Need advice on making miter cuts

[administrator]

Dear Posters,
Cat emailed me with quite a few questions about making an Ashiko drum. I thought she would get a quicker response here. Can you help her out?
Kay

The Ashiko drum looks much like an upside down cone with the smallest part of the bottom (or top) cut off.

I know a drummaker who uses 18 staves, with a ten degree miter on both sides. I'd like to use either 8 or 16 staves. Would that be what is called a double miter cut (if 8 pieces - 22.5;
if 16 pieces 11.25) and how exactly would I do that.

Also, how would I taper the pieces to fit as they go from the (wider) top to the (narrower) base.

I've seen woodworkers make garbage cans like this, and I don't think it should be beyond my capabilities, I just need some
instruction here, can you help?

I.e. is the rip cut angled as well as both sides of the cut mitered? Is that what a double miter cut is? And how do I taper, and get a nice drum shell?

I've been making wood and hide drums for awhile now, but never with any kind of angle other than the octagonal frame drum, which is just the 22.5 miter to put the 8 pieces together.

hope you can help.

Cat

[handi]

For myself, I'd build a quick taper jig for the table saw.

A simple piece of ply or mdf with cleats mounted to it to hold the part at the proper angle for the side cut takes care of the first part of the problem.

Angle the blade over to the proper miter angle and the cut is made. You may need two sleds, one to cut the first side, and one to cut the second. (the cleat position will have to change to reference off the previously cut side.)

Be careful to build the sled so that the blade angles away from the fence/sled.

The other way to achieve the miter would be to cut the wedges with square sides, then set the jointer fence to the proper miter angle, and joint the edges to final dimention. This is my second choice because it would be very easy to change the wedge cut with the passes over the jointer.

Hope this is clear and helpful,

Ralph

[jim]

I like the first set up.
With the jointer way, it's easy to have the piece slide out.

After the parts are made, you could also make a router table fence to run then with a lock or glue joint (it makes glue up a little easier).

Also you can glue them in 2 halves, no glue joint on 1 side of 4 pc., check the 2 halves for fit (trim if necessary) then run the glue joint on the remaining surfaces.

Another approach. Have you seen a "Ring Master" ?
It mounts to a lathe. It cuts sequential rings from a single board. The rings can be put back together and make a cylinder, or truncated cone (the drum).
You can do the same concept with out the Ring master, just make a holding jig for a Parting tool on the lathe.
jim

[Johanna]

I found a site: http://www.mind.net/spirit/Kits.htm that offers ashiko drum kits at a very reasonable price. Maybe the thing to do would be to buy a kit to see just what the angles are, then make two drums: one from the kit and one completely your own.

Johanna - in the land of Enchantment

[PurpleHeart (Guest)]

I have made many ashiko drums and might be able to offer a few suggestions to save you some time. I used 18 staves which allows the outside of the drum to present as more rounded. This also makes playing the drum for any extended time more comfortable. (I'm not convinced that it makes a huge difference in resonance.)

In addition to the solid advice on creating the staves, after clumsily trying to glue up 18 staves, I finally made a few metal rings (graduated in size) to slide up the outside of the drum during glue up. This helped tremendously as I could work faster. I also blue-taped three staves together right after applying the glue. This meant only handling 6 units rather than 18 during the rush to glue up. Using an old plastic bucket helped to hold the staves upright as I worked quickly though the gluing process.

I used the same type of rings to mount the head - threaded steel rods (5/16" works best given the high rope tension) that are attached via a threaded coupler. I use an old scrap drum to shape the rings by clamping one end to the drum and bending the rod around the outside of the drum manually. You'll need to do some additional bending to allow both ends to be connected. Once connected, you can shape the ring into a circle by turning the old scrap drum upside down, setting the ring into the opening (upright) and gradually hammering it into a circle shape. For added security, though probably not necessary, I usually used a two part metal epoxy to seal the coupler on the ring.

Making ashikos is a lot of fun. Pulling the ropes is not! I stopped making drums because I blew out my hands and wrists pulling the ropes. I hope you have better luck than I have in locating good quality goatskin heads. The ones I've found have been thinner than I'd like. If you know of a good source please let me know.

Good luck to you!

PurpleHeart

[administrator]

Purpleheart,
Good to see you back! It's been awhile :-)

Kay Strait