Template
The template is your guide for marking and cutting the skin. We make ours out of a sheet of plastic and scribe a 27″ circle for the outer diameter being careful to keep things circular. We use 10 mimi, which means that each sector of the circle is 36 degrees. There are four holes that will be punched into the skin and we just put a small piercing with an awl at the center of each. For a given sector, if you think of the holes as A, B, C, and D, then the spaces from A to B and C to D are 1 13/16″ and from B to C at the center is 1 ¼”. The mimi are placed at a circle that is 22 ¾” diameter, which means it is 2 1/8th” inside the outer edge all the way around. Use a Sharpie so that any pen marks do not come off on the wet skin during cutting.
Template Spreadsheet
If your drum has a different diameter, the spreadsheet may be helpful. The spreadsheet has 3 different examples showing our drum on row 1, and two other drums that fellow drum makers have made.