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Drum building update part 4b

Barrel drums update: Thanks to the folks who have asked how it’s going. I’ve been stuck on the rings. The drums I am patterning mine after have round steel rings, 3/8” diameter. Several things have gotten in the way:

• a 26” drum has a ring that is approximately 78” diameter. You can buy round rod at a normal hardware store normally cut into 4’ lengths. Not gonna cut it. Some research including talking to John Morse who owns a metal shop tells me that 3/8” rod comes in 144” lengths from the factory. Lots of scrap, potentially. I found a place that could send me 8’ lengths of the stuff and the shipping was going to be about the same as the cost of the material. Not a good plan
• The tool to make the rings: Harbor Freight has a tool that can make rings for about $100, but it can handle 1/4” at best. There is a tool that can handle the thicker rod, but it’s $1500! More on that in a minute
• next plan was to find a metal fab shop that could do the job. For a couple weeks I wasn’t getting calls back when I called the shops in my town. FInally got one to give me a quote which was about $100/ring. Each drum takes 4 rings, two on the top, two on the bottom. $400/drum for the rings. ouch!
• About that $1500 tool. I asked ChatGPT to give me a breakdown on getting these things done. It told me that the cost of the steel is a relatively small fraction of the price, that the cost in that estimate is labor. When faced with $100/ring, suddenly that tool starts to make more sense - the payback for the tool vs paying someone else to do the work looks like somewhere around 20 rings. 5 drums. Hmmm..
• I’ve considered going with 1/4” rings. I have one djembe here that needs a new head, and it has 11/4” rings. It could work, but they seem kind of insubstantial.
• welding is still an open question.

Over the weekend I spent some time with a friend of mine who is an engineer of some sort for a manufacturing firm that makes rubber products. As we talked it occurred to me that there is another option. I went to the feed store today and bought a 100’ roll of 12 gauge fencing wire and some friction tape. Current plan is to try making one drum using this wound three times and covered in cloth tape. 100’ looks like it should make 4-5 rings at a cost of less than $10, and no welding. I have an idea for a jig to hold the wire while I make them by putting screws into another barrel at the right height to make the right size ring.

I’ll be working that this week.