Hello again,
It has been almost 2 weeks since any posts have been added to my Ceramic Drum thread.
During that time I have been so extremely busy. I have joined a second drum making forum (not as good as this one), viewed hours of You Tube videos about making drums, read so many Google files about drums and of course attended school every day and all of the other stuff normal people do.
But the greatest experience I had was spending a total of 7 hours face to face with two of the nicest people I have ever met. John (Gruntersdad) visited me in my ceramic studio for 3 hours two Saturdays ago AND I visited Gary (gwaco) in his highly efficient machining, assembling, and designing shop this Saturday for 4 hours.
These two wonderfully personable, generous, friendly and very knowledgeable people welcomed me to their world of drums and taught me as much as I could absorb about what a drum is, how it is made, how it works, and much more.
At the end of both meetings John and Garry encouraged me to continue to pursue my Ceramic Snare Drum Shell project. They both want to stay connected to what I am trying to do. Since I can get carried away with making grand plans for my projects they convinced me to slow down a bit and try creating a ceramic shell without designing and building the "fancy" equipment I was planning to do. "Our" plan now is for me to make a ceramic drum shell with the simple techniques I normally use to create all of my other ceramic art. All clay modeling will be done by hand.
My goal is to make a single ROUND (a very important aspect) shell that will accommodate a standard 14" drum head. Lug holes NO. Snare bed YES. At that time one of Gary's free floating Wac'd lug systems will be attached. Also at that time the truth will reveal itself with the first few drum stick strikes. RIM SHOTS INCLUDED. Either it will have possibilities OR the project will ....you know... .
So I sure hope to have a Snare Drum with a Ceramic Shell making beautiful music in the near future. STAY TUNED.
I hope to be "Andy the Ceramic Drum Shell Maker".