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A stock
photo of what an Alesis rack with everything on it looks like. |
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So here is one of the extension
rod from this rack. It is a ribbed aluminium tube that
measures 1.453" in diameter. So cut the crap, it is
basically a 1.5" metal tube which means you should be able use standard
plumbing or electrical clamps to secure stuff on to this pipe. |
So I looked on line to see how
much this tube is. Ok, $9.00. I can live with
that if I needed more extension rods to mount extra pads to the rack. |
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This is a close up what the T
connector that joins two tubes at a junction point. It is
basically a plastic 1.5" pipe "T" with a bunch of bolts used to tighten
it into place. This particular one is for a Yamaha DTX drum
set but it works for many others. |
This clamp is held tight using
these square bolts. You need a drum key to loosen
them. Alright, so I think this key thing is like an allen
hex key but it is not a hex it is a square. So lets see how
much one of those are... |
What the hell?!?!
$13.70?!?! For a stupid square socket bolt?!?!
Somebody is taking advantage of someone else... And
that someone else ain't gonna be me!! Damn!! |
So what IS this special
bolt? Well, it has a square head that is 0.21" square head
on the top. It has an integrated washer connected to the
head. The integrated washer is 11.64mm (0.458") in
diameter. The bolt has a M8 thread (Metric 8) and is 33.29mm
(1.311") long. |
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Ok, I look online to see how
much that special drum bolt is. $9.50?!? For a
stinking bolt?!?! Good thing I work in a hardware
store. This is total rip off! |
I am also going to make a note
for the nut too because it has a specially molded hex spot on the
T-connector. It is 0.388" in diameter. This stuff sounds like it could be found in a normal hardware store, at least, something that will serve the same function. |
Again, looking for this T clamp
turns out not exactly cheap at $13.00 each. But in a pinch, I
could live with that. I looked at other types of clamps
like plumbing pipe clamps, scaffolding clamps, and electrical light
clamps. I found them to be just as expensive if not more. |
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So the first thing I thought of
was using ABS plumbing fittings. I have used these same
connectors when I made my first rack for Drummania.
This is an ABS 1.5" trap adapter. It by itself was a little
loose so I wrapped two winds of green painter's tape on the pipe and it
was nice and snug. These go for $3.57 Cdn each.
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This is a metal clamp from
electrical on the pipe. It is a loomex 1.5"
connector. This is made out of metal so it is a bit more
expensive at $7.34 each but this is nice because the screws can make it
nice and tight. |
I kept the painter's tape on the
rod to protect the pipe. It is easy to see that going this
route is good because it is easy to get. However, both
plumbing and electrical connectors will make it more expensive than
buying used ones off of Ebay or Craigslist. As a later note, I found that rubber splicing tape (3M calls it Temflex) works really well. I also found other people use hockey tape but sometimes that stuff is too sticky. |
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This is the clamp to hold the
cymbal rod. It fortunately was still on the
rack. So what is it? Well, it is 1.5" clamp with a smaller diamond shaped clamp at a right angle. |
Here is the rod clamp and I
noticed it has friction scrapes on it. I measured the marks
to be at 0.208" (5.32mm). Do a bit of trig, and these marks could be made by a hex bolt about 0.484" on each side. So again, cutting the crap, it means you could probably mount the pads using 0.5" rods/pipes and using 0.5" pipe clamp hardware. |
As shown in this close up that
an Ebay seller had up, shows a hexagon shaped "L" pad bracket that fits
into this clamp. The other rods for the DM10 series
cymbals are round. Again, the important thing to get from this
excerise is that clamp is used to hold a pad mount roughly around 0.5"
in diameter. |
Here I have clamped on to a hex
coupler for 7/16" threaded bolts which fits on really
snug. Now, you need to check the size of the pads you
are putting on because 7/16" is just right for the Roland PD-5's but
may not be right for what brand you want to use. Adjust for size
accordingly. |
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So I replaced the stupid drum
key screws with something more normal. I found that 20mm #6
Metric flat head screws fit very nicely in the T-connector.
If metric screws are too hard to find in your neck of the woods, you
can try size 10-32 stove bolts. These things are 62 cents and everyone can come up with a flat head screwdriver. |
This
first type of Yamaha connector is for the older DTX drum
sets. The metric #6 screws worked and about 20mm to 30mm
works just fine. |
There is also another style of Yamaha
connectors which is hexed on both sides of the connector.
The #6 flat heads and/or 10-32's might not fit that hex. The back of the connector is a standard M8 bolt. Again, if metric screws are not available in your area, you can go to 10-32 bolts or 3/16" bolts. |
Here I used a 3/16" hex/bolt combination to fix this Yamaha connector. I found that 3/4" long is just barely long enough and 1.5" is a bit overkill, however, your hardware store's stock may vary. |
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Ok, if you are having problems
finding the T-connectors, I found a way to use 1.25" EMT U-clamps,
5"x1" mending strips, and some nuts and bolts to hold it
together. This is a quick way to make those right angles. |
To
mount Roland PD-5's, I am going to use split ring hangers which I got
from Lowe's in the plumbing section. A 1.5" diameter
ring with a 3/16" threaded connector will work fine for this
application. |
This is the 3/16" threaded
rod I got from the hardware store. I was lucky to find it
already cut to 12" but if you can't find it already cut, you can always
get a longer piece and hacksaw it down to 7" or so. |
So with a bit of the rubber splicing tape, I was able to get a nice tight clamp with a rod on the rack pipe. |
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Repeat the process 3 times and I have the 3 mounts for the 3 cymbals across the top of the rack. |
Ok, I picked up a 7/16" threaded rod with some 7/16" couplers like I showed in the clamp above to build some holder rods for my Roland DM5's. You can cut the rod to what ever length you want, I decided 7" was going to be good enough for me. |