Thats a great way of making shells - well done for coming up with a different way of doing it. Thats brill, thanks for uploading.

I love this video. I've been leaning towards using the standard homemade jig method....but that leaves me with so much to mess up with. After learning that the woodshop I'm using had a band saw, I've decided to go with this method. Thanks, man!

Oh man. I saw you get two shells out of what I thought was going to be some horribly thick shell, but then and I was like....BAM! Two shells! That was awesome. Very nice. Keep it up.

@Phrase Ah that's amazing thank you so much. This will really help me over the holidays. Hope the snow isn't too thick up north! Thanks

WoW!! I have now words to say but, WoW! Love ya work Fraser.

Wow, I like your innovative style to make drums! I want more drummakingvideos!

Much respect. I love the purist approach. I enjoyed the band saw jig to cut a perfect circle.

@Phrase On the other hand, ply shells are normally a lot thinner and stronger than stave shells and thinner shells tend to resonate more than thicker ones! To my ears, this drum sounds quite dry and mellow in comparison to a plywood shell drum (or metal shell) and slightly less ringy (less overtones) Spruce, which is a softwood has a very low fundamental pitch so the drum sounds deeper than you would expect for a 4" deep piccolo.

@gorgobar Thanks, the snare I used for the song was the first one I made. The one I was making in the video was another one which is exactly the same spec as the one your listening to! It terms of sound, the main argument that most stave drum builders put forward, is that there is a lot less glue used for a stave shell, than would be the case for a ply shell where the whole surface of each layer of ply is glued. The glue dampens the sound of the wood, so the less glue used the better!

@Mikelikes2rock The board that is fixed across the way is rebated at each end, so that the edge of the two staves which are in contact with the board are approximately in the center of the board. A line is then drawn along the top edge of the board, in line with the edge of the staves. The exact center of the drum shell, will be half way along that line, so I put a mark at the midpoint, then use that as the pivot point for drawing the circles and cutting them out.

@briandrum1 Hi Brian, thanks for the interest. At the moment I am just starting out and will probably only be shipping to the UK market to start with, but if there is enough interest in my drums from overseas, I will certainly be looking into international shipping in due course! There are lots of great stave drum builders in the states already so I'm sure you would be spoilt for choice if you want to buy a stave snare or even a full kit. Check out Unix, Head Drums, Joshua Tree and B.C.W.

@sevenof9ChristsBride The width of each stave depends how many staves you want to use. For this project I used 16 staves and the outside width was 71mm (see 0:30) If you want to use 20 staves, the width will be less and the angle will be 9 degrees instead of 11.25. Check out the videos by Smileythejazzcat. He has some great vids showing how to make different sizes snares, which tell you what size the staves need to be. I think he normally uses 24 staves. Good luck!

@Mikelikes2rock Good luck with it! I have recently been making segmented drums using a similar method to cut the segmented rings out into semi circles, then gluing the two semi circles together to make a full circle, then 3 or more rings are glued together till you reach the depth you want. You can make a deep shell by adding more rings. I have also made a jig for trimming the outside of the shell on a router table. This gives a more accurate circle than the bandsaw alone.

Beautiful finish, and inspiring. How did you choose your varnish? Ive just watched Smileys video's (love the music smiley) and now yours, Murray. There are some great craftsmen out there. Thanks for sharing.

@larzgallows Thanks Hiro. Great soundtrack too ;-)

@smileythejazzcat Thank YOU Smiley! Your amazing videos and craftsmanship have inspired hundreds of drum builders around the world, not just me!

You have so many instruments to work with wood %) Cool.

Would you mind telling me what kind of circle cutting jig that is for your band saw, and also where you purchased it? I am very interested in getting one because it seems like an efficient method of getting a clean, round surface. I make stave shells as well and I am looking for an easier alternative to using a router.

I began to make a pine wood snare drum, the measures are 13 x 5 and the depth 1 inch ... do you think it resist's the preasure of the heads? ... how I can get it stronger but of the re-rings?

S o damn easy with the right tools......I wish I had them.

That band saw is awesome. I would never try this with mine. I know for certain that I wouldn't get lines that clean. Great work!

Great stuff, looking forward to part 2. One question - how will it affect the sound being made from essentially one big ply instead of several as you normally see from big drum manufacturers?

Can you explain how you made your SUPER INTRICATE circle-making jig? (the board that you attached to the bottom of the halves, and the board nailed to the perfect center that acts as a compass) How is that built, and how did you find the exact center so that the drum turns in a perfect circle?

Hi, I'm looking to build my first stave snare over the christmas holidays. I wondered if you could tell me what the outside and inside lenght is on the cut staves please? As in, when the angle has been cut, what is the width from one side to the other. I imagine it is somewhere around 170mm on the outside (top) measuremts? Thanks

Great work! Fraser!

@Who2Are1You LOL, Yeah Smiley was a big influence on my drum making and even the style of the video clip. He is awesome.

The process is interesting - as I never came to that idea ;-) the shiny finish is great but I do the drilling first.

love the snare man! how long it take u? iv been lookin at smileys vids nd debating whether i shud give it a go or not...think i might after seeing this

hmmm.. interesting methods.. but i like them haha i guess i do mine strangly as well.. great vid!

SIIIICCCCKKKK, IT SOUNDS GREAT!!!!! thats awesome, i'm gonna make an interesting drum, inspired by you. PS good song as well.

Are you selling them now? What's the cost to have one shipped to the states?

unreal. That is supremely bad ass. Where can I get one?

Wow! :D It looks amazing! And it sounds amazing too! Fantastic work! Good luck my friend! "Murray Drums" You know. It really has a nice ring to it :D

@Phrase Ah, thank you so much. I'm using your method to cut my stave drum, and this helps a lot. :)

@MattIndigoWilliams Thanks Matt, Where are you based ? I'm from Scotland UK, so if you're from the UK I would be able to make a snare like this and post it to you. I'm not keen on posting to USA / Canada, but there are a lot of custom drum builders over there already so check out BCW Drums, Head Drums or Unix Drums, they all make amazing stave shell snares and even whole kits!

(just realised that it's the snare in the song, right? In which case it sounds great! But would still like to know what the difference would be :P)

Interesting choice of wood. Spruce is pretty soft isn't it? Does it sound good. I just made my first drum using maple and mahogany. Check it out at bmckenzie69 to see my method quite different from yours. I am going to make some more and would really like to know how the spruce sounds. thanks

AH,That was You on Drums , It sounded like it.Gotcha.