construction



To start I picked out a nice piece of White Oak. 

Next I ban-saw re-sawed the Oak into strips about 1/8" thick in order to form them into the drum body. The strips were cut at 3" by 40.8" (so that when formed the inside diameter would be 13") and then sent through the Jointer and Plainer. After I send it through the wide belt sander  I will laminate two strips together so the drum body will be about 1/4" thick.  

The strips were soaked in hot water for about 30 minutes and then bent around an 11" round form and left to dry for a couple days.
Next I  laminated two 1/8" thick strips together using Gorilla Glue, a ratchet strap and wooden hand screw clamps.  

After all the hand screw clamps were in place I let the glue do it's magic for about a day.
After the strips were laminated I sanded the form and used a 2 part polyester epoxy to close any gaps in the seem. 
Next I formed a 1/4" strip of Walnut and a 1/2" of Cherry to use to hold the drum head in place.  
The Walnut was epoxied to the top of the form as a lip for the drum head to stretch over. 
Next, using a Router, I rounded the top and bottom of the form, and added a Purple Heartwood inlay to the inside of the drum to hide the seam.
After the form is sanded and several coats of finish are given to the form  it is time to stretch the goatskin head to the drum using twine. (In this picture the Purple Heartwood inlay is visible).
Now the goatskin head is soaked in hot (but not boiling) water for several minutes.
Now the goatskin is tamped in newspaper to remove excess water before being placed on the drum. 
After the goatskin is in place with twine pressure clamps are added as we prepare to tack on the rim.
I used the Cherry strip  as the rim (with and copper brads) and cut off the excess goatskin.
The goatskin tightens as it dries and soon we will have a working drum!
Next we add the crossbar. 
After a couple more coats of varnish to the outside of the drum I added a nameplate engraved with my name to the rim and now we have a Bodhrán!
To make it complete I made a Beater on a Lathe and it plays quite nicely. 

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