Custom Djembe w/Inlay p3

A bit delayed, but not too bad. In working with the Inlace inlay system I’ve realized that it takes way longer to dry than the spec sheet says. Sure it was “hard” after 12 hours, but it gummed up the sandpaper, and I got dust from the wood in the resin as it was still softer than it should have been. 3 days later the resin is actually hard. I attempted to call the company I got the Inlace kit from, and have yet to hear back. I e-mailed as well… I don’t get it, I can buy retail anywhere… customer service is the only thing a company selling this type of thing has. I’ll probably be looking into another company for my next inlace purchase.

Well… while the new layer of resin was drying I decided to finish up the top half of the drum. I connected the center plate to the bowl using lots of dowels and some good wood glue. I threw six clamps on her and let it sit for a day.

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Please excuse the crappy photos, I actually have a really nice digital SLR, but when I’m in the shop, my phone camera is what gets the action. The ‘important’ photos I usually set up and take with the nice camera.. maybe i need to make more of my photos ‘important’ 🙂
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After it was dried I cleaned up the edges and sanded the outside down to 220 grit. I also cleaned up the bearing edge some and finished inside the bowl (photo of inside bowl will be in next post with the completed shell). For this drum I’m roughing up the inside using a spiral pattern with a gouge to give the inside the same texture as a traditional djembe from West Africa.

At last I get to sand this resin and see what I’ve got…. I was real excited. Sanding it down the dust is white (and toxic, so use a respirator if you work with this stuff), so the inlay was looking real dull. I got some mineral spirits to wipe it and see what it will look like with some oil, and it shines! I continued sanding the bottom half of the shell down to 220 grit and sanded the section with the inlay down to 600 grit. I have some 1200 grit that I might hit it with before I buff it.. if I buff it. I’m not sure I want it to really glow. Below is the photo of the sanded bottom half of this special djembe with the inlay. I rubbed some mineral spirits on the shell before I shot the photo so you can see the contrast and luster that the djembe will have once I finish it… makes me excited!!

After I grabbed this photo I connected up the two halves, clamped them and am going to let the djembe drum shell dry for a day. Tomorrow I’ve got a lot going on so not sure if I’ll get to this. Fode ‘Lavia’ Camara is in town this week giving drumming workshops (and Mohamed DaCosta doing dance) at the World Dance Center. Fode called me to ask if I can tune up a drum he just got reheaded so the pressure is on to make a good sounding drum! I know he likes them tight, and I’m always worried about popping someone else’s skin. 🙂 I was also given a another drum to rehead and made a few contacts while I was there… So.. here is the state of the djembe until next time!

If you have missed my previous posts, check ’em out here Part 1, Part 2