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djembe drum

T

Todd Beck

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A young man, when hearing I was a woodturner, asked if I could turn a "djembe drum" for him. I had never heard of such a thing but, a Google search resulted in thousands of hits. Has anyone out there ever had any experience with turning such a thing or know of anyone who has?
 
Todd,
I turned djembes for a meager living from '95 on up to '02 and a little beyond that.
A rough formula of dimensions:
Pick a head diameter, double that for the drum's height. Then 1/2 of that is the diameter of the bottom opening, and the middle opening is 1/3, about halfway.

You can make a fairly decent drum shell from a poplar log if your lathe can handle it, and you have a good steady rest.
My procedure was:
  1. Mount between centers, rough turn.
  2. Face off the blank's top end to receive the biggest faceplate you have. Preferably the size of the drum's head.
  3. Mount the faceplate to the top end with heavy screws, 2-3" long for a 10-13" drum head size. Use at lieast 6 screws, that will go into the area to be hollowed out of the top end.
  4. With the blank mounted on the lathe by the faceplate, and the tailstock point in place, true the outside of the drum near the bottom for the steady rest. DON'T turn the bottom half less than the faceplate's diameter, you will need that wood for mounting the faceplate at the bottom to hollow out the top later.
  5. With the steady rest in place near the blank's bottom, hollow out the horn up to the middle opening.
  6. Face off the bottom end for remounting of the faceplate, the screws will go into the wood outside of the bottom's exterior.
  7. With the developing drumshell now mounted top towards the tailstock and the tailstock back in place again, true up the top end for the steady rest.
  8. With the steady rest in place and the tailstock out of the way, hollow out the top bowl down to the middle opening. According to my drum mentor, a rough internal surface is better than a smooth one which can produce unwanted overtones.
  9. Turn down the exterior to about 3/4" rough thickness overall. Some of this can be done in operation #9 but sooner or later you will have to remove the faceplate, and remount the shell between centers. I used a heavy steel shaft with plywood plugs setscrewed at each end as a turning mandrel but you might be able to use wood or plywood plugs at each end for the drive and tail centers. One of the plugs will need a hole to knock out the other end. Careful measurement before mounting will determine how to avoid the outside meeting the inside unintentionally.
  10. We almost always did this rough turning first, then wrapped the shell's exterior in newspaper with the inside exposed to the air for preliminary drying/stabilization. Didn't have to dry it for months like you would a bowl, maybe 4 weeks so most of any warping would take place. If the log were uniform with the pith in the center, I could finish turn the drum shell without the stabilization.
  11. The shell's rim was turned down to about 5/8" with a round bearing edge that was easy on the palm of the hand. The peak of the bearing edge was close to the interior and slightly rounded to maybe 1/8" radius. From the rim on down to the bottom end, I turned it down to about 1/4" wall thickness, and 3/4" to 1" thick at the base for strength and stability.
The djembe is basically a venturi, with the goatskin head forcing the air through the middle port and out the bottom horn. You can feel the air blowing out the bottom when the drum is hit--it's enough to blow out a candle easily on even a small, 10" drum.

Goatskin is the best but heading a drum was beyond my experience, I was the lathe guy.
 
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Djembe Drum Turning

Thanks for all the info. After reviewing several sites selling these drums, the young man and I agreed that he would save money, time and effort by buying one. Now that I have read your posting about how you turned them I think we made the right decision. I will stick to bowls and pens. Thanks again, Todd
 
I've done a couple full-size djembes and I'd say the turning is probably the easiest part. Making the rings, lacing the rope and stretching the skin were quite time consuming.
 

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I saw one video a long time ago about making them. The guy had a huge spade type bit on a car axle that drilled out the entire top part of the drum. I would expect that this type of project would be a labor of love......

robo hippy
 
robo hippy said:
I saw one video a long time ago about making them. The guy had a huge spade type bit on a car axle that drilled out the entire top part of the drum. I would expect that this type of project would be a labor of love......

robo hippy
Click to expand...
Actually, the turning is the easy part. Welding the rings, lacing the rope, and stretching the skin took a lot longer to do.
 
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