Chod Accoutrements

DGA
Former staff member
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: Chod Accoutrements

Post by DGA »

This may be helpful to reibeam.

I recently acquired a chod damaru that had been (according to its previous owner) in storage since the late 1970s. The finish was in rough shape and the skins were tight tight tight. The strap around the outside (fabric) just crumbled into dust in my hands. I decided to restore the piece.

First order of business was to care for the skins, because I feared that the work on the finish would cause the wood to expand. So... I put a small amount of anhydrous (the size of a pea) at the center of the skin, and slowly, gently, rubbed it in and out until it had coated its surface, and did the same for the other one. (I should add that this one didn't have a coat of paint on the skins, which changes the calculus entirely). Now I had an old chod drum with sticky heads that smelled like sheep, until the next morning when I held it between the palms of my hands and rotated gently but firmly to work the lanolin into the hide. My hands are big enough that I was able to cover the entire surface of each side this way. Twist, twist, twist. My hands wicked away any extra lanolin, and the rest absorbed into the skins. And it worked. After two mornings of this, the skins were about where I wanted them in terms of being a healthy, even tension, and not sticky anymore.

Afterward I removed what remained of the original finish, carefully sanded it, and applied five coats of linseed oil. The last coat is drying now (it takes forever). Mrs Jikan has committed to help me sew a strap for it with the cowrie shells and the rest because these hands are not exactly made for detail work.

Any advice on said strap will be warmly welcomed.
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Konchok Namgyal
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 1:39 am

Re: Chod Accoutrements

Post by Konchok Namgyal »

I too have tried the lanolin trick and it works very very well.
as far as acessorizing the Chod drum , it does really depend upon the lineage and teacher.

I have two, one that is very very old that has been restored, the local tandy leather shop helped me to find some thin tough skin to use as a handle, it does have the yerka, melong etc and tail.
( yes the original strap was leather....)

The second one, given to me by a nun from the Gompa I stayed in for a couple of weeks while on pilgrimage in nepal, is very simple, only the Conch ring and tail, it is the one I use mostly, so as far as what is authentic ? Both are, being that one came from a Rinpoche and the other from a practcing nun

I agree it is more important to learn the melody and correct visualization than anything else.
Recognize that your mind is the unity of being empty and cognizant, suffused with knowing. When your attention is extroverted, you fall under the sway of thoughts. Let your attention recognize itself. Recognize that it is empty. That which recognizes is the cognizance. You can trust at that moment that these two – emptiness and cognizance – are an original unity. Seeing this is called self-knowing wakefulness. ~ Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
aussiebloke
Posts: 52
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 2:39 am

Re: Chod Accoutrements

Post by aussiebloke »

Don't know about Chod drum skins being too tight, but have a handy pith instruction for loose drum skins . Get fine ash from your fireplace and make a paste by mixing with water. Apply it liberally to both sides of the drum and then allow it to dry naturally. When dry brush the dust off and ....brand new drum . The effect will last for a very long time , maybe years.
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