| Christmas, 2000. It was time we had our own drums. We decided to start out with Di's bass. Since this was to be a Christmas gift, I thought it should be something I built instead of "off the shelf". And it never hurts to save a few bucks when you can. Anyway, it's the finishing and assembling that I really enjoy. The first step was to acquire a shell and hoops since I wasn't prepared to build a steam table and form the parts myself (didn't have that kind of time either). After about a week of email discussion, I ordered a 14" x 22" laminated shell and hoops from Rebellion Drums in Blacksburg, Virginia. The parts arrived in plenty of time to put them under the them under the tree, but I had a lot of work ahead of me. | 
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 Di playing with her new toy |
This was my first undertaking of this sort, so I had quite a bit of looking to do for various parts. It didn't take long to figure out that brass screw eyes aren't as common as I thought they would be. Determined to find a way on my own I came up with an idea. If I bought solid brass swivel hooks, I could cut the swivels loose from the hooks and bolt them to the shell. This would keep the parts brass and give them a massive, antique look. |
| After several calls around town I found a craft shop that specializes in leather work. I picked up 7' of 2" leather belting and some leather thong to make ears. I also bought a star punch to add a little decoration to the ears. While at the shop I spotted something to trim the "eye bolts" with. Brass conchos. Those lovely brass discs you see on southwestern leather wear. Drilled out to match the bolts, the 5 pointed star design fits nicely into the military motif. | 
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Now the work starts. The first step was to locate the hardware positions and drill the shell. I placed the vent hole straight up and located the hangers 12" inches down from that (a 3 hook setup would have the single loop 6" from center). An 8" spread set the hangers right for the 2 hook harness Di uses. |
| Cutting the vent itself was a bit tricky. A spade bit would have torn up the surface of the shell terribly and forstner bit would probably do the same due to the arc of the shell. So I chucked a rotary saw into my trusty Dremmel and very carefully cut the required opening (in this case, .75"). Satisfied that the drilling was correct and the vent fit properly I set the power tools aside and prepared to begin the finishing process. |  |  |
We decided to stick with natural wood tones so I picked up some Minwax Gel
Stain (Chestnut=hoops | Antique Maple=shell). I like the gel style stains
because it's nearly impossible to get lap marks. It took two coats of stain to
get the colors we wanted. Once the staining was done, I applied the clear finish. Using a high-gloss polyurethane, I applied 2 coats by rubbing it in with a soft rag and 2 more coats with a fine polyester brush. A quick buff between coats with 0000 steel wool insured a nice wet-look to the final coat. |
| Then came the hoops. We both liked the decorated hoops we saw on some of the drums at the Fife & Drum Museum so we started looking for a design we liked. We thought of roses (NY State Flower), but we don't like roses. Then we read in the local paper that Western NY supplied 80% of the hops for the American Beer Industry throughout the 1800's. So, hops it is. |  |  |
The master, hard at work with paints and brushes. |
| A close up of the hanger on the finished drum. Notice the clean reflection of the loop. |  |
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Some day some one will show me the correct way to tie one of these. |
| The finished product. |  |
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From the front. |
| Hey, It works! |  |  |