At Heirloom Drum Co. we construct the ultimate shell: the stave drum.  Stave drums unique construction allows the shell to be manufactured with far less glue than ply shells.  This allows the natural sound qualities of the wood to be pronounced clearly, whereas a ply shell uses thin veneers sandwiched together with glue taking away from those natural qualities.

The first step of the process is hand selecting the lumber.  At Heirloom we try to use quarter sawn lumber whenever possible. Quarter sawn lumber differs from plain or flat sawn lumber in that the growth rings are perpendicular to the faces of each board. What does all that mean? Structurally it means less expansion and contraction due to humidity equaling a very stable shell. Visually it means straight grain helping to create a more seamless looking shell.
 
The next step is to surface plane the wood to thickness followed by cutting the width, length and proper angle of each individual stave. Then each shell’s staves are laid out to help match color and grain. Next the staves are carefully assembled, glued and clamped. After sufficient time for the glue to cure the shell is machined round on its exterior and interior to the customer specified thickness (generally 3/8”-1/2”). After it’s been machined round it is hand sanded progressively through grits 100-120-220 to prepare for finishing. 

Once the shell has been machined and sanded it heads to the finishing room to receive one of our custom finishes. After the finish has properly cured the shell will be edged with the edge of your choice and then the hardware and heads are applied.