Wood routing advice needed

[MillerMav]

Good morning all,

I haven't posted in a while because all I have been doing is working and being a dad (not complaing!) lol.....

Either way, I finally have time to tackle a project I have been wanting to do for a while now and need some wood working advice. I want to create a adjustable cylinder using a plywood tube. The end product would be what we drummers call a canister throne. For a long time I have wanted to do this to scale down what I cart in and out of gigs. Problem with old school canister thrones is you were locked into a single seat height and if it didn't work for you, tough.

I have an idea to use a multiply drum shell, cut away the top 1/4 of it and route the outside ply's of the top and the inside ply's of the bottom. That way I can have it lower when I am sitting on it but expand it when I am using it to carry hardware.

I do not have access to a lathe but I don't think lathing ply wood works very well. What I do have is a router and a table saw.

The more depth/length I can get the better. I was hoping to get about 5" of travel between expanded and collapsed but regardless if I can only get an inch that would be better than nothing. What router bits and/or table saw blades could I use to create what I have attached a rough diagram of below?

Here is a canister throne for those of you who need a better example.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[cgrutt]

How deep does the connection need to be? I think you just need a rabbeting bit with a large bearing (shallow cut) such as this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000225ZR/?tag=atomicindus08-20. The bearing will follow contour of cylinder so it needs to be round on both outside and inside. If you're using a hand router, you should feed from left to right (counter clockwise) on the outside and right to left (clockwise) on inside of cylinder. Good luck!

 

[racingtadpole]

I'd look at glue laminating a couple of strips of thinner ply to the top section instead of routing it. You should be able to bend some 1/8" to fit inside the canister if you are careful. If it cracks you can ghetto up a steam bender to help it. You would lose a small amount of inside diameter though.

 

[shoot summ]

Bit of a challenge as a typical flush trim bit isn't going to remove any material. Even if you installed a smaller guide bit, most flush trim bits aren't too long So you will need a guide of sorts, and a mortising bit. You are likely only going to get 1 1/2" to 1 5/8" on the cut as there aren't really any bits that are longer.

A spiral cut solid carbide bit would work best, but they are pricey.

The only guide I've ever found that could do this is an old Craftsman I've had for years, looks like they still sell it. You flip the guide around and use the portion with the two "points" on the inside of the drum.

https://www.craftsman.com/products/craftsman-multipurpose-router-guide

ETA, just checked, I have a mortising bit that will go to 2", think it's a Freud.

 

[MillerMav]

I'd look at glue laminating a couple of strips of thinner ply to the top section instead of routing it. You should be able to bend some 1/8" to fit inside the canister if you are careful. If it cracks you can ghetto up a steam bender to help it. You would lose a small amount of inside diameter though.

I can do an internal ring without problem. I was hoping to avoid the cost of purchasing additional shell material to create that ring. Also losing the internal storage space isn't a huge issue but if it's one that could be avoided that would be ideal.

 

[the gypsy]

How thick is the shell? I am thinking, it is probably easier to set up on a router table and not with router bits with ball bearing guides.

 

[MillerMav]

How thick is the shell? I am thinking, it is probably easier to set up on a router table and not with router bits with ball bearing guides.

The shell is 5/16" (.3125") thick and is 6 plys. Ideally I would have the plys be 3 and 3 between the two halves.

Just so I understand correctly you're saying setup some sort of depth guide to keep the shell from traveling to far into the bit and not rely on the bearing on the bit to control depth of cut?

Do you happen to have a visual example of how to accomplish this? Other than cutting 45 and 30 bearing edges on drums I have zero router skills.

 

[the gypsy]

Oooops, I thought the shell was thicker than that. May be best to do an inner ring,as previously mentioned.