Materials and Estimated Costs
The main components of your drum are the barrel, the tacks and the skins. Usually we pay about $175 for the barrel, about $50 for the tacks and $185 for a half hide, which yields 2 and sometimes 3 heads. Other items that add to the cost are sand papers, stain and polyurethane, epoxy and so on. We spend about $35 making a flat stand with wheels. The main items total $445, so adding in the smaller costs it usually runs around $500 as of 2015.
Barrel: Ron Young of The Barrel Shop has recently retired. So, stay tuned for addition information.
Tacks: We order tacks from kaDon online store. A box of #6 sized tacks has 600 in it. These are labeled as 18.2mm and we use about 220 tacks per drum. Currently a box is $95. www.kaDon.com/store
Skins: The skins are cut from a half hide which we purchase from the Stern Tanning Co. All their prices are on their website. Taiko heads are on the second page under: Conga / Taiko Heads, and we order the “Natural Steer”.