Kona - There's likely to be lead paint, take appropriate precautions. I use a heavy duty spray gel stripper (Sears) that traps all the paint under/inside the gel. I wear a face-mask, rubber gloves and scrape off the gunk in a very well-ventilated area. All scraping is done over a large plastic trash bag so I can scoop it all up together after I get it off the shell. Messy job. Needs to be done thoughtfully/carefully. The gel stripper takes it down to bare wood in one operation. It's rated to eat through as many as five layers of accumulated paint so it'll do the trick on your shell in no time flat. The worst thing you can do is sand it off. Sanding pulverizes the lead paint and puts into the air where it can reach your lungs.

John

John

I used the Heirlome Furniture Stripper to take the Nirocellulose lacquer off some hoops and a shell a few years ago. Like you said here = it's messy but does the job. I work a mask and gloves. I got some splash on my arm and it's like battery acid haha. I got the arm replaced (government health plan).

I was just wondering about the DUCO (Dupont Color) paint - didn't have experience with it.

I will give it a try when the time comes. I'm trying to round up a bass drum and snare shell for the project so it might take some time. I'm not going to remove any paint until I have everything (all the drums shells) in front of me.

Thanks

I don't know how "Dupont" slipped into this, but my understanding is Duco is short for "dual color". I doubt drum companies were marketing what company they bought the paint from.

Fender Musical Instrument used paints referred to as "Duco" in the 50's and 60's.

Definition: DUCO

"Duco was a trade name assigned to a product line of automotive lacquer developed by the DuPont Company in the 1920s."

That's from Wikipedia.

John

That was my understanding as well John.J.R.Frondeli has also stated that on occasion,as well as Mark Cooper,and Bun E Carlos.Those guys know vintage stuff fairly well.:2Cents:

Steve B

as i understand the painting process of the sixty's it was mostly a lacquer base product most strippers have a problem breaking down the paint i have had luck with the soy gel strippers heavily coated and wrapped tight in dry cleaning plastic leave it on for a day or 2 in a high humidity place, in the old days we took lacquer thinner and rubber gloves a heavy steel wool and a tub and wet and scrub you'd be surprised as always try a test area first...god luck be careful with the water based strippers as there could be a lifting of ply's and of grain

Huh, well it's good to learn something. I dug up a little more, from Dupont historical pages:

[INDENT]DuPont began producing nitrocellulose-based pyroxylin lacquers after acquiring the International Smokeless Powder and Solvents Company in 1905. The purchase of the Arlington Company ten years later (in 1915) deepened the company’s involvement. Although they were quick drying and widely used on brass fixtures, conventional lacquers were too brittle for more demanding uses. By the 1920s, however, the automotive industry had become a huge potential market. Although mass production had vastly increased output, because conventional paints took up to two weeks to dry, finishing remained a bottleneck. In 1920 chemists working with film at DuPont's Redpath Laboratory in Parlin, New Jersey, produced a thick pyroxylin lacquer which was quick drying but durable and that could be colored. DuPont marketed it under the name Viscolac in 1921. Assisted by General Motors (GM) engineers, DuPont refined the product further and renamed it Duco. The success of Duco led to further experimentation with finishes and late in the 1920s, DuPont developed Dulux, an even more effective alkyd finish. Duco retained a niche market, however, and DuPont continued to produce it at Parlin until the late 1960s.

[/INDENT]

Never actually knew what DUCO meant. Thanks to all for the history lessons!