Building drums

[Coggy]

Hello. I haven't been on here for a long time so. Well I really need some help about a GCSE project that I want to build. I want to build a nine/10 peice drum kit for my projects. 2 bass drums a snare and some toms. I have a term to complete it so thats 12 weeks and I have 3-5 hours a week to do it in. IS that possible and how much money will it cost for lugs and heads and rims powder coated in £. I haven't done any drum building before so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance Coggy

[Deathmetalconga]

I think what you're talking about is more like customizing raw shells. Unless you have the equipment to actually make shells, are you customizing someone else's shells, not building drums. Many hobbyists and drum customizers, like Pork Pie, customize Keller shells.

A 10 piece set like you're talking about would be around $500 to $1,000 just for shells (sorry, don't know about pounds) and maybe that much again for heads, lugs, rims , tuning bolts, finishing and mounting hardware.

You should be able to do it with moderate wood/metal skills in the time frame you have allowed. It's a big project, though.

www.terrasonus.com

[cnw60]

I hope this isn't a form of spamming - FWIW, I've haven't bought anything from any of these sites (yet), so I can't vouch for them, but I have wasted a few moments perusing them while I fantasize about various drum building projects...

www.drummaker.com

www.precisiondrum.com

www.amdrumparts.com

www.drumgearonline.com

these are all in US, but I'm sure there are similar vendors in the UK. They should at least give you an idea of what all of the parts and pieces should cost. And if you're talking about making your own shells - it seems that would be quite an undertaking.

[larlev]

I can tell first hand my kit that I am building is costing me roughly $1200 usd...so figure $2400 for you.

This is a 12,14,16,22 ....no snare...and I am using a wrap.

The bright side is, for $1200 I will have just as nice a kit as some costing twice as much.

Remember most "so called custom companies" use keller shells....the most important thing is a GREAT bearing edge. I am still researching....so I can't give you a recommendation on edges.

[dom]

www.drumfoundry.com is great i orderd 4 blank shells and got them in 3 days so thats pretty good and the site is easy to use

[KCDrummer]

I wrote an article about this for OnlineDrummer.com, there's a link to it in my signature. I can tell you now, the powder coating is going to cost you your first-born.

[altered_beast]

For GCSE you'll get a better grade if you make something with a material as opposed to customising shells, so I would say customising Keller shells out is out of the question - the only skills that will show is your ability to mark out and drill holes into the shell for the hardware to mount to the shell. Actually building drums from scratch is going to be a very very difficult task for someone your age and I would guess lack of experience in building shells and so your 12 weeks with 3-5 hours a week (60 hours tops) is a very very narrow time frame for the kit in the size you want. I would suggest you look into building something a little more simple - perhaps you could look into making just a snare drum, perhaps from metal, or timber if you preferred but I'm not sure if you'll have access to a steam bending facility. It could be an idea to contact Francis of FVF Drums (www.fvfdrums.co.uk) and ask if he could offer some advice on building your own drum. I would definitely advise that you do something like a snare though. Or perhaps a drum rack? If you intend to own a large kit at some point a rack may be a worthwhile investment. I designed a rack clamp when I did my GCSE in Resistant Materials 6 years ago, but it failed miserably cos the staff at my school were as useful as chocolate fireguards. If you did the proper R&D on this you could turn out something very cool. Whereabouts are you based?

Cheers

Al

[Deathmetalconga]

WHat does "GCSE" stand for?

If you really, really want to build a drum - as opposed to customizing shells - altered beast is right, you need to make the shell. That is the difference between a finisher-customizer (like Pork Pie) and a builder - someone who makes their own shells.

You may be able to lathe a solid-shell snare drum, depending on what kind of wood lathe you have access to.

www.terrasonus.com

[Coggy]

Thanks for all of the advice and I think that I will make something much simpler. I like the idea of a drum rack and thanks for all of the advice.

[shwebk]

I hope this isn't a form of spamming - FWIW, I've haven't bought anything from any of these sites (yet), so I can't vouch for them, but I have wasted a few moments perusing them while I fantasize about various drum building projects...

www.drummaker.com

www.precisiondrum.com

www.amdrumparts.com

www.drumgearonline.com

these are all in US, but I'm sure there are similar vendors in the UK. They should at least give you an idea of what all of the parts and pieces should cost. And if you're talking about making your own shells - it seems that would be quite an undertaking.

Thanks for putting up this information.

[altered_beast]

WHat does "GCSE" stand for?

If you really, really want to build a drum - as opposed to customizing shells - altered beast is right, you need to make the shell. That is the difference between a finisher-customizer (like Pork Pie) and a builder - someone who makes their own shells.

You may be able to lathe a solid-shell snare drum, depending on what kind of wood lathe you have access to.

www.terrasonus.com

General Certificate of Secondary Education

When can you go to University (think Americans call it College?) in the U.S.? Basically we have like nursery (age 3-5), Primary school (5-11) (in the county in which I live (like a State) 11 year olds take a test called an eleven plus, which decides what level of secondary education they will receive) then from 11-16 we have Secondary education (again, my county has Secondary Modern schools and Grammar, most areas now have Comprehensive secondary schools which basically has all levels of education in, as opposed to having very students that passed the eleven plus at Grammar and and students who didn't pass at Secondary). In the last 2 years of Secondary, Grammar or Comprehensive students study toward GCSE's. From 16-18 students can either go to college to study A-levels or a different qualification or stay at school and study A-level. Some schools now offer different qualifications from 16-18. 18 years and up can either use their A-levels to go to university to earn a degree or can go into the big wide world and work. I never finished my A-level but now have a career in which I am studying toward a qualification to take me onto a degree course.

I very much doubt the equipment at the school will be good enough to machine a solid shell snare. It's possible I suppose, if the school is a "Technology College" (basically an amalgamation of a secondary school and a technology department of a college).

[drummer625]

I'm thinking about making a custon drumset but i have a few questions first.
Why is it so expensive to make one?
When I first heard about it I figured it would be about half as much since you would be the one puting in all of the work for it.
Do they actually sound that much better?

[hawk9290]

I'm thinking about making a custon drumset but i have a few questions first.
Why is it so expensive to make one?
When I first heard about it I figured it would be about half as much since you would be the one puting in all of the work for it.
Do they actually sound that much better?

Its rarely as expensive as the pro-level counterparts, but still, drum material is rather costly.
And they aren't going to sound better than a DW or something, but they will sound as good (unless you really go all out and get some exotic wood, and then it will cost the same as a DW)

[drummer625]

Its rarely as expensive as the pro-level counterparts, but still, drum material is rather costly.
And they aren't going to sound better than a DW or something, but they will sound as good (unless you really go all out and get some exotic wood, and then it will cost the same as a DW)
So pretty much what your saying is no matter how much your spening on it.. it would cost much more to buy a similar kit.

Am i right?

[jollymosher]

General Certificate of Secondary Education

When can you go to University (think Americans call it College?) in the U.S.? Basically we have like nursery (age 3-5), Primary school (5-11) (in the county in which I live (like a State) 11 year olds take a test called an eleven plus, which decides what level of secondary education they will receive) then from 11-16 we have Secondary education (again, my county has Secondary Modern schools and Grammar, most areas now have Comprehensive secondary schools which basically has all levels of education in, as opposed to having very students that passed the eleven plus at Grammar and and students who didn't pass at Secondary). In the last 2 years of Secondary, Grammar or Comprehensive students study toward GCSE's. From 16-18 students can either go to college to study A-levels or a different qualification or stay at school and study A-level. Some schools now offer different qualifications from 16-18. 18 years and up can either use their A-levels to go to university to earn a degree or can go into the big wide world and work. I never finished my A-level but now have a career in which I am studying toward a qualification to take me onto a degree course.

I very much doubt the equipment at the school will be good enough to machine a solid shell snare. It's possible I suppose, if the school is a "Technology College" (basically an amalgamation of a secondary school and a technology department of a college).

all to avoid spending money on stupid people?

[altered_beast]

all to avoid spending money on stupid people?

I don't understand the question...

There seems to be this ethos that regardless of how intelligent you are in the UK you can find the right path and get a career etc. It seems to be fairly common now for those of a less academic nature or less academically inclined to go and do an apprenticeship where they learn a trade and gain qualifications in that specific field of work. It tends to be in more labour intensive trades, but I am work in a similar way. I work as a quantity surveyor for a contractor, I started doing this 4 years ago, have been through college studying towards a qualification which I can use to gain entry to a university course and study to degree level. The other way things can be done is that the individual goes through school etc, does A levels, goes to University, gets the degree and then goes into working and training. Personally, for my career, I see it as more suitable to do it the way I do it (i.e. run the qualifications and work experience in tandem) - not only do I get the experience at an earlier age, although I gain my qualifications later I will actually be doing the job long before I'm fully qualified and also, for me, in construction, no matter how many books you read it's impossible to understand what's happening until you see it happening in the flesh.

Back to drum building... I would do it if I felt I had the time, inclination and skills to do it. It'd be awesome to build your own gear and stand proud at the end.