Drum Sticks on Lathe

[Barry Lyndon]

Has anyone here made drum sticks? Is turning drums sticks an entry level project on a lathe? Or is it a bit more difficult generally? Anyone have any cool sticks they've turned that they're willing to show off?

[Tim Boger]

I've made Koa chop sticks and hair pins .... never tried drum sticks.

I can't imagine them being to difficult.

Tim

[Chris Burgess]

Cant imagine it would be too hard. Just make sure you are using a Hard Straight grain wood. Maybe Hickory or something like that, if it can handle an Ax it can handle a drum.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Hi Barry, I would think an entry level turner could do those. Its just a long spindle which is usualy the first thing people learn to turn. As Chris said Hickory would be the best bet, but I have also heard of Osage Orange being used, have fun with it.

I used to play, and even teach drums when I was younger...it paid for all of my diving & surfing equipment when I was a kid, now I would just scare the cats out of the immediate area!!

[Scott Lux]

Bamboo flooring scraps are apparently good for sticks too. I made a pair for a friend's kid. He loves them. Anything long and skinny (like drumsticks, hairsticks, etc.) gets a bit whippy. A steady-rest would have helped. Or at least a string rest.

[Jeff Fagen]

My son wanted to make some for wood tech at school,so we gave it a try.
What we found out is you can make a drum stick....but you can't make a second one exactly the same and they will sound different.
He made several sets from hickery and hard maple but did need a steady rest because of wobble and sniping.
He finished them by wetting them till the grain stood up then heated with a torch and burnished with an antler for a hard surface.Then used shellack while on the lathe.
We decided that using a steady and a duplicator attachment would still produce a flawed stick.
But if you're looking for an experience,go ahead and have fun.

[Tim Rinehart]

Interestingly enough, I was listening to NPR about 2 weeks ago (listen to nothing but NPR most of Saturday while in shop...otherwise, new country or old rock!) and an interview was held with Vic Firth, an accomplished percussionist who makes his own sticks and talked a little about what drove him to do it. He also makes peppermills I think he said. Not a long audio track, about 6 mins. http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=splendid_table/2011/06/25/splendidtable_20110625_64&starttime=00:46:00&endtime=00:51:33

[Barry Lyndon]

Awesome, thanks for the info everyone! I'll give it a shot.


Interestingly enough, I was listening to NPR about 2 weeks ago (listen to nothing but NPR most of Saturday while in shop...otherwise, new country or old rock!) and an interview was held with Vic Firth, an accomplished percussionist who makes his own sticks and talked a little about what drove him to do it. He also makes peppermills I think he said. Not a long audio track, about 6 mins. http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=splendid_table/2011/06/25/splendidtable_20110625_64&starttime=00:46:00&endtime=00:51:33

I actually just got one of Vic Firth's peppermills a couple weeks ago. It was Vic Firth, I had to :)

[Chris Fournier]

Very doable but as others have pointed out there will certainly be challenges ahead. There are many woods out there that make nice sticks but hickory would be a good starting place. Getting two sticks to be the same will require some custom cutters and a fixture or two - all of this shop made stuff of course! I made a series of sticks for a drummer that wanted to try out some of his ideas. Testing them out was fun.

[Curt Fuller]

I turned several sets of drum sticks for my son a while back. They were easy to turn just using one of his store bought sticks as a model. Wood is the key, hard maple or hickory.

[Clint Baxter]

Saw a neat episode on "How's It Made" where they showed how drumsticks were made. The actual turning wasn't near as involved as the process of selecting sticks to create a matched pair. IIRC there was some sophisticated weighing and they ended up with an actual tested doing the final matching. If one could find that episode it would give some additional insight into creating their own set.

Good Luck, Clint

[Dale Coons]

I've made sticks from purpleheart and redheart and maple. Make sure you choose (or cut) pieces so the grain runs straight down the stick--if it runs off the side you're looking at an early split! I just used a store bought set for measurments. The 'wow' factor is real high, there's a lot of envy on the drum line!

You'll have fun with this!

[Brian Kent]

It seems like a prime time to use split stock to make sure the grain goes straight from end to end.

I used to start with a bucket of sticks and just kept playing and trading one at a time until I found two that weighed, sounded, and felt the same. I assume you would want to start with 4 or more sticks to find a matching pair. The more you make, the higher percentage will find a mate.

I have been very impressed in recent years how much better matched a packaged pair of sticks tends to be. I don't know if it is better quality control of the wood or matching at least by weight before they are packaged.

Do it. Learn and teach and use and sell!

[Brian Kent]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4865588_make-own-drumsticks.html

I especially like how you get a piece of wood at least 3 feet long and 2 feet wide, place the wood on a lathe, and chip and sculpt it with standard lathe tools until the drumstick is round and 1/4" thick. Then paint or stain it.

Sounds like a fool-proof recipe to me.:o:eek:

[Steve Trauthwein]

I made a couple sets for my grandson. Really hard to match. What really convinced me that it was impractical was acquiring a stick for a reference. I talked to a drummer at a show I was doing, he gave me one of his broken sticks that were readily handy from a tube of them. Sticks are also different dimensions for their specific use.

Steve

[Joe Charles]

Good stuff and I don't mean to threadjack but this is such an old thread I hope the OP doesn't mind. I'm a total newbie to turning and plan to start making some sticks tomorrow (after I pick up my lathe in the AM) Did I mention I'm a bit new?:cool: I've been drumming professionaly for twenty years and like a bit of "off balance" between my sticks, heavier on the left please, so that doesn't scare me. and I have a bunch of hickory, maple and ash to play with. I'm just wondering how best to turn a spindle like this on the lathe. I am totaly new so go ahead and laugh, tell me to read my new owners manual (which I will) but while at the store is there anything I should pick up to help with the process. I'm getting the HF bench top lathe http://www.harborfreight.com/5-speed-bench-top-wood-lathe-65345.html I thought would be a good starter, gets good reviews. I plan on picking up a larger faceplate for other things. I have their chineese 8 piece woodturning kit for starters.
Haven't visited here for a while and thought I'd throw this out at ya'll. Obviously I don't have a ton of loot to drop on this but can I get away with the centers which come with the unit?
Thanks in advance.

[Brian Kent]

Hi Joe. I am also a drummer and a novice turner. Are you familiar with splitting wood to get straight grain top to bottom? Also, look up steady rests, and make one out of 3 or 4 inline skate wheels and some plywood. You will need a lathe chuck (harbor freight has them with #2 morse taper) and you will need grinding wheels and a sharpening system.

[Reed Gray]

I had a drummer ask me once about making sticks out of cherry. He was a jazz drummer, and the cherry gives a softer sound then the Hickory or hard maple. He was in San Francisco, and I told him to try to find some turners there. You do want absolutely straight grain though, otherwise they will split.

robo hippy

[Robert Henrickson]

You will need a steady or two to turn something as long and thin as a drumstick. But one based on skate wheels not be able to handle a diameter that small; the three wheels will likely be in contact with each other before they can support the drumstick. To check, take three circles the diameter of skate wheels and arrange them around a -circle the diameter of the drumstick. You might find that much smaller diameter wheels than for regular skates will work. Perhaps in-line skate wheels would be small enough.

Instead, a different type of steady might work better -- google for "string steady" -- easier to make and able to handle small diameters.

It will be absolutely crucial to have straight grain in what your turn. If you do not, you will be wasting your time.

[Joe Charles]

Thanks Brian, I'm off to get my new lathe. I've done enough reading here to know what i'm in for as far as spending money!:D But I'm looking forward to hours of fun. I'm not familiar with the term "splitting wood" to get straight grain, I'll have to do a search on that one. Wish me luck and maybe I can post some pics soon.
Thanks everyone for a great resource here at the creek!
Joe

[Paul Williams]

My son-in-law wanted to try making drum sticks. So last week we made a pair. Saying they are a pair might not be too accurate, but there are two of them. It was his first time on the lathe. We used cherry, and he practiced on a few pieces of scrap before starting on the sticks. We did not use a study and worked form the tail stock towards the head stock. Pretty good for a first time turnner.

If you can find a turnner at a local club or elsewhere to give you a hand getting started it will help alot. Most turnners I know would be glad to spend an hour or so with you to get you started off on the right foot.

[Brian Kent]

Good point Robert about the diameter of the wheels. Inline skate wheels are as big or bigger diameter than roller skate wheels. It would be interesting to find out what the smallest diameter is that a three wheel steady rest would support with inline skate wheels.

I am on my coffee break and just figured out that if the 3 wheels were the same size as the bottom of my styrofoam coffee cup, they could support a spindle 3/8" or less in diameter without touching. My jazz 7A sticks (very thin for light playing) are 1/2" diameter, so it would work.

Joe, i don't know if I am using the correct term, but I am talking about putting a hatchet in the end of a piece of a log and knocking it in until the wood splits. It will always split with the grain. The resulting piece will have the same wood fibers throughout the stick.

Also, If I was trying this, I would plan on making about a dozen sticks, start fires with half because they don't look or feel right, and then play with the remaining sticks until I found at least one or two pair that match.

[thomas prusak]

I've been playing drums for 30 years and never once ( until today ) worried about my sticks matching. Playing hard rock growing up I broke lots of sticks and always just grabbed whatever stick that wasn't broke. YET! just my thoughts and opinion

[Thomas Canfield]

I did not see a string steady mentioned, but that might be the cheap and easy way to provide a steady for the long spindles. Some type of support or hand backing seem to be required for a long spindle of that diameter.

[Robert Henrickson]

Just came across this -- turning knitting needles! Might have some ideas that would work for drum sticks. Explore the articles he has posted on his site -- lots of good ideas on how to make things at home

http://www.davidreedsmith.com/Articles/KnittingNeedles/knitting_needles.htm

[John Gbur]

There is an article on the same site about making a magnetic steady rest. http://www.davidreedsmith.com/articles/MagSteady/magsteady.htm. I built one and am working on a second one. The wheel spacing determines how small an item you can turn. My next version may have closer spacing but the current version works fine for drumsticks.

[Ryan Mooney]

That knitting needle article is pure gold. I like all of David Reed Smiths articles, he explains it so even dolts like myself can understand.

I've been making drop spindles which have a similar set of problems and have had really good luck with the collect chuck theory turning out to ~12" long (I've done a few at 14" and that was around where it didn't work anymore without doing it in stages like the needle article suggests) and ~3/16" or a smidge less at the thin part. For those I just been turning one end round for ~1" between centers and then reversing it into the collect chuck and supporting the far end with a live center gently. Mostly using the skew with light shaving cuts and turning to finish about 2" at a time its stable enough that I don't have significant chatter (if I get to heavy handed in the middle it will bounce, that usually means my tool approach is wrong anyway). Interestingly - for me - I find a larger ~1.5" skew actually works better for me on these as I can control the angle better (its easy to see). I'm sure a better turner wouldn't have as much difficulty with a smaller skew and that would allow you to get into corners better but I definitely find it harder to control.

A related (if slightly more esoteric) theory and shows how to use/build a string steady is turning a trembleur: http://www.lavieenbois.com/html/trembleur_eng.htm I could definitely see making the mag steady as a string steady that would be very convenient indeed.. Hmm...

For those unfamiliar here are what drop spindles look like, the commonality with drum sticks is pretty obvious :D These were both turned with a collect chuck at one end and a live center at the other without re-chucking at all.

250988

[Mikey Green]

My son is a professional drummer, so I tried making some sticks for him years ago. I made a pair of hickory sticks and then a pair of bocote sticks. He just displays the bocote sticks and won't use them for playing on his drums. He's extremely hard on his sticks and generally will break a few pair during a performance.

There could be an issue turning once the wood starts to get thin, in that the blanks are thin and long, possibly creating some movement in the center of the stock, if it's clamped in really tightly with the headstock and tailstock. I bought a low-end steady rest to try to hold the center of the stock in place, but it didn't work at all. I made a steady rest using rollerblade wheels, but I couldn't get the arms in close enough to where it would hold and secure the middle of the stock once it got fairly thin relative to its length.

The only issues you may have would be what I mentioned above, and then creating exact duplicates on the heads of the sticks, making them within weight tolerances that a drummer would be comfortable with.

[John K Jordan]

Has anyone here made drum sticks? Is turning drums sticks an entry level project on a lathe? Or is it a bit more difficult generally? Anyone have any cool sticks they've turned that they're willing to show off?

I've turned many spindle that length and that diameter and much thinner. The best advice I can give (besides selecting strong, straight-grained wood) is don't turn them between centers. The entire spindle will be stiffer and subject to less flexing if you hold one end firmly in a chuck and hold the other end with the live center. I turn all my spindles that way, not actually using a chuck but holding them with a morse taper which has the same effect but eliminates the chuck.

Blank with short morse taper jammed in headstock spindle:
407923

Planing cuts with a sharp skew should do the whole thing except perhaps some detail at the tip. If not proficient with a skew, a spindle roughing gouge will work well.

You shouldn't get any flexing with a spindle that thick but if you do you can support it lightly right at the point of cutting with your left hand, moving the hand as you move the tool. This is perfectly safe. This is almost required when turning very thin spindles, say down to 1/8" or so. Some examples:

Left-to-right with skew, left hand support:
407919 407920

Right-to-left and "overhand" support when getting thinner:
407921 407922

This is what I was turning in those photos, a simple wand to show techniques:
407924

Again, you probably won't need the left hand support for a drum stick from good wood but it doesn't hurt to know about it if you do.

If you have some, try dogwood - one of my favorites. Hard, heavy, and very tough wood.

JKJ