Cajon Build blog

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

Cajon Build blog

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Lutherie >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

JasonM

Posts: 2058
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

Cajon Build blog

Gasp

A Cajon is a mere primitive box "drum" of plywood that one bangs on like an ape or hillbilly. Surely it does not belong in this forum of fine craftsmanship.

Actually, I think those who dislike the cajon for whatever reason should re consider... its a great way to cross train and practice compas and rhythm.

Im posting some pics of my progress so far, but im not finished. Im going all out and building a nice cajon that might retail for 300-400$. Atleast i am going to Try. Will it sound like that? If im lucky... Ive tried a bunch of cajons and did a lot of research before building. My cajon is going to be a cross between a DG Maestral Cajon and a Pepote. I am going to have the tapa fastened down with stainless socket head screws,springs and threaded brass inserts. The snare will be spring tension-ed. And, Im going to have an internal piece of thin curved Ply to add bass compression most likely.

Here are some pics so far. Nothing too interesting yet.. but damn since this is my first one i feel like ive done a lot of work..making mistakes and re doing a step.

Glue Up with some right Angle braces I made. The Plywood is 1/2 inch baltic birch 9 layer plus.

Here I made a circle cutting jig for the sound hole. Did this twice.

Back glued on, and the edges rounded over with a router.

added some feet. Here I made my own 3/4 Plywood and am making a frame to hold the Tapa fasteners and snare. Ill be adding brass inserts and springs on top of those so I need some depth.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (4)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 9 2015 6:47:10

estebanana

Posts: 9365
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

I recommended to a friend who makes really good cajons that he post one of his cajons here and talk about it - HE WAS CRUCIFIED! Seriously he got the rudest reception.

Nice looking cajon, I tried a to build a few cajons, I fount it difficult to get the right sound.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 9 2015 13:06:27

JasonM

Posts: 2058
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to estebanana)

I searched the archives and didn't find much on cajon building. I must have missed your friends post, I'd like to,see his work.

Damn, that sucks to hear you didn't have much success. I think they are deceptively simple. I heard of one guy who built three, and the second two were duds even though he only changed a few small perameters like sound hole size or position.

I hear the snare is what can really take a lot of tweaking to get the cajon to sound "right"

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 9 2015 17:16:33

JasonM

Posts: 2058
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

Snare , Tapa, and getting the box to sound like a cajon should! Also I've decided to dedicate this cajon to Anders because I know he's not reading this thread.

I gave it a test run and it sounds good. now I've got to build a second one for a friend. Sigh...Not as fun building cajons as guitars I imagine.

In this picture you can see that I built the snare. I stole this design from DG but most are the same for guitar string snare. I might also add a snare wire strap on the bottom inside like Sela uses to add extra snare of I desire. Pretty self explanatory I think. I used stainless 2" socket screws ($6 each at Home Depot !!!) maybe I'll replace with something cheaper. That threads through the wood block, a spring for tension, and a T nut.

I also removed the top 2/3 of the face frame with a router flush bit. I matched it to the inside of a PRK cajon based on pics. The idea is too add more area for the drum head to flex. This is where the cajon is struck. If you do have screws going up the side, they will probably be loosened anyway. Many don't add screws here at all.

What's with the weights? Well I'm trying to put a little inward bend while I fasten the tapa to get better contact with the snares.
I'm using stainless torx screws for now. I have all the hardware to add threaded screws with springs to add a tensioned top like DG uses. I spent another $20 bucks on all that not sure if I will use it yet.

I learned that the secret to getting good sound is mostly about the tension of the Tapa or head. You've got to keep the upper screws loose and you have to adjust the snare wire tension until it sounds right. Of you tighten the top down solid, you'll wind up with what sounds like a monotone kick drum. The snare strings have to be relatively loose. also, The snare does NOT have to be placed where you strike the the drum. It doesn't matter as long as it is tightly pressed against the head.

So, next to do will be sanding shaping and finishing. I'm debating on Veneer for the tapa. That's another $50 and why the nice cajons are expensive.

I'll post a video soon on how it sounds.. Hopefully, someone can get some tips from all of this.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (3)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 18 2015 5:11:11

estebanana

Posts: 9365
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

Nice work, play it for us when finished.

_____________________________

https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 18 2015 11:53:48

Morante

Posts: 2184
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

In Cádiz we have a cajon plajer called Mr Groovy. He plays with a Fender bass and a fine blues singer from Ciprus, who plays great blues on his Strat. Mr Groovy is sensational, suble with great taste: a great alternative to drums.

Translate the cajon to flamenco and it instantly changes flamenco into flamenquito.
In flamenco, its best sound is the crackling on the bonfire

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 18 2015 15:15:56

Leñador

Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

I've thought of doing this but haven't pulled the trigger on the idea yet.
Contact custom cabinet builders in your area, they may have left over pieces of veneer that would fit.

_____________________________

\m/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 18 2015 15:52:31

JasonM

Posts: 2058
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to Morante)

So Morante, you think this is a bunch of racket? http://youtu.be/cQQfsWEpnwg
I mean I get where you are coming from and at times silence is better, but the cajon is now part of the PDL era of flamenco. I think If one is able to listen to the percussion along with everything else, guitar, dancer, then it becomes an amazing enlightenment of rhythmical bliss

Len , I checked out a guy's veneer scraps yesterday and he was asking about $50 for a 12x24 piece. I was annoyed because he wanted the same price quarter sawn white oak as he did for exotic burl. So I held off. The cabinet shop is a good idea. I imagine they would most have domestic oak and the like vs exotic stuff you think?

Thanks Stephen! Well, it is humiliating building a cabinet for you fine luthiers to see

but it was a great little project to work my way up to guitars one day. I actually am thinking of building a steam box next and that will give me some good Practice for bending sides.

I'll post a same soon. Unfortunately, this caja is not cajito enough for my short legs. I'm going to have to sawzall the bottom off to bring it down a notch

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 18 2015 18:10:21

Morante

Posts: 2184
Joined: Nov. 21 2010

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

quote:

So Morante, you think this is a bunch of racket?

Don´t get upset Jason

. I have nothing against el cajón, but to play it in flamenco is like playing palmas or guitar: you have to understand the cante. 90% of cajoneros seem only to understand compás y tienen el gusto por el culo.

Incindentally, there is no PDL era de flamenco; flamenco is flamenco with and without Paco.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 19 2015 15:37:08

Sr. Martins

Posts: 3079
Joined: Apr. 4 2011

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to Morante)

quote:

90% of cajoneros seem only to understand compás y tienen el gusto por el culo.

For sure! The cajon makes the culo stick out beautifully.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

_____________________________

"Ya no me conoce el sol, porque yo duermo de dia"

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 19 2015 15:52:58

Leñador

Posts: 5237
Joined: Jun. 8 2012
From: Los Angeles

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

quote:

Len , I checked out a guy's veneer scraps yesterday and he was asking about $50 for a 12x24 piece. I was annoyed because he wanted the same price quarter sawn white oak as he did for exotic burl. So I held off. The cabinet shop is a good idea. I imagine they would most have domestic oak and the like vs exotic stuff you think?

That's highway robbery! I can nearly get a whole sheet for that price! Look for high end custom cabinet builders, they're more likely to have exotics like zebra and wenge and more likely to have left overs. Guys that pump out apartments are gunna be pretty limited.
We have a place here called Anderson Plywood, nothin is free but they sell scraps at a reasonable price and have nearly any species you could imagine. So if the cabinet guys are a dead end you could ask em where they get their plys and veneers.

_____________________________

\m/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 19 2015 15:56:55

El Kiko

Posts: 2697
Joined: Jun. 7 2010
From: The South Ireland

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

Got to admit .. that Antonio Rey bulerias is really nice, it got some real sweet parts in it .. myself I'm not against the cajon in flamenco ., it all depends in what type and where .. and how and lots of other things .. I suppose not all the time , but its a great variety .. and it definitely has its place ....

_____________________________

Don't trust Atoms.....they make up everything.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 19 2015 18:30:17

JasonM

Posts: 2058
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: Cajon Build blog (in reply to JasonM)

Here is a quick, low def, video of my cajon played by my friend Behzad. My phone ran out of storage so it is only a couple seconds. But essentially it sounds like a cajon!

http://youtu.be/-82a7h29zgA

I'm going to re do the string tensioning because I missed drilled a hole by like 3/16 and it's causing strong rattle. My friend brought his DG and another cajon that was built for him that is an improved copy. Compared to his, they are close. His has a better snare mine has a bit nicer bass and I also spent more time on ergonomics which he liked.

Anyway, these boxes with guitar strings are not easy to build (a good one) as one would think. If the snare or tapa are off just a little the whe thing sounds dead or alive. A lot of tweaking is needed.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2015 17:17:27