The quality of the skin is vital for tone and life. Commercial tanning procedures are often bad news for a drum. Unfortunately, most bodhráns available today have such skins. Full tanning removes the natural oils from the skin. This makes it less resilient, flabbier and more prone to soak up moisture. 

I use a few of the better commercially finished skins, but for most of my drums I prepare the skin myself from rawhide (a black art!).

Laminating is essential for strength - a single piece of ash or beech bent into a hoop and glued will not do. A frame should be able to last a lifetime and put up with re-skinning if necessary. Traditionally, the bodhrán maker's market was very limited and there weren't the materials, the tools or the incentive to make anything other than a basic frame. Today we can reasonably expect a bodhrán to look and feel as good as it sounds.

I use birch ply if I want to stain the drum,  

The tunable bodhrán was born of the increased popularity of Irish music as a stage performance. The professional player must be able to control the sound of the drum. The trick has been to provide a means of adjustment that doesn't take away from the traditional appearance of the instrument.

I use four brass fittings that exert pressure on an inner hoop. A bolt turns within a 'shoe' that doesn't. Why only four? Because the inner hoop is man enough to take the strain. Adjustment can be made in seconds and there is no friction on the inner hoop. I