Bracing the Body

When the glue had dried on the body for the katsugi okedo I applied a little pressure to the sides to get a feel for its strength and though it felt stout it still flexed more than I was comfortable with. I decided that I should put some bracing on the inside. I thought about how exactly to go about it for quite some time. Ultimately I didn't arrive at what I thought to be the perfect solution, but decided to go with simple and easy and see how the drum held up. I cut wedges of oak and shaped each to fit a specific join on the body of the drum, wrote a number on the brace that corresponded to the joint it went on, then once all the wedges were complete glued them in place in two alternating rows around the center of the drum as measured from top to bottom.

After all the wedges were in place and the glue was dry I once again did my 'squish test' to see how rigid the body felt and there was significantly less flex. I don't know if it's going to be enough bracing or not, but I'm trying to keep the drums light so I'm hesitant to add more. I'll run with it and see how it goes.