Skip to main content

Making a Thunder Tube



A Thunder Tube, or Thunder Drum is a really fun noise instrument. I've seen many versions of this but they all used a traditional drum head, which can be expensive.
I made this for $7
1. Start with a 12 inch section of ABS tube. The largest I could find at the local ACE was 4" in diameter ($3), but I think even wider would be better.
2. Next stretch about 10 pieces of clear packing tape across the top good and taught. Or add more for a brighter tone.
3. Poke a hole in the new head, and twist in the spring. The springs I had on hand were all steel extension springs, about 2 feet long. I saw one at the ACE for $4.
I know what you're thinking..."WHY AREN'T THERE MORE STEPS?! THIS IS TOO EASY!"

Sorry, it really is that easy. Slap some packing tape on a plastic tube up and add a spring.
I also made one from bendable elbow and wood.
Experiment with different pipe material and size of springs. They're great fun for kids and super easy to make!
Have fun!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Tablet Holder

Tablet stand made from a 400 page book and some epoxy resin. Paper micarta is the proper term for it, but it doesn't really capture the essence of the idea. Those 400 pages hold but a single story, and now they can upright a device capable of holding thousands of stories. And with only a book and 30 some odd ounces of epoxy, you can make your own! Just don't use a book that is one of your favorites. Which  honestly is why I picked this one, and the fact that the name was well suited! Really it's the ultimate upcycling!
Post a Comment
Read more

Rikon Mini Lathe

I got busy this weekend and completed a couple of projects. I took a number of pictures of my new lathe in action. Most of them during the turning of a recent euro stlye pen made from padauk and ebony with a CA finish. It was a SF Giants theme, and the lathe was covered with padauk streamers and ebony dust. Very cool first project. I had a little trouble with the finish owning to the extreme cold in the garage, but overall a pretty good result. As I normally do, I forgot something. I forgot to bring in the camera and upload the pictures to photobucket so I could post them. As such, there is once again no proof. sigh... Everything is simpler. No more wrench to move the tool rest or tail stock. No more indexing pin to take off the faceplate. No more hassle removing the centers or mandrels. Man what a difference! In addition I tried turning a few things between centers. Basically just mangled some spindle blanks. Good fun, lots of walnut shavings. So, the new lathe has officially been br...
Post a Comment
Read more

Turning A Sphere

Turning a ball is more work than you think. I first tried a simple method.. Turn a blank round Form the ball Part off and sand. Clearly, not a ball... On to step two! Chuck up a chunk of walnut, and scrape out a cup... Part off for the tailstock.... Scrape out an matched set for the chuck side.. They should match up. Insert square block.. Okay. You turn off the edges, rotate your block. Turn off more edges, rotate your block. Etc. About 15-20 minutes later... You can see how I turned a way the jam chuck as I went. The closer you get to spherical, the less you remove each rotation. Like anything practice till you're happy with it!
Post a Comment
Read more