From the BuildDiary.Net perspective of things, buying a drum shell and hardware and making a drum would be... cheating. Unfortunately, that's what most drum building websites on the internet talk about. But, as usual, if you dig around a little more, you find the gems.

This fine upstanding german fellow makes Samba drums (also called a Surdo). From scratch. Looks like his technique could be used to make just about any drum, so have at it!