There's a good thread on Ghost Note about curing logs to carve solid shells Pretty interesting stuff. I'd love to try it too. The guy in that vid is very good too. Full hands on.

It's being done by a few companies, here's one of them.

http://www.heartwooddrums.com/drums.html

For those interested, Ghostnote is the place to look.

I have made many segment shells as well as stave and steambent ones....

JC, a big lathe is a nice thing to have ;)

Well, this thread was started for a qiuck laugh but wow, they do make drums like this. Pretty cool drums on that site, pricey but very cool. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

There was a thread at the drumbuilding site I frequent talking about this process. The wood has to be prepared right away so that it dries and shrinks over a couple years without cracking. it also has to get down to a certain moisture content. Way more than I know about wood and drum making. So the shell starts in a rough cut shape and oversized to allow for this. I think wax is used to seal and slow things down. Stored in a stable temperature. The guy also got 2 or 3 shells out of a big piece(concentric) to get the most out of one log. I think it was last year when he started so we are still waiting for the rest of the story. I could never afford such a sweet drum. A true solid shell!

The general formula (unless kiln dried) is based on 1 year of drying per inch in diameter eg 12"= 12 years of storage. The end grain is usually sealed with wax.

I use an old deep fryer to melt down old candles and add in some paraffin wax which hardens it up a little..then just dunk in the end grains..

(Even then no guarantee against splitting)...

Cheers

Wow 1" per year dry time I had no idea. Thanks for the info.

Someone in Canada makes solid snares, and there is Canapus too!

1" per year?? I guess I better give up on getting that 26" bass drum I was hoping for?

Pete Stanbridge on the east coast...Here is a link to his website:

http://www.stanbridgedrums.com/Stanbridge_Drum/Welcome.html

Cheers