to save yourself the leg work of winnowing out a supplier of quality cases you are welcome to PM me and I'll provide the details of the company.

Here's a pic of my engine in its new home.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

……I’ve found one!

[Thor 🇳🇴Participant @thor]

Hi Rik,

both the display case and its content looks very nice.

Thor

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Thanks for the compliment Thor

Rik

[NJHParticipant @njh]

That certainly sets the model off Rik – it also means that, unlike my similar engine, it does not sit there covered in dust!

Perspex is a nice material to work with – although expensive to buy, especially in the larger sizes/ thicknesses . It can be cut, milled and turned just as you would metal. Machining marks can be removed by increasingly fine grades of paper. buffing with paste for perspex and by increasingly fine grades of perspex polish until no trace of marks remains. In addition edges can be flame polished for a great finish. Parts can be joined with special perspex adhesive or welded together by applying chloroform. ( probably best not to try this yourself at home though!) £160 sounds plenty but it does look the business and sets off your model well. What's more you are unlikely to have the polishes etc. and you would be unlikely to achieve the finish you have on your "bought" case at a first attempt.

Difficult to see but I suspect that the radius was made by a heating and forming process.

Well done!

Norman

[John McNamaraParticipant @johnmcnamara74883]

Hi Rick

A while back…. a few years BC (Before China). I visited a factory that made custom record turntable cases with a transparent lid with two bends as per your case.

They were made by placing the flat sheet over a slot in a table covered in soft material to protect the sheet and jigged to align the piece. Within the slot a few millimetres below the top surface the slot was a straight rod type element across the full width of the sheet, the same type as found in a domestic oven but not folded. it glowed a dull red.

They used a simple timer to time the exposure to the heat source which due to the slot was only applied to a small area on the sheet. The slot was formed from two spaced tubes water filled to keep them cool.

Once heated the sheet was bent by hand in mid air and placed between two Spaced stops to cool. The actual faces of the sheet or the bend line were not touched while bending. Only one bend was done at a time.

You can bend a steel bar the same way with a gas torch if you only heat a small section to red. you will get a nice sharp bend.

Regards
John

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