Dan - Adam has been duly warned, I hope his project is successful. I wasted a half dozen heavy duty utility knife blades trying to trim just a little wrap back from the bearing edge. It took me an hour before I realized... this stuff can't be cut! I called Precision the next day and I was told that they had 'special' sheers and cutters to work with glass wraps. I told them, they should say something about it on the web page. That stuff was so brittle and stiff it was hard just to form it to the shell and when I tried to trim it, it became Mission Impossible. Adam has friends that can help him out if he gets stuck. I just hope one of them has the 'special' cutting tools needed to do the job. My hands were a sore mess for weeks after I worked with that stuff. The substrate the glass is embedded in is like concrete! Never again. I'll pay somebody else to do it, but I'll never wrap anything in glass myself ever again. PITA!

John

I was glad I'd only invested enough for one 10x14 shell and then I dropped out too. At that juncture I had probably refinished at least a half dozen complete kits and snare drums with the regular materials. I quickly realized I was no match for glass glitter. Gary at Precision did warn me though, but I was too smart for him.

I also had to strip one red glass glitter kit that was crazed and cracked and splotched to death and it took me forever and cut my hands to shreds.

One problem with sending drums out is I'm fussy with the results. I want all the seams exactly where they belong, the wrap tapered to the shell just below the edge and so forth. One of the renowned guys did a kit for me and didn't pay attention to those kinds of details at all. I was so disappointed that I sold the kit at a loss. I didn't expect to have to explain that to an experienced vintage restoration guy, but I learned my lesson on that too. Now I draw sketches to accompany every detail and send them along with the drums.

One guy that really gets it is Chris Heuer at Heuer Drum Lab in LA. He did some bearing edges and buffing for me a couple of years ago and the work was nothing less than excellent. Idrum4fun turned me on to him and that was solid advice. It’s almost to the point of wishing I needed to have something done just to see the quality of his work.

For all doing Rogers restos, you must advised the vendor of the size needed to do the bottom piece. Otherwise the piece you get will be too short to extend an inch past each of the lugs sets at 4 and 8 o'clock. All Rogers bass drums have wrapped that is balanced across the bottom sets of lugs. Some of the other companies had the lap lower on one side. I have to assume they were trying to control waste more than Rogers did.

In the end, we know at least one reason other than beauty that makes the Rogers glass glitter kits valuable - it was a bummer to install.

Looking forward to seeing the end result on this

Thanks again for the warnings! Im going into battle and will definitely proceed with caution!

-Adam

After reading these warnings, my plans to rewrap an early Fullerton 24" bass in Silver Glass have been dashed. But go forth into battle brave Adam, and as you draw near this day to battle let not your mind or heart be faint; fear not, and do not tremble or be terrified. We are all behind you and wish you great success against this Glass Glitter foe whom all hold in fear. Godspeed to you and post pics should you prove victorious, and we will then bestow upon you great applause and hold you in high esteem. Bowing

Awww man...come on. Don't let em scare ya!

-Adam

Nobody is trying to 'scare' anybody. It's an honest heads-up from one drummer to another. I've wrapped an average of one or two kits a year for the last 25+ years so I have 'some' experience. Glass wraps are expensive and -very difficult- to work with. Even if you know what you're doing it's demanding. It is best left to professionals who have the tools and know-how to work with this stuff. You can accept the advice of someone with actual experience, or it can cost somebody a lot of money and grief to find out for themselves just how difficult it really is.

No scare tactics, just a heads-up. I don't want you to think I'm talking just to hear the sound of my own voice, or to jerk you around. Here it is from Precision Drum Co. It comes on the instruction sheet you get with your wrap orders. It reads and I quote directly:

"Glass glitter wraps are extremely brittle and must be handled with extra care. Precision Drum Co. will not take responsibility for any breakage while working with this material."

Glass wraps are expensive. I only warned you so you know what you're getting into before you plunk your money down for the wrap. I wasn't trying to play spoiler or scare anyone. I was trying to be helpful and informative. That's a whole other thing.

All the best of luck with the job. I'll be watching and rooting for you. I made my contribution to the thread, now I'm going back to lurking.

John

I appreciate it man. I was just joking around. If I fail miserably then it will be try number one with the glass glitter down the drain. Im not going to stop until Im a seasoned pro! Again, I really do appreciate your words of advice.

At any rate, here is a pic of the white primer all done on the interiors. It covered the wood hardener/moisture damage spot nicely. You'd think its a ludwig kit!

On to the flat grey!

Im getting all my measurements checked 3 times before I send any numbers to Precision for the wrap order. Also, I'm in "advice from dudes who have wrapped drums with glass glitter" mode. I speculate this kit *could be done and on stage in 2 weeks. We shall see!

-Adam

Grey is coming along nicely.

-Adam

Grey is done! Next we square these puppies up!

Adam