Handcrafting
The Handcrafting Process
Shell Types
Artisan Drumworks specializes in and recommends stave-shell design for snare drums and drum sets. We use the same premise used in mallet, acoustic guitar and concert stringed instruments. Pure solid wood produces pure wood tone. Our stave shells are solid wood. These shells are meticulously handcrafted and are the flagship of our company. The nature of our stave design combined with numerous years of experience both playing and crafting drums enables us to produce drums with unparalleled pure, musical tone.
Contrasting the difference between stave design and ply-shell construction processes, the latter must use an enormous amount of glue. This factor effects the wood’s vibration and the overall tone of the drum. Our stave design uses a fraction of the amount of glue compared to ply-shells. In additon to much less glue being used, there are natural “sound channels” present in the vertical grain orientation of the shell which makes the drum very sensitive, giving a very broad dynamic range. The sound channels also serve to focus the sound of the drum, making them very studio-friendly. This and other important factors are discussed in detail under “Why Stave” at the top right of our website. There you will find the factors that bring to life the maximum potential of your stave drum(s).
While stave design maximizes pure tone, one-ply shells also offer a purer, natural wood tone when compared to ply shells. One-ply shells have been around a long time, and they have been made famous by other companies. Being a well received and familiar type of drum to the drumming community, we are very pleased to offer one-ply drums available as snare drums and full drum sets in our Vintage Classic series.
Our method of crafting stave shells precludes any stress to the wood such as is imposed in bending plies. Wood in it’s natural configuration vibrates more freely. Stave shells are as close as you can get to what is appropriately called a solid shell, which is a hollowed tree trunk- very natural and no stress to the wood is present. The result is a pure, controlled resonance and clarity of tone. These factors are what are making stave drums more and more popular and the “go-to” drums for live and recording venues. 
The secret in stave drum shell design is the free flow of sound energy. Please see our “Why Stave” page for detailed explanation. Vertical grain orientation significantly effects not only the tone of the drum but it also creates a very natural, unique, and organic beauty to the drum.
Process
Our drum shells are carefully handcrafted from start to finish. We begin by hand selecting your choice of hardwood. The wood is kiln dried initially, and then cut to rough dimension blocks where they are placed on racks for the remaining drying cycle. This drying room is controlled and closely monitored where temperatures are kept at 70 degrees and 30% humidity. This process allows the blocks to “settle” prior to being machined to final dimensions and their subsequent glue-up. This is a very important part of the process of building your custom snare drum or drum set. Once the glue cures, the rough cylinder is set in a warm drying room to settle again for a period, after which your drum shell is turned (lathed) inside and out to within .005” of being perfectly round (about the thickness of a piece of paper). This ensures that the drum is easy to tune and has maximum tone and sustain. Next, we sand your drum (s) to 320 grit through several stages and apply one of 5 finishes that we offer. Once the finishing evolution and cure times are complete, your drum(s) are drilled, bearing edges are cut, and the drum is assembled and tested. The owner of Artisan Drumworks personally plays every drum for approval prior to it’s leaving our facility for shipment to you. After tying on a lifetime warranty card, placing your drum(s) in a complimentary Humes & Berg Enduro Pro case, and shipping to you, our job of crafting is complete…
Now it’s your turn!
