JoeV wrote:

TypewriterKing wrote:

There will be a few of you who'll think I've flipped, but for a long time, I had off and on thought of constructing a case big enough to carry a standard typewriter like a portable.  It would certainly have to be made heavier than an ordinary suitcase, but about the same size.  I would use either one-inch boards or one inch plywood.  I would drill holes on the bottom to accomodate the bolts that would fasten the machine down to the base (most of the standard typewriters I've come across have a way to bolt them down to one of those special fold-away typewriter desks, and I could use the same bolt-holes to fasten the machine to the base of the case).  Of course, the main drawback I always come to is that this thing would weigh too much for the average person to carry in one hand (I could probably do it, but then I am fairly large).  Still, I thought it would have been a neat idea.

 
I've built pinhole box camera that are big, strong yet light weight, made from a frame of 1/2" or 5/8" thick square sticks, glued and screwed together at the corner joints, then sheathed in thin model aircraft plywood. I think a 3/16" thick model plywood would be strong enough for the sheathing, especially if you made cross-pieces of the square frame sticks on the bottom side, such that they correspond to where the mounting bolts for the typewriter feet are located. The thin outer plywood sheathing could then be covered in leather or vinyl, with metal corner brackets for protection.

The elegance of this form of construction is that the thick square frame is light weight but takes most of the loads, while the thin, rigid aircraft plywood is very light weight and doesn't have to take any loads.

~Joe

I like this!!