Is there a demand for these?

[KE6WNH]

Another of my hobbies is woodworking... I get tired of carrying my 3 HTs around loose in my toolkit, so I have plans to use my woodworking skills to design and build a nice little hardwood attache case to fit all 3 plus their manuals and a few adapters. Would enough hams want these kinds of customade hardwood carrying cases to make it economical for me to sell them on the side? I've already built a small carrying case for Ed Lemus, KE6VRK, for the detachable control head of his mobile, and he loves it...

[K8AXW]

Sounds like something nice but I think most cheap hams will continue to haul this stuff around in a bag.

[KB3HG]

In 30+ years I have seen 2 for ham radios. The detail that went into one was awesome. Probably 8 to 10 hours labor complete with a j-pole and a good hank of RG-174. The ham was retired.

Tom Kb3hg

They used to sell camera cases that you pulled out the foam blocks to make form fitting cavities. I had several of those, back in the 70s and were less than 10.00 each. Now there are pelican cases.

[K8AXW]

WMN:  I apologize for the short answer I gave.  I do stand by my observation that hams are cheap....notoriously cheap.  I'm one. 

I also do some wood working and the problem with a wooden carrying case is the weight.  It's very difficult to design and build a wooden case for HTs and similar gear.

Then there is the proliferation of inexpensive hard cases these days.  I bought two beautiful aluminum cases with padded partitions at a Pilot truck stop not long ago.  $20.00 each.  That was after I bought a very nice case that had a padded covering and partitions.  All have two combination locks.

While wood can provide unparalleled beauty and personal satisfaction, it's really difficult to compete with what is available.

[ONAIR]

Another of my hobbies is woodworking... I get tired of carrying my 3 HTs around loose in my toolkit, so I have plans to use my woodworking skills to design and build a nice little hardwood attache case to fit all 3 plus their manuals and a few adapters. Would enough hams want these kinds of customade hardwood carrying cases to make it economical for me to sell them on the side? I've already built a small carrying case for Ed Lemus, KE6VRK, for the detachable control head of his mobile, and he loves it...

   Sounds nice!  What would be the approximate price for one of these?

[KE6WNH]

It varies... something as small as a case for a pair of HTs is probably about $20, but for me to charge $100 it would have to be the size of a large suitcase.

The key is I use wood recycled from pallets... most of the cases I've built have been of red oak, ad this is available in the largest quantities, though poplar is lighter and takes stain more uniformly (pine and other softwoods IMO are for making storage crates). All the exterior parts of my cases are between 3/16" and 3/8" thick, and I switched from oil to water-based varnish 2 years ago because there's no odor and the color stays closer to natural. KE6VRK wanted  his case stained royal blue, and luckily there are these tubes called Tints-All that come in all sorts of colors and mix with just about everything except silicone.

Anyhow, that's enough of my sales pitch for now... Memorial Day might find me building my first multi-HT case.

[KE4NYV]

I love woodworking, too, so I appreciate your idea, but I have to say the weight issue would be the major drawback.  Not to take away from your idea, but I have found a decent way to keep everything together and organized.  One of my other hobbies is target shooting and I have been through a ton of different range bags.  I found that a medium sized range bag is the perfect fit to hold all kinds of electronics goodies.  I keep a couple of HT's, scanner, digital camera, GPS and even a small laptop in the same bag.  Grab and go in the morning and I know I always have my "toys" with me...or at least nearby, in my car.  I know, I'm a total nerd!