Cajón
It started with a brief conversation about cajóns; and then it was time to build one.
Another drum certainly wasn't something I had any plans to build, but a cajón can be made entirely of wood,
there is a bunch of scrap wood ready to be used for a new project, and Curiosity asked the question:
How do I build a cajón?
The first step: making a design based on available materials.
The Drum Head
The largest piece of scrap 6mm ply will be the drum head. The size of every other pieces is based on this piece of wood.
Rough Framing
The back, sides, top, and bottom of the cajón are 10mm? 3/8ths-ish plywood, supported with strips of pine.
Attach the Drumhead
After sanding the outside of the cajón, the drumhead was attached using Titebond III. It was my hope that keeping the
surface area where the drumhead touches the frame to a minimum, would result in a better drum resonance; and I have no way of quantifying if
I am correct or not.
Enlarged Bass Hole and Stain
Once the drumhead was sanded smooth, the bass port in the back of the cajón was enlarged. Aside from being a bit bassier, the enlarged
hole allows me to get my hand inside of the drum.
Add Some Feet
The 4 remaining sliders in this package had been gathering dust for too long. Adding the feet the cajón let me clean up a bit.
Finished!
With Coffee For Reference
As far as wood working projects go, the cajón has an exacting need for accurate 90° angles. This build was quick and a bit sloppy. There is a bit of offset with this cajón; it isn't terrible, but being more square in the corners would be an improvement.
Once the cajón was completed, I made some pitiful attempts at beating a rhythm, then I watched some instructional vids on the interwebs for some basic 4/4 time beats; which then led me to smack a simple 6/8 beat on the box.
Ideally, I'd like to make recordings of the 4/4 and 6/8 time beats, so that I can listen to the beat while practicing music. Unfortunately, all of my recording devices are designed primarily for human voice, and my attempts to record the cajón have so far resulted in nothing but capturing the high-end with no bass whatsoever. bummer
Cheers,
Jezra :)