Tongue Drums!

I've been wanting to build a tongue drum for a while now, but I kept putting it off because I knew I would get totally immersed in the music theory details of these little wooden boxes with slits cut in the top.  I saw Steve Ramsey build one and I followed Marc Bublitz's keeks about his experiences with building them, and watching them just fueled my desire to build one.  So I took some time to research, design, and build a few myself and I was right...I did get totally obsessed with these things.

While gathering information about these drums, I noticed a lot of comments in woodworking forum threads like "I would build one but I don't know how to tune it." or "Where is a plan for the tongues?"  So, I set out to produce a video that explains everything you need to know about building tongue drums.

My goals were to make these drums less mysterious and to answer all the questions that were preventing people from getting into the shop and making that first cut.  I hope this video encourages you to get into the shop and make one of these drums.  They are quick and easy to build, fun to play, and they are only as complicated as you want to make them.  No matter what type of wood you use, or whether you tune it or not, you will end up with a nice fun-to-play drum.  If you build one, please contact me and let me know...I'd love to hear about it!

Helpful Tongue Drum Links:

Download My Research Notes

Download My Free Tongue Pattern Templates

Wood Magazine Tongue Drum Plan

(Search for Bar Length Calculators and Scales using a search engine.)

Make a Wooden Halloween Pumpkin!

I had the day off today and it's Halloween, so I decided to do a quick and easy Halloween project.  This Wooden Halloween Pumpkin is a great woodworking project for kids.  It's made from a 1"x6" pine board that is cut into six pieces and just glued together.  The tricky part is to cut a 60 degree pointed angle on one side of each board.  Check out the video of this project to see how I did it and try it yourself!  Stain it, paint it, or decorate it how you wish and have fun!  Happy Halloween!

OSB Handsaw Picture Frame

OSB (oriented strand board) is not the most popular wood to use for woodworking projects.  Most woodworkers would probably balk at even calling it "wood", but this piece of OSB was different. 

My daughter went for a walk with her grandmother and found this piece of OSB that someone was throwing out, so she brought it home so I could make something out of it.  This OSB is special because:  (1) She thinks it's special; (2) She thought I would think it's special; (3) She wanted to recycle it;  and (4) She believed that I would make something cool out of it. 

I could not disappoint her, so I stepped up to the challenge made this handsaw picture frame for her.  Turns out that the OSB was fun to work with and it gave this handsaw picture frame a cool construction look.

New Clown Candy Dispenser Video

My daughter Evelyn helped me make this video of our new Clown Candy Dispenser.  It's for a contest put on by Underground Woodworking and WorkshopAddict.com .  Thanks to Underground Woodworking for this neat idea for a woodworking project for kids.

Clown Candy Dispenser Contest

Underground Woodworking and WorkshopAddict.com are putting on a Clown Candy Dispenser contest.  This is a fun way to get the kids involved in the shop.  My daughter and I made this one and submitted it for the contest.  The contest ends July 4th, 2013, so visit WorkshopAddict.com for the contest details and winners! 

Clown candy dispenser design inspired by Underground Woodworking.