On 1/16/2011 5:04 PM, Lee Michaels wrote:


"Steve Turner" wrote in message
...
(Also posted to rec.music.makers.percussion)

I recently finished up another drum I've been working on. This one is a
20"x15" bass drum constructed from Black Walnut:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboye...7625838936416/

Here are some pictures of the various jigs I used to build it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboye...7625838041282/

Now I just need to build the rest of the drums so I'll have a full set to play!

Looks very nice!

I don't know anything about building drums. Is this the usual way of doing
things? Or is there a much cheaper, simpler way of doing things?

No, the vast majority of modern drums are built using multiple plies of thin
veneer, laminated with heat and pressure in large cylindrical presses that are
far beyond the means and capabilities of the average woodworker. The level of
quality achieved by most modern manufacturers is actually quite impressive;
probably an order of magnitude better than the best quality baltic birch
plywood that you and I are used to seeing at our local hardwood supplier.
Shells built in this fashion can be ridiculously thin (less than 1/4") yet
still very strong and durable. Many manufacturers are also doing amazing
things with fancy finishes and exotic wood veneers, and I only wish I had the
facilities to build drums in this fashion. Still, there is also the air of
mass-produced "sameness" about such drums, and there is definitely still a
market for drums constructed from solid pieces of wood, and the "stave" method
I used is but one of a few. Other methods include:

Steam bending a solid piece of wood, typically using a scarf joint to bring the
two ends together into a cylinder. This method is one of the oldest, but is
typically only used to construct snare drums, which are relatively small in
diameter (13" or 14") and shallow (averaging about 6" deep).

A method probably familiar to most wood turners would be segmented shells,
which are probably best described by a pictu
http://www.snaredrumsonline.com/wp-c...5266287660.jpg

Some builders are even having success building shells from large logs,
hollowing out the center and carefully milling the inside and outside surfaces
until the shell reaches the desired thickness. The goal is to have a shell
that's a natural as possible, with no joints and no glue, supposedly yielding
the "holy grail" of sound quality. Personally, I think it's a lot of work with
very little (if any) payoff. After all, at the end of the day it's still just
a drum. :-)

--
See Nad. See Nad go. Go Nad!
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/