MAKING STEEL DRUMS
(STEEL PANS)

Making steel pans (steel drums) is an art! They are made entirely by hand and require skill, patience and practice (as well as a strong arm and a good pair of earmuffs).

There are two main methods of making steel pans.

• The traditional method, which uses a 55 gallon metal drum as starting material. This is by far the most popular method.
• A more recent method which uses sheet metal as starting material.

Making a Steel Pan (Steel Drum) from a Metal Drum

There are ten steps in this process.

1) Sinking
2) Marking
3) Counter-sinking
4) Grooving
5) Setting/Backing
6) Cutting
7) Burning
8) Tuning
9) Applying a Protective Finish
10) Fine Tuning and Blending

For information and pictures of these ten steps, click here

If you have read the ten steps and still need more details, I recommend you read the following book:

'Steel Pan Tuning: A Handbook for Steel Pan Making and Tuning'
by Ulf Kronmon.

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