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How to make a bench top drum tightening device

One of the most time consuming and physically demanding parts of drum making and repairing is the tightening process.  There are many techniques for the initial tightening phase (before putting in the diamonds).  One of the best is to use a lever with a clamcleat (you can buy these are several sites, or if you are clever, you can make one of your own).  I have a drum tightening lever that I have been using for several years.  It is possible to get a drum very tight with this, but it takes a lot of time and effort.  I found that I would get a sore elbow (technically "tennis elbow," but I think more accurately "djembe elbow") if I did a lot of tightening with the lever.  I designed and built a drum tightening device that can sit on a bench top, and it has absolutely revolutionized my drum making - I can now get drums tighter than I ever have before, with very little effort.  Sometimes they are so tight now that not even one row of diamonds is necessary to bring it up to full tension, even with a new skin.

A lever-type djembe tightening tool is indispensable, and I use one to pull diamonds.  You can use the bench top device for the diamonds, but I find the lever to be faster.  The bench top device is most effective for pulling the verticals prior to putting in any diamonds.  To buy a tightening lever, try the following links:

African Rhythm Traders:  http://www.rhythmtraders.com/art/html/supplies.html

Hawkdancing Studio:  http://www.hawkdancing.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=161&products_id=51

(I am not necessarily endorsing these sites - they are included as examples of where you can get pullers.  If you google "djembe pullers" you can find others).

I have to give credit to Dave Marsolek of the Drum Brothers (www.drumbrothers.com) - he made a similar device, and I got to see him use it once, and I was impressed with how well it worked.  His device has a "lazy Susan" platter at the bottom to more easily rotate the drum, and probably works much better than mine.  I do not claim that my design is the best, or even very good, but it is easy to make if you have simple woodshop tools, and not expensive.  I am sure that others will be able to come up with improvements on what I have done, but I have found this device so useful I wanted to share it with others.

What you will need

Below is a materials list:

You will want to get some strong pulleys, because you will be putting a lot of stress on them, but not so large that they get in the way when you are tightening.

The clam cleat I used is a Sea Dog CL222 - available from a number of sites for around $10 or so, depending on shipping.

What it looks like

The drawings below are approximate, but they should give you an idea of how it goes together.  It is a simple task to make the frame, then just screw in the rings and rig the pulleys.  It will take some adjusting of the length of the ropes and the amount of weight to get it to work correctly.

 Click on the images for larger versions.

Here are some pictures of the one I made:

The weight keeps the upper double pulley from falling down when the clam cleat is released from the drum.  To use the device, extend the double pulleys as far apart as you can (this will raise the footboard up off the floor), then attach the clam cleat to the vertical you want to tighten.  Then step on the foot board.  The double pulleys multiply your weight several times, so you are getting a lot of tension on the vertical.  When it is tight, you should clamp the vertical as you normally would (I use a small padded vice-grip) before releasing the tension and removing the clam cleat.

You can vary the number of verticals between the double pulleys - more verticals gives more mechanical advantage, fewer gives you more vertical movement before the footboard hits the floor.

You will need to find a way to attach a clam cleat to the rope - I mounted the clam cleat on a small piece of metal strap I had lying around, tied the rope to the metal strap, and then attached the whole thing to the upper double pulley using a carabiner.

This device works nicely just sitting on the bench top - you could clamp it down, but I have not found a need to do that.

Please be careful when using this device, as it can develop extremely high tensions in the ropes.  If something gives way suddenly, it could conceivably come flying out and hurt someone!  Make sure you are wearing eye protection.

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