Rope
The rope is a 3/8 inch double-braided polyester rope. It has a breaking strength of 5100 lbs and a stretch of 2.4% at 15% of the breaking strength. We started out with 1/2 inch manila rope and this is much easier to work with. It is also nice that it does not stretch much at all. We want the skins to do the stretching and not the rope!
Tools and Supplies
Here is a list of the various tools and supplies we use for the job:
- 2 foot square melamine or other flat Formica board
- Belt Sander with 60 and 80 grit papers
- Orbital Sander with 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180 and 220 grit papers
- Biscuit Joiner and #10 Biscuits
- Titebond Wood Glue
- Drill with bits for dimpling, plugging and tacking
- Plastic Wood Filler and 3/8″ oak wood plugs
- Stains, polyurethane, and epoxy along with brushes, tack cloth, staining pad and white T-shirt strips
- Double-pointed compass
- Small clamps, various pencils, Sharpies, scissors, tape
- Sheet plastic, protractor and clear plastic for the skin template
- Tin snips for cutting the skin and an awl for marking
- Plastic tarp for underneath the wet skin
- Rubber mallet and leather covered soft face mallet
- Metal hole punch for the skin, we use ½” diameter
- Galvanized steel rods for the mimi, 3/8″ diameter by 6″ long
- Tape measures and plastic ruler
- Long piece of felt and ratchet tie-down strap to support the barrel