My hard shell latches don't pull down tight anymore. In fact, the little piece of metal will flip back, then the latch is basically not doing anything.
Sometimes several of them will get loose, leaving my banjo at risk of falling out.
I tried gluing some small pieces of dense foam between the top and bottom portions of the case right there at the latch. That worked for a little while, but eventually they fell out and the latches stopped working again.
Are there any clever ideas for fixing this?
I could try removing the screws and filling in those holes, then reattaching the latch to the case slightly lower than before.
I thought about wrapping the latch wire (at that point of contact) with some small diameter wire to make that section fatter.
Maybe adding a thin layer of epoxy into the contact Point area on the other piece. Some scheme to increase the amount of pull on the top lid component of the latch.
This isn't easy to describe. But hopefully somebody out there is already solved this problem. Thank you
I fixed my latches.
I figured out that you can take the latch off, move both pieces left or right by 1/4" and have fresh wood for the screws. The latch hides the old holes. For my 1983 superior case, the right drill bit was 3/32".
So, to get more latching pressure, one side needs to move further away - but only a small amount (less that 1/16" in my case).
I have a Calton case that I bought direct from Keith Calton in the mid 1970s. The case structure is as good as ever after all these years, and shows only a few minor battle scars. However, the catches are the early non-pull-down type and I no longer feel confident they'll keep the lid securely closed while in transit. For added peace of mind, I use a short leather strap around the case where the neck part meets the pot part and through the strap.
You might could work some JB Weld material at the bottom of the lower latch mechanism and build that up enough to eliminate the space that is preventing the latch from holding. Probably won't take more than just a touch and if overdone guess you could file it down until it was snug. Being at the bottom should make it unnoticeable as well.
Bobby
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