Drum Assembly Tray

This simple gizmo came about after a few days of working at the Calderwood Percussion workshop. Necessity wasn't the mother of invention ... it was more my desire for organization and efficiency.

While tearing down drums, I found myself using several small metal bowls for the various parts. Since these were vintage drums, it was a good way to keep the various screws and washers with the correct part and not drop them onto the floor to never be seen again. The individual bowls also made it easy to take a group of parts to a different work station - wire wheel or sand blaster for rust removal, buffing wheel for polish, back to the assembly table, etc.

The downside came when a project needed to be relocated. If parts needed to be ordered or glue on a repair needed to cure, the drum goes back on the in progress rack and frees up the work table. We have a few carts around the shop, but more often than not, I'd just stack everything on a piece of plywood.

It was a pretty quick/easy leap from the plywood to a more dressed up prototype, which included recesses for the bowls and a foam pad.

1/4" plywood
1/2" plywood
EVA foam floor mat
Reclaimed neodymium magnets
Wood glue
Leather dye
Metal bowls

Since I wasn't sure if this idea was a keeper, I wanted to use materials already kicking around the shop - scrap. I also wanted to keep it light.

For the bottom panel, I went with 1/4" plywood. If I make more in the future, I'll swap this out for hardboard because the 1/4" ply tends to potato chip (warp). The available piece had some funky parasitic glue up on one edge, which I was able to pry off with a putty knife and hammer. It was then run through the drum sander to remove remaining adhesive.

Final dimension was 23" x 22 1/2", which was cut using the table saw.

The 1/2" plywood will be used for the next layer.

The bowl panel was ripped to 6" in width and then cut to a length of 23" using the small parts crosscut sled. I also ripped three 1/2" wide strips, which will be used for edging.
Note: All of these 1/2" thick parts were reduced to 3/8" using the drum sander, so that they would sit below the foam mat, which will make sense later.

A ruler and compass were used to lay out four equally spaced 4" diameter holes.

The largest Forstner bit I have is 2", so I used it to remove the central material and then used the oscillating spindle sander to enlarge the holes. Drill bit, jigsaw, then sander would be faster, but I wasn't in a rush.

If I were to make more of these, I'd make template which could be used with a router and pattern bit.

The glue up started with the bowl panel - just glue and clamps. You can see I marked the circles in order to visualize the glue zone [Fig. 1]. I also used some creative caul and spring clamping [Fig. 2].

Edging lengths were cut to fit, coated with glue, and restrained with a battalion of spring clamps [Fig. 3-5].

Once out of clamps, I quickly sanded the edges and broke the corners using 150 grit sandpaper.

I've been using foam mats for years when assembly drums because I don't like knocking my fresh cut bearing edges around on a hard table. For me, the foam mat it's a must have.

It's just a cheap floor mat from Harbor Freight - cut to size using T square and razor knife. The fit was tight enough for retention, but I added hot glue to the mix.

The mats are around 7/16" thick and I wanted it to higher than the edging so as to reduce the risk of banging up bearing edges. That's why the 1/2" plywood was sanded down to 3/8".

For finish, I applied black leather dye to only the top surface, followed by two coats of clear acrylic from a rattlecan. The dye serves no purpose other than visual aesthetic.

A neodymium magnet was secured to the center of each circular recess using super glue. The aluminum bowls are non-ferrous, but placing a fender washer in each bowl applies enough clamping pressure to keep them in place while also allowing them to be removed. I did try to glue the washers in place, but both super glue and hot glue failed - epoxy might work, but the loose washer doesn't bother me.

I also drilled 1/2" holes in the two top corners, so that the tray could hang on a wall or cart.

Quick, easy, and useful. I've already used it in my shop and loved it. All the parts are sorted and kept with the shell. If I need to set the project aside, I can easily move everything at once - it's great.

In a drum shop setting, I could see having several of these trays and a dedicated wall hung rack. Multiple projects could be torn down/in progress, but organized in a way where parts aren't lost. You could even have one person pull parts for orders and staging them for other individuals to assemble.

Dimensions:
Bottom Panel: 1/4" x 23" x 22 1/2"
Bowl Panel: 3/8" x 23" x 6"
Edging: 3/8" x 1/2" x length cut to fit
Foam Mat: 22" x 16"