Thread: Flamenco Cajon

A flamenco cajon I saw had guitar strings fitted agains one skin.

After annoying staff at the guitar shop and the drum shop, I decided to fit a drum snare.
I screwed it to the top and bottom so it would be resting agains one skin.
You can see it through the sound hole in pic 2.

A rebate was routed for the skins. Just over deep.
Then the veneers cut, routed and sanded to fit the rebates.

They were glued in place and clamped using mdf templates to help git good pressure on the tight fitting skins.

I carefully sanded the rosewood edges down to the veneers.

The sound hole is much smaller than the last drum and looks more in proportion.

All edges were rounded over with a 1/4" roundover bit.
Then everything sanded to #500.

Finish with danish oil/poly mix.

It certainly rattles.

This is a really striking instrument Scally (pun intended), love that Quilted Maple. I assume the bass note is pretty low, is there much resonance?

Sebastiaan

Hey Scally, Nice looking thing. I won't pretend I know what it is. But I am interested in your use of glycerine. Does this help soften the wood? There was a discussion about a product that softens wood for bending on the OLF recently and I am wondering if that stuff is just glycerine.
Cheers
Dom

Dom,

I didnt follow the OLF thread thoroughly but I believe theyre using some sort of fabric softener. Might have a look at the post again.

That's a lovely looking box Scally, would have to sound as sweet as as it looks! The maple is superb, and beautifully polished.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by zenobia

Hey Scally, Nice looking thing. I won't pretend I know what it is. But I am interested in your use of glycerine. Does this help soften the wood? There was a discussion about a product that softens wood for bending on the OLF recently and I am wondering if that stuff is just glycerine.
Cheers
Dom

From http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/flattening.htm

"Super Soft Veneer Softener - Despite its cheesy name, Super-Soft is by far, the most effective and user friendly veneer softener available. By temporarily plasticizing wood cells, veneers treated with Super-Soft become easy to flatten and unbelievably flexible. It also does not affect the stain absorbing properties of the veneer.

Ultimately, it's the water in this product that makes the veneer soft and pliable. There is also glycerin in the Super Soft which is extremely hygroscopic (it attracts moisture). The glycerin remains in the veneer even after it feels dry. It is this chemical remnant that keeps moisture in the veneer and allows the wood to remain soft for several days after the visible water content has evaporated. Check this out... if you get a drop of softener on your work bench and leave it there, the glycerine will retain the water content and it won't evaporate for several days!"

Scally,

In a previous thread you were looking for technical acoustic resources. The best overall resource Ive found is "The fundamentals of Musical Acoustics" A.H. Benade. Chapter 9. Detailed exposition of the acoustical process of saoundbaords and drumheads,

Sebastiaan

.

Dom
The method of using glycerine was in a veneering book. They also added some alcohol.

My maple veneer was very brittle. The glycerine certainly made it more flexible.
I haven't seen "Super Soft..." but I would expect it would do the same thing.

It is a bit of a worry that the glycering is keeping the veneer moist. Maybe the veneer will continue to shrink or have I trapped the moisture in the veneer now that I have applied the finish??
It is a long time since I did any chemistry.

The oil went on without any problem. There doesn't appear to be any ill-effects of the glycerine/moisture.

The box has a good deep note so I guess the sound hole is big enough.
The snare rattles even when the skin without the snare is hit.
It would be good to be able to move the snare away from the skin when you want to use it as a normal drum. I am not sure how to do this yet?

Sebastiaan, thanks, I found some links to the book. It looks very technical so hopefully it has something that I can understand.

Hi Scally,

A beautiful piece of work, really eye catching.

Just a quick question, where did you purchase the veneer?

Will

Thanks Will
I bought it a few years ago in Nowra.

I am not sure if he is still there but I recall others mentioning a source in Nowra.

He had a good selection and full trees of some veneers.

I picked up a few different pieces to try my hand. Success has been mixed especially with the non-flat veneers.
Now that I have had success with glycerine things may be more consistent.

Thanks for the info Scally, will have a bit of a look around there.

Will