Thread: Drum Making

Not sure about maple laminates but a drummer friend of mine from WA had these really cool drums (not a whole set) made of solid Jarrah joined like a cooper would join a barrel then thinned down to form the shells. The snare was beautful and he said it was the best sounding drum around. Expensive to buy but once you are set up, cheap(er) to make.
You might want to check this method out.
Dom

I had a bit of a read around google (do a search on 'building drum shells' and a few other variations), and it seems most people limit themselves to buying finished shells and assembling the components - much like you could buy a body, neck & hardware and finish it yourself.

There was one site in there somewhere that was selling a book on building drums, but I'm guessing if you search hard enough you should find a few sites detailing how to build a drum, or atleast something that goes through the construction of them.

EDIT: http://www.dwdrums.com/drums/drumprod.htm - DW are well known, here's there page detailing the construction method they use.

I'd guess that everything you need in hardware would be available from a good music store - heads, rims, port grommets, lugs, wires etc. I don't know alot about drum construction, but that your best shot on this board and on the net would be to look at acoustic guitar side bending. The bends in an acoustic are similar, if not in places tighter than the radius of a drum shell, so start looking into bending irons and acoustic guitar building tools?

Cheers,

Mitch

Guitar sides are made from a solid piece of wood (hopefully) either bent on a hot iron or in an outside mold... You need to make a laminated shell...

The easiest way is to first make a "drum" from two bits of heavy ply and scrap, the exact inside dimensions that you need. Then wrap and glue your wood around this. (don't forget to wax the former really well or you will never get it out and have to hack it to bits to release the shell )

I've made 18inch diameter and 6 inch deep "hoop" drums using solid blackwalnut and sycamore... Just thin it down to about 2 or 3mm, scarf the ends and pull it around the former using a few "band cramps" (dunno what the proper name is..) off a truck to pull it up tight... Used Cascamite glue (caesin based, gap filling, waterproof and not nasty...) and 3 layers of wood... Then put an inside reinforcing rim around the batter end (bout 1inch is enough) and maybe you need to put one around the outside too. (it all depends on your hardware... you really need to get/make this first and make the shells to fit)

Because you would like something much deeper than 6inch use aircraft ply for the main shell and wrap a nice piece of quilted maple around the outside with solid maple reinforcing rims... Lovely!!!

good luck..

Probably you should consider what workshop facilities you have before deciding on your construction technique. Making shells by the lamination technique is fine but a bit limited as to the depth you can make successfully. Aircraft ply is expensive too, far cheaper to buy Luaun ply or similar and remove one of the plys to get an easy bending two ply. You can make deep drum shells by making a shallow shell, cutting it into two hoops the same size, then using them as end pieces with a thin two ply infill betwen. Fibreglass internally will give it extra strength. The comment about getting your hardware first is a good one! Making up staved shells really needs a big lathe with sufficient swing to accommodate the diameter of the piece.
Either method needs quite different machinery! What do you have?

Yeha... it could take over your front room for a while... a workshop would be good...

I think if expense is a problem you shouldn't be thinking of making wooden shell kit drums anyway
Using aircraft ply, a well built former,a rolling jig and a gallon of epoxy you should be able to make a 60cm deep shell without too many problems...
Rigidity is what you are looking for in a drum shell...
Putting two(or several) narrow shells together is a boss idea... endless possibilities.

Hardware should be tops... otherwise why go to all the effort?? Making wooden shells and then put mickey mouse hardware on them??? Sonor and Sabian cannot be beat IMO... (and decide single or double skin??)

So, if expense is any kind of an issue there are loads of alternatives... (and much more fun) There is a huge selection of metal drums and plastic and cardboard tubes out there (found some 80cm diameter) that make great shells... Depends what you are after...

You can spend your time making it look "funky" and beat the **** out of them and not worry a bit if you leave them out in the sun all day or rain all night...

(but that narrow wooden shells thing just makes me itchy... and all the exotic timber you can get down there... Thanks...)

Luk,

Unless something has changed fairly recently, no one in Aust., is specialising in importing shells and/or hardware for the DIY drum maker, this is not to say you can't import what you need yourself BUT be warned that shipping costs, especially for a shell pack, will make the exercise costly. The custom and DIY market in the US is "huge" and most guys doing this in the US buy Keller shells from one of the suppliers as Keller don't normally deal direct with the public unless you're wanting to buy a shipping container full. The majority of h/ware (lugs, throw-offs, etc.) are made in Taiwan, and again, you have to be buying very large quantities to source direct. If you need them I can give you the names of a couple of good suppliers in the US.

Someone mentioned DW.........for the record, DW used Keller shells for many years and when they decided to invest in making their own shells, it took them a lot of money and apparently the best part of a year before they had a product they were confident in selling.............in other words, making (good) ply shells isn't the easiest way to make a drum.

Have a read of this thread for a couple of links to drum forums, etc......... http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=47592