@Job:

Re: wood, see page 3, called, cleverly, "Wood and Frame": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=2 -- As far as species of wood are concerned, I doubt it makes much difference, since we're talking about laminate plywood here.

Re: Ocana, see the intro page, "Germán Ocaña".

> what is the thickness for the tapa? im trying to build this cajon drum but im having problems making the snare thing.

Hi -

For the tapa, see page 3, called, cleverly, "wood and frame": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=2

For the snares, see page 7, called, cleverly, "snares": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=6

Good luck,
-Casey

Hi -

@Job - see http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=3 for info about the hole size issues. The size doesn't seem to matter so much, in my experience. The function of the hole is to "let the bass out", in a simple sense; the cajon "kick" sound is making a "thud" wavefront. Without the hole, the thud hangs out inside the box and doesn't come across as loudly. My personal conviction (as explained at that link) is that the hole isn't part of a "Helmholtz" model, where it "tunes" an air spring, so much as it just prevents the air pressure of the internal space from preventing the tapa from moving and allows the thud wavefront to escape. If the tapa vibrated like a traditional drum head membrane, then the hole might be relevant, as when playing a djembe you can insert or remove a fist in the hole to change the pitch of the drum.

Gluing/nailing: see http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=4 -- nailing or screwing into the edge of standard laminate plywood doesn't really work, so you basically need to glue. Ocana also recommends this for the sake of a good air seal via the glue. The exception, sometimes, is the tapa, which you screw into the frame (the frame is in turn glued to the inside of the plywood). Some people also glue the tapa, but i prefer to leave mine removable.

@Richard - Yeah, generally the back panel is the same as the sides, with 12mm or thicker plywood (glued all around). It's important that the cajon be sturdy/rigid. Regarding the snares, see http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=6 ... I agree that the string-snares are not satisfying. There are a number of other ideas on that page, as well as links.

Glad the site is helpful,
-Casey

I am designing and creating a cajon for a school project neccesarry to finish the school and get my diploma. what is the relation between the size of the cajon and the hole? is the function of the hole to amplify the sound or to add an other sound function?

Nate, i would like to use the same technique you used if you say that it is a better design. Let me know! Thanks

I was wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to do something with the hole similar to what someone would do when designing a speaker and tune the cajon with a port tube. This would make it more of a Helmholtz resonator. The air inside the port tube would resonate and provide a boost in low end frequency depending on the length and diameter of the port. For instance, if the interior volume of the cajon is roughly 1.9 cu. ft. then a 3" inside diameter port with a length of 8.5" would have a tuning frequency of 30 Hz. There would be a 12 decibel per octave roll off below that frequency. At those frequencies it would not matter where the port hole was located as the wavelengths are quite long at those frequencies. I do plan on building one to experiment with this summer. I will be sure to keep you informed of my progress.

Sorry, had an issue with the commenting system (fixed now). Here are two comments in response to "instead of using guitar stirngs or a snare":

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I am thinking about building my own canjon and your experience will be very helpful I think! Can't you create a blog or something like that and share your experience? I'm sure there is many people that will appreciate!
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Yeah same here!
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-Casey

a different way of making your own cajon is too use small pieces of bamboo or just a bunch of wooden rods they should be a little more than a quarter of the length of your cajon and about the size of a instide of a bic pen(the part that hold the ink), basically you run them up and down which would be perpendicular from the bottom and top of your cajon. So you take your bamboo or wood sticks and line them up all nice on the inside of the front side, after you have them lined you want to glue them at the bottom of the sticks(the side closest to the ground)leave the top unglued so the bamboo has room to reverberate then you take a piece of wood that will connect to the front (basically this piece of wood is used to hold the bamboo in place it is placed parrallel to the floor a little less than half of the way up the bamboo sticks connect that piece to the frame you made that fits the front (where most directions tell you to connect the guitar strings). Another thing to keep in mind is that the front top of your cajon should have some play in it basically you should have screws that can adjust the front to get the snare sound. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND LOOKING?PLAYING A CAJON AT YOUR LOCAL MUSIC STORE (hopefully you are lucky enough to have a store that carries a cajon or two) Basically i built my first cajon following the instructions above plus a little extra except i used snare wires instead of guitar strings, then i had the pleasure of playing a cajon in dales drums and i examined the build of the ones there. Building my next cajon i had a much better design and got much better results. if you would like more exact instructions let me know i would be happy to help.