I use a 45 degree bearing edge on my drums because that's the Router bit I have. I mostly do a standard bearing edge with some variations here and there. EZduzzit is right, work to make a drum the 1st time and flow with the punches. It took me 4 attempts before I had a shell I could use. I used cheaper Poplar wood because of the trial and error. Of course I should say that I had no wood working experience when I decided I could make a stave shell. Here is one stave shell that is waiting for hardware. Very satisfying when it comes out right.

BTW your shell is going to be very thick at 20mm(3/4") and will sound loud and higher pitched than say a 1/4" shell. . . James

Thankyou everyone, you've been brilliant. I've found a site online thats also been brilliant. If you've come across it, you'll know, if you haven't, try it. It's at pdgood.us/drumshed/staves. For a first timer, I found it very easy to understand.

You can also try www.ghostnote.com for more than a minutes worth of reading on stave and other drum making tips and tricks.

Also, as far as edges go, TAMA has developed a really nice contour for the StarPhonic series woodies, as seen here: http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/STARPHONIC/key.html

I am "using" a similar profile that I can do by hand with sandpaper and and get really good results, even on my old "junk" MIJ snares. (I have one in a studio, recycled old 4 ply w/rings Star shell that I sold to a guy in OKC and he immediately put it to use in his studio and it is now his main workhorse....) Really, it was my first attempt "drum building". I say drum building because it was truly an almost blank canvas. The edges were almost flat, no beds, the finish was shot so I applied a curly maple veneer and a really cool hand applied sparkle finish that is an orange color, seen and heard on my youtube page under "Star Resurrection" [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVeNWA6I8sg[/ame]

I CANNOT PLAY so, keep that in mind. The snare is a beast, however.

Go here for the guys who put that info together. Great bunch of guys, very helpful in answering your questions.

http://www.drumtown.info/forum/forum.php?