- 1). Place hide glue pellets in a hide glue pot or can sitting in a potful of water. Bring the water to a boil to melt the pellets to a milky consistency, adding water as needed.
- 2). Stretch steamed cedar strips around the 12-inch frame. Join the ends with a butt joint.
- 3). Cut any excess with cut saw. Glue the ends with hide glue and clamp them to the circular frame.
- 4). Add successive steamed cedar strips, gluing them with hide glue to form a laminated 12-inch circle. Glue, clamp and allow each strip to dry before adding the next one.
- 5). Stretch and hand-scrape raw buffalo hide. Cut the drum head to cover the frame with 1-inch overlap on the back. Use any excess hide to cut rawhide lacing.
- 6). Finish the frame with linseed oil or leave the natural finish. Let it dry and sand lightly between coats if applying oil.
- 7
The buffalo drum is used in ceremonial dance.native american image by Joy Fera from Fotolia.com
Lace the drum head to the frame hoop in a traditional north, south east, west pattern to form a handhold for drumming. Keep the drum head supple with regular applications of rawhide conditioner.
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