Thread: making drumsticks and suitable material

Australian Wood Review #33 has an article by Richard Raffan on turning drumsticks.

He used Brazillian rosewood, because that's what the client supplied. The article is more on the turning technique that the choice of wood.

Is not Hickory another name for Pecan?

So, plant a Pecan tree, eat the nuts and use a couple of limbs to make drumsticks!

Easy peasy

Apparently pecan is a species of hickory.

Having had a drumstick in my mouth on more than one ocassion, I can tell you they don't taste like pecans.

Rosewood is also apparently sought after for drum sticks - but again there are many species of tree that are called 'rosewood'.

as you say, there is nothing to lose from giving a couple things a try. unless i decide to do ebony or something silly like that then im not going to lose much money, even if they dont work great.

One thing I've notice with drum sticks is that if the balance isn't right then your wasting your time.

Sticks are sold by the pair but normally they are loose and you choose the two you want. You rap them on something hard and make sure they sound the same, roll them on the counter to make sure they're straight, make sure they feel the same in each hand. There is an Aussie manufacturer who sells them in balanced pairs - two sticks wrapped in a paper sleeve.

Having said that, although fussy players will probably chuck both out when they break one, I use every stick until it breaks. Unless you buy a heap of sticks and try to balance them all (probably an impossible task), chances are you will end up playing with a pair that are not exactly the same weight.

I've played with two sticks of different brands - but the same size (7A) - when I've broken one and only had two odd ones left in the stick bag. Can't say it held me up too much - I like the lighter one in the right hand in that case. But it's obviously not desirable.

There is also variation within sizes. I use 7As or 5As, mostly 7As these days. Promark Naturals (no finish on the stick). I bought a couple of 7A pairs in Sydney a couple of months ago but when I used them, I found the diameter of the stick too small - hard to hang on to. I have some older Promark 7As that are bigger. I don't know why the change, maybe they changed manufacturer or something. Probably made in China now like everything else.

My suggestion would be to get hold of one of the sticks your friend is using now as a pattern and turn up as many as you can, then you'll be able to make up one or two matched pairs.

Probably a bit late in the game, but picked up a book on wood from the library yesterday, Wood in Australia by Keith R. Bootle.
Browsing though it last night I came across a listing by uses for wood and under drum sticks it has ivorywood, silver ash and yellowwood. Of those the only one I know is silver ash.

Yellowwood is Flindersia xantoxhyla or Flindersia oxleyana

Ivorywood is Siphonodon australis

Silver Ash is Flindersia bourjotiana

All hail from Northern NSW to Queensland

Learn something every day!

Must get a copy of that. Is Silver Ash the same as Silvertop Ash, or a different beast?

Silent, you're confusing me with someone who knows something about wood

All that information came purely from the book, I claim no knowledge or credit.

However, said book also lists Silvertop Ash, which is Eucalyptus sieberi, also known as coast ash.

Book in published by McGrawHill, info in the back says that the library paid $89.95 for it

Hope that helps.

Oh, other common names for silver ash are bumpy ash or cudgerie.

well im only thinking of ideas at the moment, i am not in a hurry. silver ash sounds like a good idea too. ill be keeping you guys updated on ideas, as i dont know much about drumming, other than what i like or dont like the sound of.

When i was talking about balance I was refering to the forward and backward movement of an individual stick. I've met many a player who utilise a different stick, or a stick and a brush for example.

The balance point I look for is so that when the stick is in my hand I can hold it there pretty much with just the curl of my index finger, if the weight is too far forward I find I'm having to 'choke' the stick in order to make it bounce around. On the other hand if the weight is too far back I find i hold the stick so far back that I cant mute a shot with my palm.

Originally Posted by bricks

When i was talking about balance I was refering to the forward and backward movement of an individual stick. I've met many a player who utilise a different stick, or a stick and a brush for example.

The balance point I look for is so that when the stick is in my hand I can hold it there pretty much with just the curl of my index finger, if the weight is too far forward I find I'm having to 'choke' the stick in order to make it bounce around. On the other hand if the weight is too far back I find i hold the stick so far back that I cant mute a shot with my palm.

im hoping that that balance works itself out by getting the correct dimensions. ill ask her if there is anything she would like to change about the balance on the ones ill copy.

I've made various drum sticks and mallet handles for timpani, bass drum etc. My favoured material is silver ash. It's a medium weight and has good damping characteristics. This is the reason timbers like hickory and spotted gum work so well ( both as drumsticks and tool handles ) and why they make terrible tone woods. They damp out jarring and vibration very quickly and so transfer more of the stroke energy into the drum head and less into the players hand.

That's handy.