I just got this email from a friend in Hungary and wanted to share his experience with you! Bart’s first drum set is a beauty:
Bart did an incredible job on building his very first custom drum set. Great job Bart!
Below is an email conversation/interview that I had with Bart. He has lots of great drum building tips so make sure to read all of it! Continue Reading....
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 -
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:
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....
This is the 2nd and last post on how to wrap your drum shells! Enjoy! Check out the first post here. Another important blog post to view along with this post is “How to Keep your Wrap Seams From Coming Up“.
After you have made sure there is not sanding dust on the wrap or on the shell you can apply your contact cement. If you have already drilled your holes for hardware you may want to tape the inside up so that no contact cement can run on the inside of the shell. Use a paint brush or roller brush to apply the contact cement to the shell, the back of the wrap, and the overlap! You’ll need to apply 2 coats to achieve maximum adhesion, and you can do them one right after the other. Leave no space uncovered or else you’ll have some bubbles in your wrap. Make sure you really get the overlap good! Consult the directions on your contact cement to get the best results.
Most contact cement needs about 15-30 minutes of drying time BEFORE you try to put the wrap on the shell. When the glue dries on all surfaces you may proceed. – Attention! – The glue must be dry for you to have a permanent bond, it sounds counter intuitive, but trust me, if you try to stick things together with contact cement when the cement is not completely dry, it will become un-bonded over time.
