Project Information
From Friday to Monday of last weekend, I went to a course with Geoff Tonkin (http://www.geofftonkin.com.au/). Geoff has a workshop on his property just outside Molong, New South Wales (Australia). Just working in his workshop is worth the trip (about 4 hours west of Sydney). He has restored and converted the old sheep shearing shed on the property into a very spacious and comfortable workshop.
Making a Bodhran was the course, pronounced 'Bow Rawn'. A Bodhran is a traditional Irish drum that is played by striking the drum with a Tipper. During this course I made two drums, a 16" and a 18". I also made a series of tippers in various styles. I did not make the orange brush like one in the photo above.
These drums are made by laminating timber inside a form with Cauls clamped to the inside to press the laminates together when gluing. The outside is Oak veneer, inside that is bendy ply and inside that is a 1ml ply. Once the glue dries, the gaps between the ends of the Oak on the outside and ply on the inside are filled. A slip of Purple Heart was used on the outside of both drums. Slips of ply on inside.
Then the tuning ring is installed.
The skins are goat bought from a drum skin supplier. To attach these they are soaked overnight in water. Then stretched and stapled around the outside edge. The row of staples was covered in a strip of vinyl that is tacked in place.
A cross bar is installed inside. Apparently there are different ways of doing this including not having one at all.
Lastly, the inside of the leather is sanded to give it a smooth finish because the left hand is pressed against it during playing. The leather is also treated with a suitable leather conditioner, in this case Dubbin.
All I need to do now is learn how to play it.
Making a Bodhran was the course, pronounced 'Bow Rawn'. A Bodhran is a traditional Irish drum that is played by striking the drum with a Tipper. During this course I made two drums, a 16" and a 18". I also made a series of tippers in various styles. I did not make the orange brush like one in the photo above.
These drums are made by laminating timber inside a form with Cauls clamped to the inside to press the laminates together when gluing. The outside is Oak veneer, inside that is bendy ply and inside that is a 1ml ply. Once the glue dries, the gaps between the ends of the Oak on the outside and ply on the inside are filled. A slip of Purple Heart was used on the outside of both drums. Slips of ply on inside.
Then the tuning ring is installed.
The skins are goat bought from a drum skin supplier. To attach these they are soaked overnight in water. Then stretched and stapled around the outside edge. The row of staples was covered in a strip of vinyl that is tacked in place.
A cross bar is installed inside. Apparently there are different ways of doing this including not having one at all.
Lastly, the inside of the leather is sanded to give it a smooth finish because the left hand is pressed against it during playing. The leather is also treated with a suitable leather conditioner, in this case Dubbin.
All I need to do now is learn how to play it.
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