Grooving Process Of The Steel Pan Musical Instrument

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To Design, Build a Device to Assist in the Grooving Process of the Steel Pan Musical Instrument
ABSTRACT:
The traditional method of grooving the steel pan is a manual forming method, which involves in a time consuming process and the use of hammers and chisels and skilled labor. The design and development of this device is to prepare by the grooving process, a pneumatic hammer with a modified chisel attachment .Additionally will be able to stay in a straight line in grooving process, Avoiding hand injury, pounding out the grooving track while still maintaining the note shape, Counter-groove depending on the type of steel pan and surface of material. This instrument is quite versatile and can be used to play calypso, jazz, classical music and …show more content…

There are 12 steps involved in the making of a steel pan.
1. Choosing the drum (Thickness of surface material , surface condition)
2. Marking the drum (Concentric circles drawn on the drum‘s surface for sinking)
3. Sinking the drum into a concave bowl
4. Shaping and Smoothing of the bowl
5. Marking the notes
6. Backing (notes are hit from the underside of the drum to give their arched shapes)
7. Grooving (Separate notes with groove)
8. Leveling (Flatten grooves to level notes with each other)
9. Cutting the drum (Cutting the length of the skirt)
10. Tempering (Heating and cooling the drum to relieve stresses produced during cold working)
11. Tuning to obtain the correct pitch for each note
12. Finishing by chrome …show more content…

The notes are sketched with a marker and then marks are hammered with a smaller hammer to make the note areas stand out. At this stage two distinct areas are mapped out (1) the note areas and (2) the dead areas. This is the first step in isolating the notes. The second phase of note isolation is to groove within the dead areas. Grooving the pan is done with a small hammer and a small center punch, it is especially important to apply a feather-light touch while grooving the pan. With one incorrect stroke of the hammer, the punch would burst through the playing surface thus rendering the instrument useless. Here in lies the need for a device to assist with the grooving process.
DEVELOPMENT OF GROOVING DEVICE: The following are the three important factors for grooving device:
1. The device must be lightweight
2. The device must be easy to use
3. The device must be powerful enough to impact different steel strengths
The original tools used by a manufacturer consisted of a hammer and a rounded chisel to make the grooves. So, it was decided that a handheld pneumatic pistol type tool which suitable for the application based on these same elements. This would essentially allow both hands to use one tool.
After the work, the final grooving tool had the following specifications:
1. Chisel base length (to taper) – 31mm and Taper to shoulder (from base) – 4mm
2. Shoulder length – 4mm and Shoulder

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