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Drum Building Tips
This page offers tips and tricks for drums builders.
Drilling your drum shell
See the links page for hardware and drums resources.
Please feel free to contact us with your best tips and tricks.
Drilling should be done before painting to prevent air from getting under the finish. Set up a work area with good lighting and a way of protecting the shell from scratching.
This document refers to all measurements in inches. Using millimeters is actually more accurate, but this is America and we will never adopt the metric system. Single hole lugs are the easiest to drill for but the lugs held on with two screws are much sturdier.
You will need some simple tools to properly drill your drum shells. Screwdrivers, philips and slotted. Punch, a nail will work if you do not have a punch. Small square, very important. Good drill bits.
3/32" very small bit for pilot holes.
3/16" bit for strainers and butts.
1/4" for lugs, some lugs use other sizes.
Small light hammer. Seamstress tape, available at wall mart and fabric stores. Sharp Pencil, not pen. Hand drill or drill press.
A good workspace is also needed. I like to use a coffee table for a work bench for this type of work. A hand drill will work fine if care is taken and good bits are used. A drill press is nice but has it's disadvantages as well. When bad things begin to happen a drill press will just keep on turning and will very quickly ruin your shell. If you choose to do this in your home cover the table with cardboard to prevent scratching of the table and the drum shell. Set up some wood blocks to hold the shell while drilling is done.
Use the seamstress tape to measure the diameter of the shell. A 14" shell should be approx. 44 inches in diameter. Make a note of the diameter.
Check the bearing edges over carefully, you may find the snare beds are already cut and marked on center. you will need to determine the best place to put them if they are not already there.
I look for areas with slight defects on the edge or areas on the surface of the shell where you want to hide a blemish or accentuate the grain. Now make a mark where you want the center of the share beds to be, if it is not already there. On my segment shells I generally put the center of the bed approximately 1" to the right of the vertical seam on the bottom course of the shell.
Now we begin the layout.
You will need to divide the diameter of the shell by the number of lugs as accurately as you can.
Let's say the shell is 44" in diameter. Divided by 10 lugs. Each lug will be centered at 4.4 inches.
1/8" is equal to .125 of an inch, so the measurement would be approximately 4-3/8" Begin by making a light pence mark 2-3/16" or (1/2 of the lug spacing) to the left or right of the center of the snare bed mark.
Now you can continue making light marks every 4-3/8", or whatever your lug spacing is, all the way around the shell. The marks should end up equally spaced after 10 marks are made. If the marks do not come out right you can erase them and try again. adding or subtracting a little each time until proper spacing is achieved. Be sure to count the marks, there should be 10, in this case.
Be sure the snare bed centers are lined up between two of the lugs, you might need to make slight adjustments to the center of the beds mark.
Now use the square and sharp pencil to make light vertical lines where the lugs will be centered. I am assuming the bearing edges are already cut and square to the shell wall. You should end up with nice straight vertical lines. Make vertical lines where the strainer and butt will go also, but make them noticeably different than the lug lines so they can not be confused when drilling. I make them much shorter, on the lower half of the shell. Take a good look at the shell and the lines and re-check for any bad measurements.
When you are satisfied that the center lines are correct you will make marks for the holes to be drilled with a sharp pencil. A jig can be made to help with the drilling and I will explain how to do that in this document, but first I will explain the basic way to mark, punch and drill.
Seven Rules for drilling a drum shell:
1.) BE CAREFUL! Check and re-check your layout before punching and drilling.
2.) BE PATIENT. Take you time and YOU CAN DO THIS.
3.) Double check again and again before during and after drilling.
4.) Have the hardware in hand before drilling!
5.) Never assume the measuring tape or the lugs are correct, measure your lugs and other hardware (each piece) with the same tape you use to do the layout.
6.) Some hardware such as butts need the holes drilled at a slight angle but most holes are drilled straight through the shell, be sure to check the hardware very carefully.
7.) Take your time and use your head, do not get in a hurry.
Find the center of the shell and use your finely tuned noodle to come up with a method of making the center to center drilling pattern for the lugs. Single hole lugs will be much easier.
I generally start with a mark at the top of the shell marked at a certain distance from the bearing edge, them I carefully measure for the other lug hole mark.
Make crossing marks on the vertical center lines where the holes will be drilled. The same method is used for marking and punching of the other hardware such as strainer and butt.
Place the shell on the holding blocks. Now use the punch, this will help the drill bit find it's mark. punch one of the lug marks carefully, then use the tape to re-check your measurements and make the next punch.
Drilling:
Place the shell on the holding blocks with the punched marks at the top so the drill can be pressed straight down when drilling. Start with the very small pilot hole bit. I use 3/16" or smaller for this. After drilling the first lug hole, check the measurement for the second lug hole, then punch and drill the second hole. Now change the bit to the 1/4" bit, or whatever size bit you need for the final drilling. I like to use a 1/4" spade bit AKA speed bore or flat bore for lugs. Re-drill the two holes with the larger bit and check to see if the lug fits. The holes can be reamed a bit with the drill or even drilled to a larger size if the lugs do not fit correctly.
Making up a drilling jig:
A jig can be made using a piece of aluminum flat stock to make the process of drilling go more smoothly and faster. All the same rules apply, but some measuring can be avoided. Start with a piece of flat stock about 6" long. Use a good measuring tape and a punch to mark the flat stock for drilling. The flat stock will be drilled for pilot hole drilling only. After drilling two holes in the flat stock, check the spacing of the holes with the measuring tape. When you are satisfied with the spacing of the holes put a machine screw through one of the holes in the jig, the screw should fit tightly. (see drillpic 10) Now you need to check the jig before actually using it. Start by drilling a pilot hole in a piece of scrap wood. Next, place the jig over the scrap wood, the screw in the jig should go through the hole you just drilled. Hold the jug securely with your hand and carfilly drill a second pilot hole. Now re-drill the pilot holes with the larger bit for the lugs. Make sure the lug fits the holes you made.
Coming soon:
Bearing edges:
Repairing stave and segment shells:
Recovering and restoring vintage drums:
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