nice work, kevin. i admire anyone that can just put together something like that. props also for posting it on the forum so others can learn and offer their own ideas - that way we might be able to come up with a few different models to suit different needs. for instance, some might like a portable model (like the one i use) and others might prefer the table style. some pulling stands might not be able to pull dunun (my model doesn't do that, unless i take the wooden bit off and replace it with something flat that can grip the side of the dunun to hold it in place - i'm gonna try that!). dunun don't really need to be pulled anywhere as tightly as djembes, but it would be nice to have a stand that can also bring the dunun to your height and reduce strain on your back.
your stand looks very solid, but it's also the biggest mofo i've ever seen! have you got any plans to sell stands in the us? there is a definite market for it. you are in a very good position to do this because you have both woodworking skills and metalwork skills. you could weld together a more compact unit or use a combination of wood and metal. and being a drum retailer and maker, you are in a good position to sell pulling stands and demonstrate their use. if you do go down this route, consider the urban folk who live in apartments and share houses who would need a compact unit. you could check out the photo that michi posted in the other thread and get some ideas off that. basically, it's a stable metal base, a metal pipe coming up just back from centre, attaching to a piece of wood which you rest the drum on (bringing the drum to working height), a metal rod at the front angled up/forward with a piece of rope attached to it. the rope goes through the hole in the clam cleat. the advantages are: more flexibility of where to put the cleat, no need to mess with the cleat to attach it to the unit, and if you put too much force on the pedal, the rope holding the cleat to the stand can snap (better that
this snaps than your djembe rope, imo - you can easily replace that little bit of rope and retie the clam cleat. but if you didn't want to have to replace the rope on your stand, you could use 6mm rope on the stand and use 5mm on your djembes). finally, the pedal (again metal in my case) is screwed onto the main pipe and has a spring for resistance to bring it back to starting position.
i'm not understanding exactly where you rest your djembe on your contraption. it's important to have something stable to rest it on so you can have 2 free hands while your foot's down on the pedal (and in case anything goes wrong with the ropes, so your djembe can't fall to the ground).
a feature that would be cool to have on any pulling stand is something to hold the last vertical while you pull the next one... everyone uses vice grips, but it would be nice to have something equal to that which is attached to the actual stand and which doesn't chew down on the rope as much as the teeth on vice grips do, so there will be less fray, giving you more milage for your rope.
another feature that would be nice: two clam cleats. one for 4mm rope (small djembes) and one for 5 or 6mm rope. twin clam!
Thanks for posting this!
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