How to Build a Snare Drum

The range in quality of homemade snare drums can vary widely from the crude to the creative to the masterly crafted. What counts as a snare drum can also be broad, including any drum with objects directly below the head that provide the distinctive rattle of the snare sound. Drums can be made from found objects such as a wheel rim or from traditional materials like delicate maple woods. While this article covers the general aspects of making a professional snare drum, feel free to experiment and be imaginative.

Things You'll Need

• Shell for resonance chamber (wood or metal) Drum head Hardware (hoop, lugs, strainer, butt plate) Router File Snare wires Screws or bolts

Instructions

1. Find a shell. The basic form of the snare drum comes from the shell that serves as its resonance chamber. For more professional projects, obtain a shell from a drum-parts wholesaler. Otherwise, any circular object 10 to 14 inches across, 6 to 10 inches deep and of uniform thickness will do. Depending on the materials, the shell might need to be sanded and sealed with a clear coat to make it uniform and safe from the elements.

2. Mark for hardware. The hardware that holds in place the drum head and snares (hoop, butt plate and strainer) will be attached to the shell by screws or lug nuts, and the performance of the drum will be determined in part by how evenly spaced these are around the shell. Using the hardware, mark holes for the necessary mounting screws, being sure to account for the width of the nut when spacing. If necessary, use a template to help lay out the location of the screws around the shell.

3. Drill holes. Carefully drill holes in the hoop in the spaces marked for the hardware, taking care to avoid bending or damaging the shell.

4. 

   Cut the bearing edge. The place where the drum head actually touches the shell is called the bearing edge. How well this part is cut and polished will be of huge importance to the tone of the drum. While some drum pro shops will offer to cut the bearing edge, it can be done with the right tools. One suggestion is to draw the bearing edge first and cut out a template to guide cutting. Use a router to cut the edge to the template and the file to get a nice, smooth edge. The bearing edge should run at 45 degrees in both directions from a point roughly 30 percent of the shell thickness from the exterior.

5. Attach hoop, strainer and butt plates. The hoop, strainer and butt plates attach to the top rim of the snare drum. The strainer will hold the snare wires and have a control switch that allows for the disengagement of the snares, while the butt plate holds them fixed on the opposite side. The hoop is the metal ring that holds the head in place and exerts tension. These are all screwed on to the shell through the holes previously drilled.

6. Attach head and snare wires. The last pieces to attach are the drum head, which is fed into the hoop, and the snares, which are attached to the strainer and butt plate from underneath. Snare wires come in 12- or 20-strand configurations and should match in length the width of the shell.

Tips & Warnings

• As much or as little attention can be paid to the exterior finish of the drum as desired. Apply adhesive wraps to give a unique finish, or the natural wood can be allowed to show.

• Whenever cutting or drilling the shell, be sure to plan carefully in advance, as these steps cannot be undone.

Resources

• Video: Building of a snare drum
• Drum Foundry Tutorial Index
• Video: How to Make "Quilted Maple" Stave Snare Drum
• DrumShed - Embracing Drum Builders WorldWide
• Snare Drum 101