Oh, it can be done and it has!  This is the first step in our RHD Pro Series Djembe line.  This build was extremely intense and involved and I loved every minute of it.  Its unique to anything else I’ve seen and has been designed for function over form.  Function over form?  But it’s such beautiful shell.  Yup.  That’s what I said!  But this djembe, as beautiful as it is, sounds like cannon with low bass, nice dark tones and bright quick slaps.  You don’t have to take my word for it, check out the video below.

From the Black Walnut segmented with Yellow Heart wood to give a zig-zag effect on the bottom, to the hand routed spiral pattern inside the bowl for that nice traditional feel.  I put 32 sets of verticals on this guy along with a thick Mali goatskin and the rings are nice and tight to the djembe shell.  Not only is this djembe a beautiful work of hand-crafted art, but the sound is no less than inspirational!

Since I began Rhythm House Drums quite a few years ago, my goal was to produce an eco-friendly djembe that would hold it’s own against African djembes and be as beautiful and customizable as can be imagined.  Using local hardwoods, a modern staved design (which saves so much wood compared to hollowing out a solid log), and my attention to the bearing edge, I’ve come up with a djembe that I am ecstatic to call Pro!   I hear that term thrown around everywhere ‘Pro’, and it usually just means ‘we painted it nice to cover the blemishes and raised the price so you think you’re getting something of greater value’.  When I call a drum ‘Pro’ that means it better hold it’s own whether in a drum circle of 50 drums, a fast paced African Dance class, or a close up intimate recording.  This means a Pro Djembe has got to have a nice dynamic range, be responsive and tuned properly.   I have developed many different shapes and styles of djembes and slowly began to learn what a great djembe HAS to have.  I pulled out all the tricks for this build and the result confirms my years of trial and errors and ‘close but no cigars’ 

So what makes the RHD Pro Series Djembe stand out from the competition?

• Truly eco-friendly, hand crafted djembe
• Locally harvested and milled hardwoods
• Built in USA (no oversees transportation)
• Utilize a modern and efficient stave / segmented design which cuts down on waste that occurs with hollowing out a solid log.
• More stable shell – because of the wood grain orientation and smaller individual
  pieces, the shell will hold up better over time.  Shells hollowed out from
  a solid log are much more prone to cracks and warping.
• Hand crafted, never mass produced
• High strength & low stretch rope makes for a drum that will stay in tune
  longer
• Vegan / Vegetarian friendly options available
• I can build these totally custom to meet anyone’s
  expectations.  Wood/rope/shape/size/skin etc.

I’m happy to offer the absolute best line of djembes I have ever built, and in my opinion, the best U.S. made djembe available!  Check out the video below and let me know if you agree!  If you are interested in getting a RHD Pro Series Djembe, or in having me build you a similar drum, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Part in prep for this and part because it needs to be done, I’ve been remodeling and working on my workshop.  I’ve built the shop from the ground up and once I got the walls up and electrical ran, I put a hold on the building to get my machines up and running to turn out some drums.  Probably not the best idea, but it’s allowed me to work on drums and on the workshop at the same time.  Well, actually, I’m half ass working on the workshop.  It’s hard to move things around to get to what I need for finishing up the shop.  HOWEVER… this weekend I finally got the first coat of mud and got the taping done on the drywall… at least in the main section.  I’ve still got some work to do on the ceiling but at least it’s progress.  My goal is to be done with the drywall by next weekend, so I can do a final sanding and start painting.  My main goal here is get to a point where I can hook up my mini split A/C & heat system so I can store my drums and skins in the workshop. I’ve also got an air cleaner that hangs from the ceiling to help keep the dust to a minimum in the shop, right now it’s on the floor and takes up a lot of room, once I paint, I can finally hang this booger and get it out of my way.  I’m sure it’s going to work much more efficiently once it’s hung and can move air easier.

ALSO.. I’ve got a huge project underway.  I’m turning out 18 drums (15 ashikos and a set of dununs with stands) for a local school.  They are wanting the drums asap so I’ve got to get that in my mix and start pumping them out.   A great way to test out how much time the new lathe is going to save me!  Expect some blog posts happening (or not) surrounding this project.  On top of this, I have been contacted by another school who is wanting about half this many drums.  No definite go on this order yet, but things will get real crazy ’round here if that comes in while I’m still working on the big one. 

Fun times ahead… Looking forward to what is in store around the corner   Just more motivation to FINISH THE SHOP!

So after some more research and a generous reply from Malcolm Tibbetts regarding end to end joints, it seems that as long as the grain is going in the same direction, the joint is OK.  Malcolm says the end to end joint will not be as strong as a long grain to long grain, but for most applications it’s OK.  Malcolm is a segmented wood turner who is leading the way in innovation and design using segments and the lathe.  I have a few of his DVD’s and his famous book, “The Art of Segmented Wood Turning”.  I was honored to have him reply to my e-mail, as I know he has lots more experience than I in this field.

Still for my purpose, ie, building functional art (hand drums, djembes, etc.) the joints probably get stressed a lot more than say a vessel that is mostly looked at.  So now that I know the joint is okay.. how do I make it better??  Is there a glue that works best for end grain joinery?

Doing some research on glues, I’m finding that using a polyurethane glue like gorilla glue on end grain joints greatly strengthens the joint.  Because it swells as it cures, it fills the grain and hardens.  The main problem with end grain joints is that the end grain absorbs too much glue, and the fibers are spaced further apart than with a long grain joint.

I read the analogy of trying to glue a bundle of straws to another bundle of straws by the open ends.  Think of using a standard PVA glue (Elmer’s glue, Titebond, most any white / yellow glue) it’s just going to run down the openings of the straw tubes and not give much adhesion.. if any.  Now using a PU glue (polyurethane glue like Gorilla Glue) the glue is a bit thicker consistency, and it expands about 3-4 times its size as it cures.  This fills the holes in the straws and helps to join the two bundles together, while cured it acts more like an epoxy.

I also found that because it expands, a lot of people think it’s good if your joint isn’t perfect, but this was proven false.  You actually need very good joint to get the most from the PU glue, even better than with a PVA glue.  A glue like Titebond II will keep about 80% of it’s strength in a gap up to 1/64 of an inch (.o15) however it is recommended that with a PU glue the gap is no more than 1/256 of an inch (.003)  That’s a pretty tight joint!

I’ll probably still add some dowels to my projects for comfort and knowing that they will add a mechanical advantage, but they are a pain! I keep my wall thickness pretty thick, (5/8 to 3/4 “) and in the case of hand drums, they get thrown around a lot, so using dowels is still a good idea, I’ll just substitute my Titebond for some Gorilla Glue when it comes to joining up end grain.  I’m happy to learn more about the PU glues as I think this will ultimately help me build better drums.   Remember that PU glue needs moisture to activate.  If your wood is kiln dried or under about 10% moisture, you will want to spritz the joint with water.  If you are joining air dried lumber you might be ok… I’d still spritz a tad of water on both sides of the joint before gluing.

Now for using long grain joints as I do with the main staves for my drums, I’ll stick with Titebond II extended set.  In tests (that I did not conduct) this situation for the glue joints were nearly the same, both being stronger than the wood itself.  A lot of people ask me if I reinforce the joints of my slats.. there is no need to with the glue bonding stronger than the wood.  With a good tight fitting joint, and all the grain going in the same direction, the bond will be excellent and with more chance of the wood failing from natural causes before the glue.  The shell might expand and contract a bit, but it will do so uniformly and the joints will hold.

Wow… unless you are researching glue or an avid woodworker (in which case this might be redundant) this is probably the most boring article I’ve written   But after all.. you found it!

I would love to hear others opinions that has first hand experience with PU glue or with end to end-grain joints.

I’ve been away from the blog for a while, I know… but I’ve been hitting it up double time in the workshop.  One of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on was for a friends son who just turned 1!  My daughter just turned one herself, and I’m wanting to build a little djembe for her (more on that one later) so I had been thinking about the best size and drum design for a smaller kid, but also something they can grow up with and enjoy later.  Final dimensions are 20″ tall, 7.5″ base and 10.75″ head… Not one of those 5″ stocking stuffer drums..

My idea for the design was to pretty much scale down my pro series djembe design, yet add some ports to the base and make the base a bit heavier to make it more stable on the ground.  The reason for the ports was that cheerin this young cannot properly tilt the drum to allow the bottom end to resonate.  Unfortunately I see many adults playing djembes out at drum circles with the drum flat on the ground as well… you get no bass this way, as the sound has to push through the shell.  Anticipating that kids play the drum with it flat on the floor, the only way to get a good bass response was to cut ports in the shell to allow the air to push out.

To fancy up a hole in the shell, I decided to go with 1″ plugs (Yellow Heart wood) in every other slat (7 plugs total) and then drill out the plug center with 5/8″ bit.  I then used a small round over bit in a router and added some curve to the opening so it flowed more.  On the back of the plug (inside the drum) I used a large counter sink bit I have to ‘cone’ out the port.

I added a rubber foot to the base to protect the shell and the parents floors from drops.  I was so happy with this shell.  It’s the first djembe I’ve turned on my new 16″ 2hp Jet lathe    Anyhow, I wasn’t sure what would happen on the lathe, I was planning to just smooth up the shell and pretty much cut out my planing and sanding steps to get the drum round.  It was so easy I just started adding some simple designs and ended up with a drum that looks like an art piece.  I love it.  I think I went way over the top with this drum, the rubber foot was a new process for me, the sound ports were a new process, and turning the drum on the lathe was new.  I love how it came out.. I’ll be doing some more of these djembes but full size once I get some time!

A few things on this drum I might change for next time… well, the bottom groove I cut for the ring I cut it proportional to the drum size, yet my rings are the same size I use for full size drums… I should have cut the groove deeper and wider.  It’s not horrible, but the bottom ring pokes out a tad more than I’d like.  It takes away some from the very organic looking curvature that shell has.   Also, the finish I used browned up the Yellow Heart wood a tad.  I used a fabric to wrap the rings that matched the Yellow Heart when it was fresh cut, but it’s a little bright on the drum once the finish toned down the woods.  I suspect overtime the rings will get a bit dirty and then it might blend better with the shell… it’s not bad, in fact it looks really good… these are just some things I nit-pick about so that my next one is always better!

There were some other firsts and experiments on this build.  A major one being a sled for the table saw to more accurately and safely cut the slats.  I built the sled from 3/4″ baltic birch ply and used some thick 5/4 purpleheart for the fence and the miter runner.  Purpleheart is super dense and is a fiarly stable wood… it’s also super hard and heavy so makes for a good straight fence and a runner that wont warp… More about the tablesaw sled here.

All in all I’m really happy with this build and what I learned from it.  I’m excited to see where the next one takes me.  I know the new owners will enjoy the heck outa this djembe and that’s good enough for me!

Wish I had come up with this a long time ago!!  I had seen the design and idea a few times, but wondered about my ability to build it.  Guess I shouldn’t doubt myself.  The photo is one I took while still being finished.  I have made a few modifications since this photo as well as added a toggle hold down.

I used some 3/4″ baltic birch ply and thick 5/4″ purple heart.  I used T-track slots that I routed into the fence and the board to act as runners for positioning the hold downs and the fence.  I spent way too much on this sled.  I think I had around 90 bucks in material with already having the purple heart in stock.  I had a lot of material I didn’t end up using for this project, but I put it aside as I’m sure I’ll use it again.  I probably didn’t need to buy the baltic birch, but it’s a bit better qaulity than what I could get at a big box store, so I figured it was a good investment.

After using it for a few drums now, I might make a few more modifications.  Some things I’ve already done to it are trim up the extra lenght of tracks, added another sliding hold down to the fence and a toggle clamp.  I also added a strip of wood at the edge of the sled that touches the fence.  With the SawStop of that blade hit the aluminum track it would shut down and screw up my blade and cartridge.. about 200 bucks to get up and running again.  The plus side to this saw is that if it’s my finger that touches the blade, it’s a 200.00 fix to the saw and saves me an ER trip to sew a finger/hand back on. 

I  love the artistry to turning wood on a lathe, there are some beautiful pieces and excellent artists out there.  This guy, Malcom Tibbetts,  has totally inspired me to get super creative on my drums and push my wood working skills.  I recently got his DVD and book and have learned a lot about how segmented turnings work, as well gathered some really good ideas on jigs.

So back to the lathe…

It was a big purchase for me, only rivaled by my 3hp SawStop table saw.  The lathe is the Jet 1642EVS-2 model  with the 2hp motor.  Jet had a killer sale before the end of the year and I ended up getting the lathe for about 600.00 off it’s original price.  I was looking at the PowerMatic 3520 as it allows a little bit bigger drums to be turned (at least in diameter).  However for the price of the Jet, I figured when I get to that point I can sell this guy for not a whole lot less that I have in it.  I thought the 42″ bed on the Jet would be more than I’d ever need, but it turns out once my jigs are in place and I’ve got a 12×26″ ashiko on there, it takes up most the bed.  I love how smooth and quiet it runs.  I was able to turn out some small djembe ornaments for friends and family for Christmas.   These were the first pieces of wood I turned.

I really enjoy the process of wood turning, and more-so all the possibilities that have opened up for drum building!

Instead of buying a 1,000 dollar dedicated disc sander, I got a 20 dollar faceplate for the lathe, attached a piece of melamine and got some 15″ sanding discs… well for this photo I only had 12″ discs available at the local Wood Craft.  I had to order the 15″ discs online.

Hey... it's a sanding disc, I had to do something...

The setup works like a charm on the lathe!  I have seen plans for adding a tilting bed that mounts to the lathe and even includes a miter slot… I may get there, but for now this rigs main purpose is to true up sections before glue up.  True up to Glue up!  (I’m a dork..) Now my sections glue up with an accuracy that I’ve never been able to achieve before… and the time saved… sheww.. I have time to write on my blog again

One last thing before I head to bed… I had no idea what I was in for after the initial purchase of the lathe.  Planning for something like this is key, but I had some extra funds from holiday orders so jumped on the sale… well, the nova chuck, extra face plates, extra live center for the tail stock, extra jaws for the chuck, face sheild, and the set of Easy Wood Tools (new generation of lathe chisels)  that I purchased all added up QUICK!  I was down to broke in no time!  I realized quick I need better dust collection at the lathe, but that will have to wait a few more months until I can mustard up the cash to build or buy something.

It got to the point where a new stand was a necessity!  No more putting this off.  My old stand had to be put on a table top, so I was constantly moving this thing around depending on what I had going on.  When I’m building drums, this thing is always in the way… NOT ANY MORE!

I included all the adaptations I’ve made to my original stand, and also added some features/modifications to the stand to make it more suited for my purposes.  The biggest challenge and my inspiration for actually building a new one was space!  The old tuning stand was huge and heavy, and bulky.  It was a pain to move, and I had to move it often because of it’s size… it never really had a home.  I had used 2×6 studs because that’s what I had taken from the old tree house, but I realize now I don’t need that much bulk.  The foot lever I used was always kinda funky.  The fulcrum wasn’t grounded or stable and it worked by being behind me facing the rack, so it was all over the place.  The spring I had used to bring the foot pedal back up was was not strong enough to compensate for the double pulley system I used.  So I always had to lift the pedal after I pushed it down.  The double pulley system was a little overkill, and it took me a while to figure what type of tension I should use.

So what I’ve done with my new stand is attach it to the wall and allow it to fold back into the wall when I don’t need it.  Because my shop space is small and I need every inch, this really is a huge space saver!  It only takes seconds to fold out and put back up, and only sticks out about 5 inches from the wall when folded.

My next big improvement is the way the foot pedal works and the spring to lift the pedal back up for me… because I’m lazy.  The foot lever is now connect to a pivot point at the back of the stand, so it’s stable and instead of needing all that room behind me for the pedal, it’s now all under the tuning rack.  I am using a single pulley, but I’m also putting my rope connection close to the middle of the foot pedal, this will give me more pull for my effort as well.  The spring is at just the right tension to pull the foot pedal back up.

I made the actual table a little smaller as I didn’t need one that was as big as my last.  I built two tables.  My first idea didn’t work out so well so I scrapped it.  Unfortunately it was on the last step and I ruined some nice Oak ply that I was using as the top, but in the process of messing up, I learned how to make my next one even better!  I do think I will add a thin sheet of rubber to the top of the table to keep the drum a little more stable while it’s being tuned.

One of my best improvements is how the machine actually grabs the rope.  I had tried all kinds of cleats and cam cleats for grabbing the vertical rope.  I even paid some big bucks for a nice sailing cam cleat that promised what I needed…  It lasted about 3 djembes before the bearings gave out and frayed up my rope.

What I had to do was rethink how I tune up a drum, and figure out what would let me grab the rope without fraying it and be able to hold under all the tension I’ll put on the drum.  I decided that a knot is the best way, a knot that will lock on itself and can be easily applied and removed.  I did some knot research and came up with the best knot to use, then I built a simple device around that, something to tie the knot on.  I use used some square metal stock from Lowe’s and welded up this little thing.  Drilled some holes to make it look cool…  The result, is that it works beautifully!  I’ll never go back to using cleats!

All in all I’m ecstatic about this new tuning stand.  I feel like I have added a new member to my family.  As much as I used the old one, and cursed at it, I know this is going to save me lots of time and frustration as well as free up some valuable space!

One of my favorite parts of drum building is coming up with new and efficient ways to be productive.  Seeing how useful this thing is now, I think I might hit up some of those other ideas I’ve tucked away.  My next build is going to be a sled for my table saw!  Going to make it so much easier to cross cut that wide rough lumber, and more control over doing small pieces once I start playing around with segmented designs

I had a lot I was attempting to get out over the weekend, including a custom ashiko. I’ll be gluing it up today after re-cutting the staves. First my jointer was putting a slight curve on the edge, less than 1/32, but noticeable for a clean glue up, then once I got it trued up I ran my staves… only to find that adjusting the table nudged the fence. I should have double checked, kind of silly that I didn’t. But I learned my lesson. My angle was off so the drum didn’t glue up tight. Luckily I do a dry test fit before I take the time to glue, so I caught the issue before it was a messy issue… Just a little release of frustration… Off to make more sawdust!

These drums are going above and beyond what I thought I had the capability to build when I first started this business.  I’m utilizing the traditional djembe shape to build a more modern djembe with precisely calculated measurements to maximize dynamics and projection.  On top of building a killer sounding djembe, I’m designing it with both stave sections as well as segmented sections for a unique modern design that definitely pulls from traditional and more native design concepts.  My goal for this model djembe is a unique modern djembe that feels traditional and sounds amazing with quick attack, high response, huge dynamics, and projection that will demand a second look.

These djembe drums are going to be 13.75″ diameter by 25″ tall, have 38 to 42 pairs of vertical 4.5 or 5 mm high quality rope (I’m thinking grey rope… or custom by order).  They will have tight steel rings hugging the shells bearing edge and use premium thick goatskins from West Africa or Calf hide.  To finish it off we are outfitting it with a low profile protective rubber bottom.

The shell will be constructed from top grade, hand selected Black walnut with accents being in Yellow Heart wood.  Though the djembe will be built with staves as many of our drums are, the inside of the shell will be hand carved and shaped as they traditionally are to aid in the quick attack and traditional sound.

I can’t wait to build this guy for myself to add to my collection.  My previous builds getting up to this design have sounded better and better so I’m really excited to get this project under way.

If you want to jump in on this rare drum… Let me know!  Huge 20% discount if you pre-order before Jan. 2012!

EDIT:  These beautiful djembes are no longer just a computer sketch!  Now available are the RHD Pro Series Djembes and they are smokin’!

One issue I’m trying to deal with is time management. I’m pretty bad at it! With my biggest down fall being that when I get caught up on orders, I take a breather instead of getting prepped for future orders and taking care of things that I keep in the back of my head, like the things mentioned above. I don’t have a whole lot going on right now, a few orders for rings, an ashiko kit made from Ash wood, a dundunba rehead and a djembe rehead… I have a few pending orders, one being a local school looking at getting roughly 20 drums, a mix a ashikos and dunun for a new program they’re starting. I’m waiting to hear back if the order is a go or not, and I know I need to get caught up as much as possible before this order comes, cause it’s going to wear me out!

Maybe I’ll get to the shop for a few and just clean up a bit, I know it needs it.  Maybe get some of things done (like quarterly taxes — eww) that I always put off till last minute.  I just don’t have the energy today to be super productive.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up with a new boost of energy and jump right in.  The one thing I like about being sick, is that the morning after it’s through your system you have a kind of super boost of energy.   maybe