X3WD - Cajon with adjustable snare

I was so excited to finally be able to start this project. I did a lot of research in terms of what wood to use. I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I still wanted a great deep sounding tone with a nice crack for the slap. I settled on 3/4" Red oak plywood for the body and Birch plywood for the tapa. I knew that I also wanted the capability of turning the snare on or off.

For the actual build itself, I did rabbet cuts along the sides, bottom, top, and back pieces and held everything together with wood glue. To reinforce the edges I glued and brad nailed some 3/4" pieces of wood along the bottom and top edges. I also decided to go with a 5" diameter hole centered on the back which gives me the option to add a Kickport if I need more bottom end out of the Cajon. The tapa just gets screwed into place without any wood glue.

For the adjustable snare mechanism, I used a cam lever from a bicycle seat. Make sure to use a lever with the external thread long enough to span the width of the material you use. I think the one I used was 50mm. I left a link of one similar below. I then found a hexagonal nut that fit the lever and chiseled out the shape of the nut into the side of the dowel which then got epoxied to the dowel. Just be careful not to get any epoxy on the threads. I then used a 1 1/4" dowel to mount the snare wires to. Upon screwing in the cam lever to the dowel, I added some CA glue to the end of the lever to secure it to the nut after i adjusted the tension which will ensure the dowel spins when you turn the lever. Also, make sure your dowel spins freely. The cam lever itself will pull into the side of the cajon to secure it doesn't spin.

Once everything was assembled and functional I finished the tapa with Miniwax Polyacrylic and Varathane Cognac Stain for the Cajon with Satin Polyurethane.

Hopefully, this helps a bit on the process I used. I wanted to make this more of a tutorial with instructions, but I ran out of time to finish the cajon. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks for watching!

Cam lever similar to the one I used: (I got mine from an old walmart bike seat I had laying around.)
https://www.amazon.com/Kipp-04232-121...

TOOLS USED:
Central Pneumatic 20oz HVLP Air Spray Gun
Ridgid Impact Driver
Ridgid Drill
Ridgid Router
Ridgid 18-Gauge 2-1/8 in. Brad Nailer
Ridgid Cordless Circular Saw
Ridgid 5" Orbital Sander
Ryobi Bench Sander
Dewalt DWE7480 Table saw
Kreg 24" Rip Cut Circular Saw Guide

MATERIALS USED:
3/4" Red Oak Plywood
1/8" Baltic Birch Plywood
Titebond III
1 1/4" Dowel
Snare Wire
#6 - 1 1/4" Wood screws for the tapa

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