That would be a cool project!! I`m sure Jeff (jccabinets) will chime in with some advice...

Good luck!!

Cheers

I remember having some years ago. I managed to find one of them. It is made from 3/8" marine plywood. It's about 6.5" long 4.5" wide, a little under 2" high. The slit on the side is about 3" long.

I don't remember if this one is the big one or little one. It's just glued together and the edges are rounded a little. It sounds as good as any other woodblock I have. The holes are for mounting. The end with the slits are the end you would hit. I can't get a photo from the front to come out right side up %(

Brian,

You’ve given me the idea to make one myself!

I’ll probably start with a good hardwood like maple or rosewood. Hollowing out a chunk of wood is difficult without the right tools, like a mill or dedicated mortiser. Therefore, I would be likely to make it from glued-up pieces to make the sound chamber versus trying to hollow-out a sound chamber.

The top (striking surface) has to be thin enough to give a good, hollow sound, but not so thin as to break from being struck. I’m thinking about 1/8 inch? I think the rest of the block’s mass just serves to give the block some resonance.

What do you think?

Josh

ps. I recently made a castanet “machine” based on a Youtube video. I made my own castanets on the lathe. They sound okay, but not as good as legit castanets, and I think it’s because there was not enough mass to them to make a good, loud sound.

I agree with your description of not finding good sounding woodblocks. The best ones I have found are very old (1920's?) Chinese mahogany wood blocks. Some are marked "CHINA" in capital block letters on one of the small ends. They have the thin top but I recommend that you make a thicker top and then file and sand down the edges so it has a rounded shape to hit. There is a book called "Sound Designs: A Handbook of Musical Instrument Building" by Reinhold Banek and Jon Scoville (Ten Speed Press, copyright 1995) that has detailed instructions for both woodblocks and "layered" temple blocks. I recommend the book for all sorts of percussion instruments. Hope this helps, good luck. Joe

Joe,

A brilliant suggestion! I just found the book on ebay for $7.00.

That’ll save me (and Brian?) some time.

Josh

Thanks again for the great responses, guys!

rastus: I never even thought of a plywood construction but, why not? If it works, it works!

Josh: Yep, hardwood for sure. I'm thinking I might like to try mahogany if I can scrounge a bit from my local lumber yard. I don' have the tools to do any kind of intricate work with a solid piece so it's gluing pieces for sure. I really like Gorilla Wood Glue. VERY strong! I'm thinking that the striking edge might be a bit more than an 1/8 inch though. I sure wouldn't want to crack or shatter it after all of the work!

Joe: Amazing! Thank you so much for the book idea! Why reinvent the wheel? What a great idea. Your suggestion is very much appreciated, sir.

Brian

This plywood wood block sounds as good as the plastic ones I have now. You could certainly come up with something a lot nicer using better quality wood and a better design than a square box.

I have had an idea in mind for years for a percussion instrument unlike anything I have seen available, but something I want and I think would be very popular. I snatched a copy of that book off Amazon that will hopefully give me some ideas to get moving on that.

I have a copy of that book I bought over 20 years ago. Played with some of those ideas when i was working at the guitar factory and I had access to piles of quality 'scrap' wood. Made blocks, tongue drums and other noise makers. I found that the softer woods like mahogany worked better than harder woods like rosewood and ebony as their hardness led to a much, much higher pitch. Quality plywood might work. The voids in cheap stuff might not be so good. I used cedar on tongue drum tops that had a pleasant tone (had to dig through a huge pile to find a quarter sawn piece...) I say go for it and don't be shy to experiment if you have wood lying around.

Tris,

Thanks for your input. I’ll consider your experience in wood selection. I’m sure Brian will, too. Valuable stuff!

Josh