——This one was made for a customer that requested a matching pair of instruments out of black walnut.
One was a traditional looking, rope-tuned djembe and the other called a cajon (ka-hone).
Cajons are box shaped intruments you sit on that simulate the snare and bass drums from a drumset. Very popular nowadays for beginners and professional musicians worldwide.
——This djembe was made using the combination of three different shapes machined to fit inside each other.
All are made from 16 staves about an inch thick.
The top is a cylinder, the middle and bottom are both cones.
Bottom fits inside middle,middle fits inside top.
I use polyurethane clearcoat in stages for a good penetrating finish.
——Once all the woodwork and finishing is done Then we get into a different game of bending stainless steel rings, tying up over 100 rope loops, soaking the goatskin, applying the drumhead and threading 100 feet of rope up through the top loops then down through the bottom ones…...then pulling 99 feet of rope through the top loops down through the bottom ones…..then pulling 98 feet of rope through the top….and so on…and so on….until Ive reached….ha…the end of my rope.
A beautiful (yet extremely time consuming) blend of woodwork,metalwork,taxidermy, and roping.
Most drums are around 25’’-28’’ tall and tend to have a 12’’-13’’ playing surface on top.
—-Cajons (box drums) have characteristics similar to speaker boxes I suppose. Typically a rectangular box 12×12x19 with a thin playing surface on the front. Inside, snare wires pressed gently up against the front panel to give it a buzz (or snare drum sound) when struck.
...look it up on youtube for some action footage.
Crafty Puzzles
