Roll Your Own Bongo Cajon

 by pdub77
Featured
In this Instructable I will show you how to make a wooden bongo drum Ricky Ricardo (or a hippie, perhaps) would be proud to own.  All you need is some plywood and basic tools.  If you can operate a garage door opener you should be able to do this.  Gird up your loins and let's rock!

(Statement concerning garage door opener not tested for accuracy.)
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: What We Need

Here is a list of the tools that I am using.  Your list may vary.  There are often many ways to complete a woodworking project (and let's not even get into excoriating felines).  This is simply how I did it and what I used.  As well, I am using cabinet grade Baltic Birch plywood.  You may use something else if you wish, though I cannot speak to acoustical properties of anything other than this.  Cabinet grade is important for a nice finish and to avoid gaps that would need to be filled.

Tools:
Table saw
Miter saw
Orbital sander
Sandpaper
Contour sanding grips
Protractor
Clamps
Wood glue
Toothbrush
Dust mask
Safety glasses
Anything else I forgot

Materials:
3/8" Baltic Birch plywood
1/8" Baltic Birch plywood

Yes, I consider glue a tool.  Deal with it.
Gobbels says: Dec 23, 2012. 7:05 AM
Hey there

I'm about to take my chances at the bongo cajon (just ordered some birch plywood.. hard to find in Turkey),and hopefully everything will be alright but I couldn't make the differences in thickness between your long sides and the short ones. Dİd you make them all from the 1/8'' or 3/8'' or is it my time to see the eye doctor??
pdub77 (author) in reply to GobbelsDec 24, 2012. 5:21 AM
Everything but the playing surface is made from the 3/8. The part you beat on is 1/8. Have fun and let me know how it goes. And post some pics if you can!
Verga says: Jul 25, 2012. 9:07 AM
I just finished building this. I didn't have any baltic birch, so I just used regular ply.
I used underlayment for the top and planed it down to 1/8th.
I used Gorilla glue for the whole asembly and it worked very well.
I put the divided at almost exactly 2/5th of the way and the sound is outstanding.
The only difficulty I had was in figuring out the width of the sides.
I ended up going with 6 1/4 inches.
I put one cotat of Minwax colonial Maple on the sides and will use 3 coats of laquer to finish.
pdub77 (author) in reply to VergaJul 25, 2012. 2:55 PM
Excellent! Post a pic if you can.
urban wombat says: Apr 12, 2012. 2:44 PM
Hey friger, Fat Jacks Tash Wax works well on long haired cats, but short haired felines, not so much. http://www.fatjackstashwax.com/
This is far and away the best sounding bongo cahon I have heard so far. Thanks for sharing the build Paul. I will give it a try at the weekend.
friger says: Nov 27, 2011. 6:11 AM
Love it, much more portable than the floor model I built. Can you recommend a good cat wax?
Kiteman says: Nov 27, 2011. 3:35 AM
An excellent project - I predict these will start popping up in woodwork classes around the world...
Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format. You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.

Upgrade to Pro today!