Recently we have had lots of fun restoring antique cases. Just like violins they are snapshots in time, often put together with paper lining, spare bits of spruce, liberal hide glue, all hidden under a layer of felt.
One the lining is out we pretty much start from scratch with some interior frame to give it strength, then padding and suspension elements. There’s a lot of thinking because the tolerance are quite fine.
The exterior is either an oil finish for the natural timber cases or black enamel. we recon they are not too shabby, but at around 20hrs of work quite fiddly.
