Archive - April, 2010

Lessons Learned from: Contact Cement

April 30, 2010 in Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 4 Comments

The past few weeks I've been waiting to get supplies in to build a new custom drum set for a P.Ellis Drums artist. I recently started the build process in my wood/drum shop. Like I have said before every time I build a new drum or drum set I learn something that changes the way I think about drum building. This time has been no different. I ordered all of the supplies that I didn't have on hand and when they got here I immediately began to unpack and count my supplies to make sure that they had sent me all of the right supplies, and to make sure they had sent the right amount. I can't tell you how many times I've started working on a drum set and have been pretty much done with the finishing process, cutting the bearing edges and drilling the holes for hardware only to find that I'm missing 1 key piece of hardware that makes it to where I can't ship the drums out to the owner. I have finished a drum set and had to wait for another 2 weeks to get 2 tube lugs that were supposed to be in my initial order but the supplier somehow miss counted….Lesson Learned: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR SHIPMENT OF SUPPLIES!

This is my first time working with this particular supplier on a full drum set order and I can honestly say this has been the best customer service experience I have ever had with a drum supply company.

I have been video taping all of my building sessions with the hope of being able to edit it down to something that will better show drum builders how to build a custom drum set. I do not know when this will be available, but I'll keep you posted on Twitter and Facebook!

Another drum build and another lesson learned: Don't use this product to wrap drums -

dap Weld wood non flamable contact cement

I figured in honor of  Earth Day I would try to use the Eco-Friendly contact cement… This was a bad idea. I "scarified" both surfaces and applied the contact cement to both surfaces (2 coats) and waited about 30 minutes as I would with any other contact cement and tried to stick the 2 pieces together….and there was a bond…but definitely not a strong bond. I left the drum over night to see if it would be any better when I came back. It was not. It's not a good thing when I can actually peel the wrap off the drum with very little effort…So I just peeled off the wrap, removed the dried contact cement from the shell and the wrap (which was actually pretty easy…this eco-friendly stuff is known for it's easy clean up). So after wrapping the drums and then deciding that I had to start over I wasted about 2 days. Not my idea of being productive. I did however go back to using the DAP weldwood contact cement that I have used in the past and had great results from…and this time I used the gel formula…which I found out that I love. I will use from now on. It doesn't run, which means it is less messy, which means it doesn't get it all over me or my workspace.

I leave you with a couple of shots from the past week:

video custom drums

black sparkle custom drum

5 Thoughts on Drum Building Safety

April 19, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments

danger-signI have never had any major incidents when building drums, however there are some important safety precautions to take into consideration. Working with sharp powerful tools should make this obvious, but the joy and excitement of working with those tools can make thoughts of safety drift far away.  With that in mind here are 5 tips I feel are crucial in any shop.

  • Clean your shop – Removing unneeded materials and tools from your work space will help insure that you and your piece are easy to move around as needed.
  • Pay Attention – Glancing at a TV or door/window or anything other than your cut invites contact with the blade.  ALWAYS finish the cut before looking away.
  • Take your time – If you are in a hurry to get done making your custom drum then you need to take a look at why you are doing the work in the first place.  Enjoy the process; it’s not always the destination but the journey.
  • Invest in yourself – YOU are the most important “piece” while working with wood so protect yourself as you would your project “piece”.  Wearing safety goggles, ear protection, dust masks, etc. should be the rule, not the exception.
  • Use your head – Take some time before you start to plan out your cuts and “see” how they will unfold.

Following these guidelines should give you a much more enjoyable and safe drum building  experience.

 

Thanks to Don Sternadel, manger of the Austin Woodcraft Store, for these great safety tips!

What I Learned On My Recent Drum Build

April 12, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 1 Comment

Every time I build a new custom drum or custom drum kit I learn something that can usually help me improve upon a similar drum set the next time around. Each new drum I build gets better and better and I find more efficient ways to do some of the drum building tasks. Most recently I completed this drum set:

Black stain inlay custom drum set high gloss

The drum building tip I picked up from building this drum set has to do with the order of the steps that I apply the inlay strip and finishing process. For this drum set I:

  1. Cut the inlay groove
  2. Applied about 4 coats of black stain
  3. Installed the inlay strip
  4. Sealed and gave a high gloss finish

Now, from looking at pictures of the drums and even looking at the drums up close you would never be able to tell what I did wrong. (not really wrong…but I will do this differently on the next drum kit that has an inlay that I build)

Here is what the aged pearl wrap looks like up close:

Aged Pearl Wrap for a custom drum set

Look great right? Well I used some very nice tung oil for the high gloss finish for this kit and tung oil (along with other finishing products such as lacquer) tends to yellow or  “amber out” over time. Since I installed the inlay strip before I finished the drum, the inlay with also be included in the “ambering out” that is already starting to happen to this kit. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact this amber color is often desired by many custom finishers. If you’ve ever seen a vintage guitar that has discolored over time you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about!

In conclusion the main lesson I learned from building this drum set was this: If you like the original color of whatever inlay strip you decide to use,  you should mask the area where your inlay strip will go, finish the entire drum, and install the inlay once your finish is complete to prevent your strip from “ambering out”!

I hope this helps some of you builders venturing into the world of inlay! If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I would love to hear what you have to say!

DRUM BUILDING GIVEAWAY!

April 7, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, General Updates with 0 Comments

Twitter users, I'm running a Twitter-only campaign in an effort to gain more followers, and to do so I am giving out random drum building supplies every week for the next 5 weeks! The drum building supplies the be given out are as follows:

  • 14" 10-hole Wood  snare drum hoops ($100 value)
  • Sparkle and Glitter Wrap suitable for cutting inlay strips ($40 value)
  • 3 copies of "How to Make Custom Drums" ($75 value – 1 per winner)

How to enter:

  1. Click to tweet this message:Hey! Retweet this to WIN DRUM BUILDING SUPPLIES! Follow @makedrums for drum building tips! Details here: http://ow.ly/1vDUh

Contest Guidelines:

  1. You can tweet as many times as you like, but only one entry will count per week/giveaway.
  2. Make sure your tweets are public. If your tweets are private, I can't see them, which means you can't win.
  3. You won't know the winning prize for the week until the winner is announced.
  4. Each week's contest will run for 7 days at a time, starting from the moment this blog is published. Winners will generally be announced within a day of the ending time, via Twitter only, so be sure to follow @makedrums.

Good luck and happy tweeting!

How to Make an Inlay Jig for your Router Table and Cut/Install Perfect Inlay on your Custom Drum Set!

April 5, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drum Building Tutorials, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments


The follow section is taken right from the pages of “How to Make Custom Drums”. Like what you see? Buy the full version and learn everything you need to know to be able to build your very own custom drum or drum set!

Making an Inlay Jig for your Router Table

Inlay’s can make your drums look pro and classy. This design is extremely easy to make and to use. Just cut a piece of laminated MDF to the size (width or length) of your existing router table then cut a 2×4 to the same size and screw the 2 together. (see picture) Make sure to counter sink your screws so they don’t get in the way.  All you need now are 2 clamps. Continue Reading....