# A Many Pictures Few Words Cajon Pedal Construction



## petcnc (Nov 5, 2015)

Six months ago I started learning how to play the cajon. Cajon is a percussion instrument made of wood that produces sounds similar to a drum set.




As the player uses his hands to play, after some time you realize that  you need another pair of hands to play all sounds you wish.

As we can’t  create an extra pair of hands, one has to use his feet for the job.

Of course it is not an easy thing to slap the surface of the cajon with your foot, as you do with your palm, so technology comes  handy....

Pedals were invented to let the foot do what it is capable of!

To step and produce sound by turning step into hit on the instrument surface!




These pedals were created for drum sets while the player sits behind the drum. You cannot use them pedals for the cajon, as you sit on it and the instrument is not in front of you but rather between your legs.
Some people just reversed a normal drum pedal and used it in a non conventional way.



Others used their engineering skills to convert a drum pedal the “plummer’s way” using tubes to connect two parts of a double pedal together.
A poor application of a good idea! The whole construction has limited flexibility in positioning the two parts.


Others were more creative on the same principle!
A Very flexible application of the same idea, but it is more a poor man’s cajon pedal



Of course commercial products are available...
I could get a decent device for 150 dollars (plus postage and taxes…)

But as we hobby machinists always say “why buy something you can make?”

A friend provided a broken old pedal for free and I had to repair it and create something good out of it.

The principle is simple! Nothing to invent here:
Use two parts connected with steel wire (like the brakes of the bicycle) and make a support bar to connect the second part to the cajon


I had the pedal.




I need to make the other half in an easy way…



I also had to make the support bracket.

That was the easiest part.




Even for the tension bolt there was no difficulty.




A few more Materials needed:

Brake steel wire




Sleeve for the steel wire




Electricians wire connectors to secure the steel wire end.




Some steel  bars
12x12 mm Steel bar




and 30x3 mm Steel bar




I decided to make the cajon part with one supporting column instead of two



The part had to be strong, solid and “heavy duty”




Front side & steel cable Connector details




Two 608ZZ bearings provided smooth motion to the moving parts




At the other end of the steel wire is the Pedal mechanism. (Front view)




Cable details. You can see the use of the electricians connector to secure the loop of the steel wire (View  from above)




All 3 parts assembled and ready to be secured to the cajon




Final product in position (secured to the cajon)




The shiny part on the stick comes from pipe insulation material





Some paint would make it look more "professional" but it will be done after some stress tests and adjustments

Thanks for reading this

Petros


----------



## tpic402 (Nov 5, 2015)

Nice work, I must admit I never even heard of a "Cajon"  until 3 minutes ago thanks for the education.


----------



## petcnc (Nov 6, 2015)

Some paint makes the difference in appearance!




Looks nicer now

Petros


----------

