DIY rainstick on the lathe, out of pallet wood

This musical instrument kind of mimics the sound of rain drops falling.

It is actually a wooden tube with bamboo sticks in it. It is also filled with rice. When  the rice falls it gets slowed down by the sticks and a rainy sound is produced. People used to make these from cactus. They turned the nails of the cactus inside out and filled the tube with small rocks or seeds.

I made my rainstick out of pallet wood. I used a jigsaw to remove the wood boards from the pallet.

I then used my jointing jig, to straighten one edge of my pallet boards one the table saw.

The main cylinder is made out of 12 segments. This means that the boards need to have a 15 degree bevel on each side. I created that bevel on the table saw.

I then glued the pieces of the cylinder together using blue masking tape to clamp them.

I also glued two boards together. This gave me enough material to cut out two circles for the cylinder’s caps. I cut them out on the bandsaw.

After the glue dried, I trimmed  the cylinder to size on my table saw, using my cross cut sled.

I flattened the caps and the cylinder’s edges on my disc sander.

I glued the caps to the cylinder.

I used a center finder, to find  the center of the caps.

I then screwed the face plate on the cylinder and mounted the whole piece on the lathe.

Using a spindle gouge I turned the cylinder round. I used a flat chisel to make the finishing cut.

I then sanded the piece with 100 grit sand paper.

I used a piece of cord and masking tape to mark a spiral around the cylinder. I then drilled holes for the bamboo sticks around the spiral.

I placed the bamboo sticks in place and added super glue. I flush trimmed  the sticks with a flush trim saw and then sanded the piece again moving from 100 to 320grit.

I filled the gaps using wood glue and sanding dust.

I drilled a hole on one cap to add the rice. I added the rice and then turned a plug on the lathe, which I then glued in the hole. I sanded the cap flush on my disc sander.

I then finished the piece with 3 coats of clear, satin water based varnish. I sanded between coats with 320grit sand paper.

I am really happy with the way the my rainstick came out, I hope you like it!