My shop assistant is also a percussion professor at a local college. In December she asked if I would be willing to help her students make primitive tack-head drums. Sure! How hard can that be? Well it was time consuming, but all of us have mostly completed the drum. Of course mine still needs a banjo neck.
I was able to accomplish everything with materials on hand with the exception of the correct size tacks. All the upholstery tacks I could find with a 7/16" head have a 1/2" nail point. Using 1/4" maple for the shell leaves a 1/4" pointy line on the inside of the drum.
I tried pre-cutting the upholstery tacks, but the sharp point of the virgin nail is necessary to get the tack through the skin. After the goat skin head dried, I was able to take out one tack at a time, shorten it to a skinny 1/4" then tap it back in. Kind of annoying and time consuming, but beats going through a box of Band-Aids at the percussion recital.
Does anyone have a source for upholstery tacks with a 1/4" length nail? Thanks for any direction you can point me.
Bob Smakula
smakulafrettedinstruments.com
Edited by - Bob Smakula on 04/04/2026 11:37:23
Would you consider gluing 1/4 inch thick plywood trapezoids around the inner rim?
Can’t help with a source but I find cutting the tacks at an angle gives them a point that can still drive in.
quote:
Originally posted by lapsteelWould you consider gluing 1/4 inch thick plywood trapezoids around the inner rim?
That would be too much extra work for a primitive drum that the students have, so far, put 3 one hour classes worth of work in. I had considered taking a sacrificial shell and slicing, then gluing a 1/4" thick, 1" tall layer to the top/inside of the rim, but again, for the class, quick and dirty is the best way to go.
Bob S.
Edited by - Bob Smakula on 04/02/2026 17:47:20
quote:
Originally posted by banjobrewerCan’t help with a source but I find cutting the tacks at an angle gives them a point that can still drive in.
I'll give that a try. We still have the college professor's drum to stretch a skin on tomorrow. Pilot holes have been drilled in the maple shell, but getting through the goat skin really needs a good point
Bob Smakula
Maybe you could nail them in an angle and then bend over to the protruding points from the inside while holding a heavy weight against the tack head on the outside or just placing the head of the tack down on the bench/table directly over its leg.
? Maybe try installing them, then cutting them off from the inside with something like a fret cutter? (Might be hard on the tool.)
quote:
Originally posted by John Yerxa? Maybe try installing them, then cutting them off from the inside with something like a fret cutter? (Might be hard on the tool.)
I think a fret cutter would still leave a rough protruding piece which could be made flush with a file. Or you could forcibly bend them back and forth until they break through metal fatigue. They would tend to break just under the surface without leaving any snags.
I like to use small brass nails, but I still have to cut off the points afterwards.
Not upholstery tacks but the right length.
Only upholstery tacks I could find were 7/16 but depending on head thickness they might work (try amazon).
Or you could come up with some sort of finishing washer to run under a tack.
Good luck
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