Hi,

Thats a great drum you've got there. Good luck with it.

I've used CitriStrip to strip the paint off of a 1940's Radio King. It worked very well and did not smell too strongly. Picked it up, along with a few hard bristle brushes and plastic scrapers, from Home Depot to aid in stripping the paint.

There is a short section on how to remove badges and then re-attach them in the Restoration and Help section (link at the top of the page I believe) on this website. You can also search the restoration forum here for existing threads that talk about this in some detail. I found them to be really helpful!

I've had very good luck cleaning my nickel hardware with Simichrome cleaner and polish. You can also try some Dawn dish soap and a damp rag for an initial cleaning. I've read conflicting opinions on using steel wool on hardware, so I usually stay clear of it. Using a toothbrush may help you to remove some stubborn grime.

Well, hope this helps a bit and gets you started. Good luck and post pics when you start and finish!

James

Thanks for the quick reply James. What year do you think this dates to? I've looked through catalogues online but have not found this exact snare. Would you think this is the original paint? Kind of simplistic... Also there are some paint ripples around some lug bases....??? You know where some paint would have sat as it dried. Odd...

I have to say though that if this would be the original paint, it's in very good shape, then I'd feel even worse about stripping it! AAaaakkk...!??! electricit

This is a project of mine during my x-mas break... So it's going under the knife in less than 5 days. Unless somebody saves it from my clutches, :)

Looking forward to yours, or other replies. Thank you.

You have to be careful about how you strip paint from these old drums - LEAD paint was commonly used way back when. The last thing you want to do is to sand it off. You'll create a toxic cloud of dust that will harm you, your family or your pets.

Use a quality chemical stripper, rubber gloves, face mask, safety glasses, work in a well ventilated area and make sure to dispose of paint/stripper residue responsibly.

Best of luck, I'd enjoy seeing photos after it's done.

John

It appears to be a repaint to me...

As to cleaning nickel, DO NOT use steel wool. Nickel is much softer than Chromium and will scratch BADLY.

A Cape Cod cloth might be a good place to go after a soaking in dish soap & water solution and scrubbing with a SOFT toothbrush as suggested. Even when drying this hardware avoid paper towels which can scratch the nickel. Go to Wal Mart in the auto section and grab a bunch of cheap microfiber cloths (usually light blue colored) for all work with that nickel hardware. Brasso is a favorite of mine, but remember to use a damp cloth to apply it and never let it be rubbed dry on the nickel, as there is very fine compound in there that will also scratch the nickel if allowed to dry and rubbed in. Keep it wet and rinse thoroughly when done.

Another less aggressive cleaner is from Stoner called Invisible Glass. It has no soap or colorants in it and is less aggressive to metals than even Windex brand cleaner. If you want to start out slow, start there. That should remove the gunk but very little of the tarnish (often called "patina") which might be a desirable look- you may not want it to look factory new, because then other parts start to look worse against the few 'perfect' looking parts on the drum.

Looks like a fun project for you! Good luck with it!

Thanks everybody...

I'm still up in the air about finish. I've consulted many sites regarding this and I'm not sure if I should:

- USE SEALER BEFORE LAQUER?

- LACQUER INSIDE OF SHELL? Are modern inner-shells laquered (craviotto)?

Also, I've spotted a bit of un-gluing 1-2 inches between re-rings and shell. I'm thinking of mixing a bit of hot water with a good quality wood glue, taping the inner side of re-ring and applyingthe glue and turning the shell upside down to let the glue fill the gap by gravity, then applying clamps with care of wiping all glue off the bearing edge? Any suggestions?

Thanks again

Will post pics of project :)

Yes. A good quality sanding sealer compatible with your top coat. If it is a solid color, you can use a standard (compatible) primer in stead.

This is up to you. Most modern drums (and a lot of old ones) have some sort of coating on the inside, mainly to control moisture. Craviotto and Ford are the custom guys really pushing this for 'sonic' reasons. My old Montineri is not coated at all inside, and the other custom drums I painted in the 90's were also bare inside. A hard, non-porous coating inside will change the tone of the drum. Tung oil is not a hard, non-porous coating by the way, but does help to control moisture.

Good idea but don't bother with the tape and don't thin it very much, if at all. See if you have a Woodcraft store near you and ask them for a glue syringe to inject it into the area. Keep a damp (cloth, not paper towel) rag handy, let it run in, clamp it up (I clamp and release a few times to make sure the glue gets in the area well- you should see "squeeze out" all along the area), and wipe the excess while it is wet. If you use tape there is a good chance the glue will get under the tape and you won't see it until dry, which is a much bigger mess to clean up. Wipe it up wet. Beware not to get the end grain areas wet if this is a ply shell, as they will swell and distort the bearing edge.

THanks J!m, I think I will leave the inside bear as I want to keep the sound as original as possible.

Now... Although I am not at this step yet; How will I reset the badge, is there a tool I can use and where can I find a Slingerland gromet, do they still exist? I will be in no hurry to do this as I want it to be exact and would not want it to appear that it was ever removed. I like my work to be clean.

Marc

I THINK lead paint was legal till 77..but don't quote me on it..

I am no expert in badge re-instalation, but it is done quite often and I'm sure some searching around here will gain you more than you ever wanted to know about the subject.

What I do know is that there are "good" tools to install them as well as "bad" tools to install them. It may make sense to send it to Precision drum for example and see if they will install it for you. I know they do excellent wrap work, if you were to go that route... There are other custom drum companies and another may be closer to you....