Pterocarpus Rex drum set

[Seth Dolcourt]

Hi, Creekers,

Back for another drum project. This one's gonna be big. And, it will take a while.

Pterocarpus is the genus for the market name of padauk, and Pterocarpus Rex is a play on T Rex.

This is a collaboration with a guy who will finish, drill and deliver the drums to his own customer. I'm the supplier for the shell pack, which is a high falutin' term for a group of shells. In this case, the P Rex kit will comprise (diameter x height, inches) 14 x 7 snare. Rack toms - 8 x 7, 10 x 8, 12 x 9. Floor toms - 14 x 14 and 16 x 16. Kick drum - 22 x 16.



Obviously, this is not enough wood for a large shell pack. 8/4 on the left will make rack toms, 8/4 shorter on the right is for the 14 x 7, with enough left over to rough up a 13 x 6 snare.

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Close up of the plank designated for the snare drum.

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Setting up for neanderthal ripping. This is after a trip to my buddy's house, wot with the Powermatic everything, and the usual operations needed to re-sawed the 8/4, joint and plane.

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Halfway there.

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Stave pair is ripped.

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Setting up for neanderthal cross cutting.

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Little cross cut action.

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Stack of staves, edges are un-beveled.

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[Seth Dolcourt]

After sitting for a few days, the staves get a little ride on the granite surface plate to true up any slight movement.

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I use a router table to bevel my staves (20 staves @ 2 bevels each = 9 degrees per bevel.) You can use a table saw or jointer, too. What ever method works best.

cut_snare_stave_9.jpg


Dry fit. Any inaccuracies of the bevel angle is fixed with shim stock between the router's base and the router table base plate. Final width of each stave is 2.24" Yes, I measure to the .01", and a Lee Valley fractional / .01" dial caliper is the diggety tool.

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Preparation for the glue up. Ganged up furnace clamp and Jorgensen fabric clamps.

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Staves are evened up with a 4 foot level as a straight (enough) edge.

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I check that the staves are plumb to the straight edge. Then I lay on 3 rows of making tape, to chain up the staves. Undocumented - corralling the staves, and flipping them onto their backs.

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The chain on its back. With access to the bevels, I can glue it up.

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Glued using T3. I noticed that T3 seems to stain the padauk, and that's not too big a deal, except the glue line seemed a very visible purple. I switched to T2 for all other glue ups, it seemed to reduce the purpleness.

glue_6.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

Getting the snare set up in the outside turning lathe.

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All set up, ready to route.

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The first cuts.

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A serious color change as the wood exposed to the world is milled away.

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And done. Lots of chips everywhere.

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[Seth Dolcourt]

The snare, mounted in the inside lathe.


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Staring the first cuts.

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Another pass. You can see the shell thinning out.

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Done.

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Straight out of the lathe.

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Sanded.

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Another view of the sanded shell. I packed it up, and shipped it to my customer, who will do more work before delivering to the final customer.

rex_sanded_4.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

And these are the pictures sent to me, by my guy (so he owns these pix!) of the completed snare drum. An oil based finish (the name and recipe escapes me), and custom made brass lugs which were patina'd using his own recipe.

Most yummy. The padauk is richly claret red.

snare_finished_1.jpgsnare_finished_2.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

There is more. And more. With more. And a side of more.


The 8 x 7, staves chained up using tape.

8_start_1.jpg


And in the clamps, glued up. Titebond 2 for all the rest of the drums.

8_start_2.jpg


The staves of the 10 x 8.

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Chained up.

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The 12" tom's staves are laid out.

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Chained up.

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The 12" and 10", in the clamps.


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[Seth Dolcourt]

The 22" diamter by 16" deep kick drum is set up for gluing.


22_start_1.jpg


On its back, ready for glue.

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In the clamps. Hard to tell the scale of this big fellah, but you will soon.

22_start_3.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

Time to clean up the edges of these drums. Fix the snaggle tooth, and make the edges co-planer to each other.

My rig, which holds the router in a point in space. I use the square to see if the joinery is plumb. If not, then wedges held in place with hot-melt glue trues it up.

edge_8_1.jpg


My view, via a good sized opening so I can keep track of the bit.

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I simply move the shell from right to left, as to climb cut the outside face to avoid undue splintering. And padauk will splinter, given any chance. I leave just a smidge.

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And this is what it looks like, nearly done.

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I change the direction of the cut, as to climb cut the inside, to avoid splintering. I give this newly machined edge a few spins on the granite reference plate (covered in 60 grit sand paper) to true up any very minor differences in the cut.

edge_8_5.jpg


I check that the joinery is still plumb, with the machined face on the table. It's good!

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The shell needs to be trimmed to 7", it's currently 8"+. A white colored pencil marks some lines. The bottom is 7", the middle is 7.25", the top is 7.5". Just checkin' out some options. If you like neanderthal hand saws, you'll like what comes next.

edge_8_7.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

The shell is slung over a thick stick of alder.


edge_8_8.jpg


Using a Japanese style pull saw (the same one I used to cross cut the staves!), I start the cut. I go about 5-7 strokes deep, then move the shell to the next uncut area. Just trying to establish a saw kerf all around the shell.

edge_8_9.jpg


Once the kerf is established, I put the spurs to it.

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The hand-cut edge is given its nip 'n tuck, and the shell is done. Both edges are flat, and co-planer to each other.

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The 10".

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A few shop-made wedges tip the shell to correct any non-plumb joinery.

edge_10_2.jpg


Done and done.

edge_10_3.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

The 12" tom is edged.

edge_12_1.jpg


The big fellah (22" diameter x 16" tall) is done the same way. I have a capacity issue, my setup was nearly not tall enough. No worries, it all fit, and I have some extra space in a few places to make another inch or two of capacity.

edge_22_1.jpg


And the family of 4 shells. Now you can tell the relationship of the kick to the toms.

edge_all_done.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

Are you still reading this? You must really love drums. Ok, more, then.


First, what is this? This is winter in the SF Bay Area, 12/23/12. We get rain. That's our winter. I mentally hear those in very snowy climates giving me the raspberry (e.g. "yeah, buddy, you don't know what cold is"), but hey, I don't make the weather in the Bay Area, I just live in it.

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The clamping system for the drum lathe. Two MDF disks, squeezed by all-thread, connected to a 1" solid steel ground rod with shaft mounting collars.

This is the 12" diameter tom.

12_rack_out_turn_1.jpg


Hats off to Lee Valley for this dial indicator. I've had it for years. Love it. Anyway, I measure (N,S,E,W) the depth from the shell's edge to the edge of the disk. Some hammer taps help to coax the shell into being mostly centered.

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Washers, nuts, and a very firm twist to cinch it down.

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Shaft collar is tightened.

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Ready to load the shell.

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It's a trick to get the ground rod into one stand (clamped, so it doesn't move) then while holding the shell, grab for the other stand, pushing the bearing onto the axle.

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I eventually win. And this is with a relatively small, light weight drum shell.

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[Seth Dolcourt]

Bearing set screws are tightened, locking the axle.
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Extruded aluminum channel is added. This is the router's ways.

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1/4" thick poly carb base plate. Tap Plastic is awesome, $1 off cuts are plentiful in their scrap bin. And for the Porter Cable owners out there, I drilled two new mounting holes. Better explanation for why, later.

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Router installed in the ways. The base plate fits in the grooves and any extra slack between the plate and the groove is shimmed with that UHMW adhesive tape.

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The hand crank is installed on the right hand side.

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The very first cut, I've just knocked off the peaks of the miters.

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Measuring left...

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..and right. Two purposes - check for taper, and measure circumference as to derive diameter. I will want to stop at such a measurement that I end up with 11 7/8" diameter, after sanding.

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[Seth Dolcourt]

Lathing more.


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Here's a better shot, with the explanation. When I add a shim, there is less distortion to the base plate if the shim is where the screws are, when I tighten them down.

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really starting to make progress. Lots of checking for taper and circumference. Taper is corrected by either shimming the router ways, or adjusting the poplar plates onto which the bearings are mounted.

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If I write down my finishing circumferences in a place where I won't lose them...

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A drum blew up in here. Messy, messy.

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I remove one of the aluminum extrusions, and sand cross-grain with a sanding block...made from a scrap stave. It's padded with a cork bottom. I sand away the tool marks up, starting 80 or 100, then to 120 or 150, then use the RO sander to eliminate the cross grain scratches. I find it easy to dish the shell, so I like to use the RO sander sparingly.

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Checking for RO sander pig tails, with light from a raking direction.

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Done. Unbuckle the rig, and de-clamp the shell.

12_rack_out_turn_2.jpg

[Seth Dolcourt]

You didn't think we were done, did you?

Loaded up in my inside lathe.

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A view of the router ways, and the 3/4" axle directly inline with the router bit. The idea is the shell rolls on the axle, which supports the cut. The axle is covered in shrink tubing, providing a small amount of cushioning and grip for the shell

12_inside_turn_2.jpg


Starting to cut. The arms with the skate board wheels just keep the shell from falling off the lathe.

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Lee Valley dial calipers in play again, checking wall thickness for taper, and tracking the dimension. Aiming for proud of 5/16" thick.

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Nearly there. Progress being made.

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And done, along with copius sanding, too. This shell is finished.

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NIOSH 95 mask is a must.

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[Seth Dolcourt]

With the 12" done, I had the energy for the 10".

Since you know the drill, I'll just summarize.

Ready to lathe.

10_outside_0.jpg


Lathing done.

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Sanding done.

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Outside turning done. Diameter is actually 9 7/8".

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Thanks for looking! That's all for now. Maybe the New Year's long weekend will have more progress.

Cheers.