Custom Japanese Drum Stand

Name: Ger Tysk
Location: Boston, MA

Amateur or Pro: Amateur

Finish Used: The drummer who I made this for didn’t want any staining but wanted to keep the natural look of the maple to contrast with the dark wood of the drum body, so I simply finished it with a few coats of clear satin polyurethane wiped on with a clean cloth.

Wood Species: Maple

Project Description:
This is a low stand for a small taiko drum (Japanese drum) made for one of my friends who is just starting out opening her own studio. She had a drum that needed a custom stand, but this type of drum is unusual, so she contacted me to see if I could make one for her. This is my first stand and my first woodworking project in which I extensively used a router .

I made a mock-up out of pine for her to test out, and after we discussed the pros and cons, I cut the stand out of maple. It is 2′ tall and supports the drum via leather straps (hand-sewed) that connect through the rings on the sides of the drum. The curved pieces were cut out with a jigsaw and sanded using a mouse sander. Then I ran all of the pieces through the router using a round-over bit to round each side.

The legs fit into a rabbet on each side of the bottom supports and are reinforced with one screw each. The stand folds closed for storage. I also cut and fitted the brass pieces individually.

Although I made some small mistakes with this stand, I’m proud of it since it’s my first major project and I have to thank The Wood Whisperer for all your router tips and making me more confident to use my router and router table during the construction of this stand.