In the area that is red on this picture is where I hit with the hammer. Small
strikes to create tiny bends that add up to being a rounded ring…
You can see here that the ring is beginning to fit nicely but the ends still
are not touching. Notice that there is still slack and gaps. By careful shaping
these gaps will be removed and the ends will touch so that they can be welded
closed…
Finished ring shape… now the welding, and grinding…
Now the ring has been welded closed but it does not fit exactly. If you have
cut the ring the right length and it is as round as you can get it, it will fit.
No matter how round you can get it using these primitive means, the ring is
bound to be a bit oblong and oval shaped… that is ok! The drum shell will be a
bit oblong and oval shaped too! You just have to rotate the ring around the
shell to find where they match up. This needs to be tight, but not so tight that
it is damaging the wood. It must be tight enough so that it cannot rattle when
the drum is played. But it must be loose enough to get it on and off…. This
will take some practice. Most of the time I get it very close the first time,
but sometimes adjustments need to be made…
Here is a bit of a blurry picture but you can see that the ring is fitted to
the shell in the manner described above … now I need something for the
tensioning rods to pass through on this ring… I have used small pipes cut to
the right size and welded on but now I prefer something called coupling nuts.
They are threaded but that is no big deal, because I get a size larger than the
size of the tensioning rod and I drill the threads out…Here is what they look
like…
Sorry for the blurry pictures, it is plain to see that I am no
photographer!!!!!
|
