The cajon hails from Latin American communities who couldn’t afford professionally made instruments. It’s basically a plywood box where 5 of its sides are 12mm thick and the front face being 4mm thick (the front face is the part that you strike to create different sounds). There’s a hole in the rear for the sound to escape and some old guitar strings utilised against the inside of the front face to create a ’snare’ type sound. It’s taken me a while to make this, because I wanted to source as many of the materials for free. My friend had some 12mm ply knocking around which she let me have. I went to Potters Recycling in Machynlleth, UK and found an old drawer that was being thrown out which had a lovely bit of 4mm play for its base. The screws I bought for a couple of pounds and the guitar strings came from a friend of a friend. The strings were the most difficult part to source, because people tend to throw old strings away when replacing with new, so I had to sit tight and be patient on that one.

I followed some wonderful instructions that I got from here They are wonderful because of the way they are written, with English clearly being a second language there are some wonderful descriptions and unusual use of language. This first cajon of mine is flawed in many ways. I haven’t got the snare how I want it to be….stronger and looser. But I’m pleased with it as a prototype from whcih to learn. Also, my next attempt will use birch-faced ply with more layers. I could of course just buy one….but where’s the fun in that?

Here’s a good site for anyone interested in making one.

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