Advice on box glue up

Need some advice on gluing up a box. This is a standard box about 6" x 11" solid wood with rabbit joints on corners (for appearance). Bottom is 1/4" ply glued to the box body, no problem yet. The top is 11/16" hard maple with tongues cut in it to make a drum head. I need to fasten the top to the body in such a way that there is no vibration in the top except in the tongues. Gluing all four of the top to the box body works fine except that I get wood movement that cracks the top and ruins the drum. Any Ideas on how to attach the top in such away as to allow the wood movment but hold the drum top to the box. The maple is kiln dried, and seems stable in about 65% of the drums the rest get cracks. Finish is poly on the inside of the box and drum head (sprayed on) outside is oil. tried poly on outside no difference in cracking and liked oil better. Any advice would be helpful.

Reply to
sweet sawdust
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Mon, Jan 22, 2007, 10:24pm (EST-1) snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net (sweet=A0sawdust) doth mumble: Any advice would be helpful.

I read it, but I musta missed the type of glue you used. .

JOAT Bugrit. Millennium hand AND shrimp.

Reply to
J T

Hard (for me) to follow description completly but it seems like maybe treat the top like a panel in a fram where you would cut a rabbit on all 4 sides of the top and have them fit in a slot. Maybe even use the rubber balls they sell to take up the slop in the slots.

sweet sawdust wrote:

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SonomaProducts.com

I read it, but I musta missed the type of glue you used. .

JOAT Bugrit. Millennium hand AND shrimp.

Reply to
sweet sawdust

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sweet sawdust

I made 2 of these for last Christmas:

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used Paduk for the top's. How much are you taking off at the hinge? Is this where the cracks occur? What are you using for mallet's? I use superballs. Anyway, I just glued mine on with yellow glue and a ton of clamps. Been over a year without a problem. My sides are miter joints with horizontal splines, I have no bottom as I liked the sound better without one.

-Jim

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jtpr

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sweet sawdust

Hey Jim, what did you use for the hinge on the travel log? Is that leather? I'm working on a family scrapbook design for my wife's family and that looks like a pretty nice job. Looks like it's about 3/8 thick at the front and 1/4 at the back. VERY nice looking binder.

Dan

Reply to
else24

Firstly make sure that the timber is dry and stable, with all parts already at equilibrium humidity with where they're going to be stored afterwards. The less it has to move, the less trouble it will cause.

Just glued butt joints should do you, but bring the ends of the tongues near to the ends so that there's less width of "contracting" timber. The limiting length of the shrinkage is the same, but there's less force involved and so the limited elasticity of the glue / timber is enough to cope. Obviously the tongues themselves aren't a problem because the slots absorb any movement.

Mine are glued up with Titebond II and have dovetailed corners, just for looks. Top's a simple butt though. (and yes, superballs on sticks)

If you have old FWW copies, or their "Thinsg to Make" reprint book or even if you search this ng for an old post of mine, you can find more details

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Reply to
Andy Dingley

box=A0about=A06"=A0x=A011"

the=A0top=A0to=A0the=A0body

e=A0except=A0that=A0I=A0get

Seems to me the plywood is part of the problem, assuming the grain in t= he sides is horizontal. Make the bottom of the same wood as the top and gl= ue it the same way. Finish with shellac inside and out to minimize moisture changes.

The ultimate solution would be to make the ends floating panels. Think= of the tongues as being on the side of a tall skinny box :-).

--=20 It's turtles, all the way down

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Seems to me the plywood is part of the problem, assuming the grain in the sides is horizontal. Make the bottom of the same wood as the top and glue it the same way. Finish with shellac inside and out to minimize moisture changes.

The ultimate solution would be to make the ends floating panels. Think of the tongues as being on the side of a tall skinny box :-).

Reply to
Curran Copeland

Dan,

I can't take full credit for that. My son designed it and made the bulk of it with me offering help. It was a gift for his girlfriend who was going away to do a semester in India. That is a map of India on the front he cut on the band saw out of purple heart. Yes, the binding is leather he bought at a local leather/shoe store. He bought nice writing paper at a stationary store and had it bound at Kinko's with black cardboard front and back, then glued that to the wood.

-Jim

Reply to
jtpr

Thank you for the compliment. Actually, by hinge I was referring to where the tongue attaches to the rest of the top. I would get the tone by chiseling away at the bottom of that point. If you go too deep it will crack. But everything I read said to go with a mahogany type wood. In fact when I did a Google for "tongue drum" I found most of the results had Paduk for a top, so I went with that. The sides of one are birds eye the other curly maple. But I understand what you mean about cost. If the children are young I don't think I would use expensive wood. My boys are both in college, so they are (a bit) more gentle. The drums were quite a hit in the dorm and are cool when you stick a mic in them.

If cost is a concern, the kids might have fun with the Cajone's that are also on that page. Easy to make, and not expensive using birch ply. I have plans if you would like them. They also have a nice sound, but could drive you crazy if you get a bunch of kids beating on them. Give some to the brother in law's kids...;+}

-Jim

Reply to
jtpr

Just a thought, but it seems to me that orienting the ends with the grain running top to bottom rather than side to side would go a long way toward addressing the problem you are describing. The ends wouldn't be as strong that way but I find myself wondering just how strong they really need to be in this application..

Reply to
J. Clarke

plar=A0or=A0oak=A0with=A0the=A0grain

the=A0end=A0panels=A0and=A0come

Making the ends vertical would just move the stress to the end/side joi= nts.

How about making the whole thing of plywood? Veneered if you want to g= et fancy.

There must be a solution to your problem, there's a lot of tongue drums= out there :-).

--=20 It's turtles, all the way down

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Making the ends vertical would just move the stress to the end/side joints.

How about making the whole thing of plywood? Veneered if you want to get fancy.

There must be a solution to your problem, there's a lot of tongue drums out there :-).

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sweet sawdust

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sweet sawdust

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sweet sawdust

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sweet sawdust

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jtpr

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