I'm pretty much done with the case though I'm thinking about taking the hardware off and giving it one more coat of shellac. If I do, it'll get cut back with some #0000 steel wool then waxed.
Here's a few more progress shots.
I built a small jig to hold the handle while I drilled out the rivets. It's very important that your work is held securely when drilling something like this. I was lucky, this went a lot easier than it could have. I had some concerns I wouldn't be able to use the handle's mounts before I started.
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Tapping the posts for screws to hold handle on the case. I ended up using #6-40 screws due to the small size of the posts on the handle.
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Interior of the top showing the screws for the handle in place.
It also shows the brown felt I glued to the bottom edge of the top. when I installed the latches I lined the edges up with the edges of the case. This allowed too much play so the top would slide around and rattle. The felt took care of the slop and rattling. It should help slow down the inevitable wear on the finish at that point too.
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The bottom of the bottom showing the feet that I robbed off the briefcase. The red area on the bottom middle is where I sanded thru the outer layer of veneer. Modern veneers are less than paper thin these days. If you don't pay enough attention this is what happens.
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A shot of one of the latches. I ended up using #4 wood screws due to the small size of the holes where the rivets used to be.
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A quick shot of the basically complete case on top of my very cluttered tablesaw/workbench.
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There's plenty of mistakes but it'll hold the sewing machine just fine. The briefcase was completely destroyed in the process of removing the hardware. I used a screwdriver as a chisel in the wood around the rivets to get the hardware off. I didn't want to mess up a good chisel. I have more time than money so it made sense to me to scavenge the hardware from something like a briefcase. (I've probably angered a briefcase collector somewhere.) Latches and suitcase handles add up pretty quickly if you buy them new. I also wanted a more vintage look than most new handles offer.
In the near future I'll do a tutorial on building a very basic base for a sewing machine.
I bought a piece of 1x4 hemlock trim board yesterday. I chose the hemlock because there were no knots in it though cheap pine will also work. I wanted a wood you can find anywhere for this project so no nice hardwoods for this one. I'm not making a lid this time. I plan to use methods that most people can do using pretty basic tools. Many of us have plenty of sewing machine heads but no base or case for them. The new plastic cases can work but are relatively expensive and don't look appropriate. Vintage cases can be expensive if you find one at all.
Rodney