Official builders thread. If you build drums or want to post here.

[j kuhl]

Thanks,

Yes the lugs were made from aluminium tubing and some washers, bolts etc.

Long process but awesome results.

Yes I would agree that the results were awesome.

So just got a email from the builder of my cherry shell. Right now it has 6 coats of clear and is getting a few more tonight. Tomorrow it ships so hopefully I will have it by the weekend. Depending on what amount of free time I have I may have the snare done by next week. Here are the two photos of the shell with 6 coats on. Any words of advice before I start drilling this thing? While I don't have the drum foundry mat I have a pdf file from another builder that will allow me to print a layout at a copy store. Very nervous and excited about putting this thing together. The next shell I get I will cut the edges and beds and do my own finishing.

[barjack]

If you don't have the Drum Foundry mat, there are a few workarounds. First, sounds like you have the Drummaker PDF- good, have Kinkos/FedEx Office print it out big for you. Another thing, I don't put 100% or even 50% of my trust in the mat. I mark off the drill points with a pencil, then I grab the rim I'm going to use for the build and drop it down onto the shell, making absolutely sure that the lines I just marked indeed line up perfectly like the holes in the hoop. Of course, some hoops are not in round and have ****te hole spacing, so I keep quality Gibraltar 13x6 and 14x8's around to use as guides. I've also learned to use a 3-part graduated step bit that has a tiny tiny pilot bit out frount. Somtimes the drill skips on harder woods and then you're looking at having to bore extra wide holes to line the lug up. Also, an adjustible T square is an invaluable tool. I have a few but mostly use the Drum Foundry model as it's so well layed out for drum stuff.

The only other piece of advice I feel advanced enough to give is this: NEVER use any electric or mechanical device to cut snare beds. Even if you have money and guy the Drum Foundry thing for $300+... use a half moon file, pieces of 100, 200, and 320 paper, and your patient eye. Find a nice flat surface like kitchen formica or stone to constantly check the edge for height, slope, and smoothness. I am a firm believer in a wide and shallow edge, one that stretches 5" or more but not more than a mm or two deep. I'm also not a fan of Puresounds, even though everyone likes to use them on their custom builds. In my opinion, the best all-around snarewire is the Pearl SN1420I Ultrasound.

[j kuhl]

If you don't have the Drum Foundry mat, there are a few workarounds. First, sounds like you have the Drummaker PDF- good, have Kinkos/FedEx Office print it out big for you. Another thing, I don't put 100% or even 50% of my trust in the mat. I mark off the drill points with a pencil, then I grab the rim I'm going to use for the build and drop it down onto the shell, making absolutely sure that the lines I just marked indeed line up perfectly like the holes in the hoop. Of course, some hoops are not in round and have ****te hole spacing, so I keep quality Gibraltar 13x6 and 14x8's around to use as guides. I've also learned to use a 3-part graduated step bit that has a tiny tiny pilot bit out frount. Somtimes the drill skips on harder woods and then you're looking at having to bore extra wide holes to line the lug up. Also, an adjustible T square is an invaluable tool. I have a few but mostly use the Drum Foundry model as it's so well layed out for drum stuff.

The only other piece of advice I feel advanced enough to give is this: NEVER use any electric or mechanical device to cut snare beds. Even if you have money and guy the Drum Foundry thing for $300+... use a half moon file, pieces of 100, 200, and 320 paper, and your patient eye. Find a nice flat surface like kitchen formica or stone to constantly check the edge for height, slope, and smoothness. I am a firm believer in a wide and shallow edge, one that stretches 5" or more but not more than a mm or two deep. I'm also not a fan of Puresounds, even though everyone likes to use them on their custom builds. In my opinion, the best all-around snarewire is the Pearl SN1420I Ultrasound.

Thanks for the valuable info. I assume that when you use a hoop to check your drill marks you also have a head under the hoop right? I am also going to use a step bit and Jeff from Carolina drum works suggested that when drilling, even with a step bit, that to eliminate any chance of blowout only go halfway through the shell from the outside and then halfway from the inside to finish the hole. Are you on Ghostnote barjack? If it's not too much to ask I am sure a lot of us would benefit from your router table building procedure and what you might recommend as a good router and some good router bits for edgework and milling. Again thanks for chiming in and I hope you will stick around this thread.

[latzanimal]

Here's one I built, got a few in the works at the moment...

[andrew brooks]

I'm a big fan of Canopus snare wires.

For drilling I use a brad point drill bit - nice with no tear out.

Agree with what barjack said about the snare beds, go slow and take it off by hand - however I have used a flap sander on a dremmel to remove some edge with success - they key is go very very slowly.

I don't use a mat for drilling, I use a tape measure and then a calculator. Also check with the hoop itself.

[barjack]

Thanks for the valuable info. I assume that when you use a hoop to check your drill marks you also have a head under the hoop right? I am also going to use a step bit and Jeff from Carolina drum works suggested that when drilling, even with a step bit, that to eliminate any chance of blowout only go halfway through the shell from the outside and then halfway from the inside to finish the hole. Are you on Ghostnote barjack? If it's not too much to ask I am sure a lot of us would benefit from your router table building procedure and what you might recommend as a good router and some good router bits for edgework and milling. Again thanks for chiming in and I hope you will stick around this thread.

I just drop the hoop evenly down around the shell, no head. In fact, you can just sit the hoop on the table and place the shell inside it- that works nearly as good as a layout mat if you've no printout. I'm bad with math and generally don't use tape measures- so that said, I've found it important to go slow, really take a long hard look at what you're doing, and make sure your tools won't fail you. Specifically, make sure the T square you buy is a perfect 90 degree T.

I'm not on ghostnote because I've lurked and read and found some of the contributors to be a bit too pretentious for my tastes. Same with Vintage Drum Forum, though I've actually made posts over there and found a few real nice folks.



As for routing table, I use a Ryobi 1.5hp router screwed underneath a formica school table. The table is 28x18" and has a 2" hole drilled in it about 5" from the edge. To repalce bits, I need to pull the router from the mount that is screwed into the table. I generally don't need to do that though as I use a generic carbide 45 degree bit almost exclusively. I have a 45 roundover, but I've learned that doing edge rounding by hand produces a smoother result. I haven't and probably won't order a 30 degree bit because I believe an inner 45 degree cut produces more head to shell pressure and that the angle of the inner cut doesn't matter as it's not touching the head anyway. When I do a Gretsch style outer-only cut, I use the 45 bit, then turn the drum on my sanding table until the edge is flattened to a 2mm area. I then roundover the outer cut.

[j kuhl]

I just drop the hoop evenly down around the shell, no head. In fact, you can just sit the hoop on the table and place the shell inside it- that works nearly as good as a layout mat if you've no printout. I'm bad with math and generally don't use tape measures- so that said, I've found it important to go slow, really take a long hard look at what you're doing, and make sure your tools won't fail you. Specifically, make sure the T square you buy is a perfect 90 degree T.

I'm not on ghostnote because I've lurked and read and found some of the contributors to be a bit too pretentious for my tastes. Same with Vintage Drum Forum, though I've actually made posts over there and found a few real nice folks.



As for routing table, I use a Ryobi 1.5hp router screwed underneath a formica school table. The table is 28x18" and has a 2" hole drilled in it about 5" from the edge. To repalce bits, I need to pull the router from the mount that is screwed into the table. I generally don't need to do that though as I use a generic carbide 45 degree bit almost exclusively. I have a 45 roundover, but I've learned that doing edge rounding by hand produces a smoother result. I haven't and probably won't order a 30 degree bit because I believe an inner 45 degree cut produces more head to shell pressure and that the angle of the inner cut doesn't matter as it's not touching the head anyway. When I do a Gretsch style outer-only cut, I use the 45 bit, then turn the drum on my sanding table until the edge is flattened to a 2mm area. I then roundover the outer cut.

Thanks Barjack. You seem to be so analytical that I would never have thought you to be bad at math. The shell shipped today so I will have every opportunity in the world to F this thing up very soon.

[andrew brooks]

I'm sure you'll be fine. I cut my edges with a razor blade.

[chesterburmingham]

Here's one I built, got a few in the works at the moment...

hey i've read that segmented snares have a higher tone than you'd get out of a regular stave snare, but i also know the direction of the grain can greatly impact the depth in tone. what's the tone like on this snare? are there any recordings or anything we could hear?
thanks

[chesterburmingham]

[QUOTE=andrew brooks;1853922061]Excellent thread.

I've made a few kits, with each one I try and so something a little different. I'm not doing it for a business, just for fun so what I'm going to do from now on is have a "one in one out" policy, making sure I at least recoup my cash everytime I sell a kit.

The things I've been most proud of have been my homemade lugs and the nesting kits I've made, mainly because they were going beyond just drilling/adding lugs.
The next kit is going to have to be something pretty awesome - I'm not sure exactly what it'll be, the golden ratio is still a major draw and I'd like to try it again.

I'll post a few pictures of some kits I've made. Most have been moved on or changed around...

Golden ratio kit with wooden hoops (hoops were made by literally cutting circles in plywood)





Bop kit with aluminium lugs...

hey how stable are the plywood hoops?
that's such a fantastically cheap option. brilliant i say

[latzanimal]

hey i've read that segmented snares have a higher tone than you'd get out of a regular stave snare, but i also know the direction of the grain can greatly impact the depth in tone. what's the tone like on this snare? are there any recordings or anything we could hear?
thanks

One of the best things about segment snares is that they are almost impossible to choke, so the tuning range is extremely wide. Generally they are higher pitched, but I have a cocobola that will go way down...

Sorry, no sound files of the zebra, its long gone to its home...

[j kuhl]

Latzanimal that snare looks great. Please share more of your work and methods when you can.

So what do you guys think? There is a garage about a mile away that specializes in hot rods and auto restoration. I was having new tires mounted today and asked the guy who leads all the projects if he could put a satin finish on my black panther hw which is destined for the cherry snare. He said yes and told me a bit about the process. He basically uses an air tool but rather than blasting the chrome with sand he uses baking powder and says it leaves a much silkier finish. Anyone ever try this and do you guys think satin hw would look good on the shell I posted above? Checked tracking on my shell and expect it either this weekend or early next week. I am going to take my time with it but will be sure to post pics of the finished product.