i think I found my process here.

apparently maple is a difficult wood.

http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Trim/Staining-Trim/how-to-stain-wood-evenly-without-getting-blotches-and-dark-spots

If it were me, I would recover that shell. Restaining maple after a cowboy had his/her hand in it can prove to be frustrating.

If you get this to turn out looking killer, you have my props. If you recover, you'll still have my props. The Colliseum snare is a KILLER snare.

Great link.

I'm carpooling with the bunnyman on this one.

If you think the recover process is beyond you skills consider sending it out or seeing if someone here can lend a hand and do that task for you.... That shell wood look awesome wrapped in birdseye or some exotic veneer if you want to keep it au natural.

Looks like FLAMFLANGE is enjoying his restoration project. I have an 8X14 just like his that I just restored,KINDA.I just replaced the original Classic throw-off/buttplate with a P-85 and matching buttplate. The holes matched up perfect for the buttplate,it just left one extra hole.The throwoff,another story.Had to drill a hole for the fit with one extra hole the original left.AWESOME SOUNDING SNARE DRUM NOW.

Didnt mean to take over FLAMFLANGE's post here.I just wanted to say that restoring a drum such as mine/his is fun.

I'm think at this point that I keep reading the difficulty of staining maple a dark color and given the state of that last layer I wonder if I should do a veneer.

This would look cool-bubinga

http://www.theveneerstore.com/ps-413-24-bubinga-rotary-pommele.aspx

Can someone show me the way to a veneer restore thread as I have some idea but not a full idea.

Cheers!

P

Nice choice... that bubinga is badazz.

My other computer is acting up and I've saved several DIY drum build websites that might be useful... if no one posts them... before I get the other computer to cooperate.

I vote for bubinga with Hoppy!!!

Here's several links for you to investigate....

http://www.veneeronline.com/home.aspx

http://pdgood.us/drumshed/finishes.html

http://www.lawtondrum.com/services.htm

http://www.precisiondrum.com/

https://www.drumfoundry.com/default.aspx

http://www.ghostnote.net/vbforum/forum.php

my 2 cents is also to veneer it. Bubinga is a beautiful wood. You may want to fill in that low spot before the veneer to even out the roundness, then lay on the veneer.

Is it better to sand away stain rather than remove it with a liquid or gel varnish remover? When I redid some beat-up maple Slingerlands back in the day I wound up using some gel that did a great job. All I had to do was hit it with some fine sandpaper and steel wool to prep for re-staining afterwards.