Jeff, since you are refinishing the drum, I would go back with Aluminum washers all around, Stainless for six or more ply. If you do original steel, you saw what you cleaned off and it takes the route of the grain too., if you use Copper or Brass it will green up on it, but, it you use polished Aluminum washers, it will take the shape of the shell and none of the other sh*t will happen. Put originals in a sandwich bag and they go with it.

A buyer will look at superior woodwork and those ugly fasteners, but new washers blind out the screw.

Thats a great idea! I was wondering about that, glad you chimed in. Those stains in the wood where the washers were do not come out. It would be nice to have a washer slightly bigger than the original to make sure those stains get covered.

Good call Odball !

Jeff I have been watching this this thread and cant wait to see the finish kit this is the best idea for reclamation of old drums very nice Impressive work such a talent good going

a idea for more of the exotic woods that are pricey how about faux wood grain i do that its not that hard to do, there are formulas for Birdseye maple and other wood grains, I actually have them any time you want to try I'll send you the info (I teach this also along with marbleizing and gilding ,all the arts for historic sites). gary

Gary that's so cool you do this. My wifes Grandfather did this for years for a living. He hand painted over metal cabinets, on walls, anywhere. We bought our place from her parents and he painted the faux woodgrain about 3' tall all the way up the hall stairs and hallway. It was covered in a groovy grey panel my Father in law put over the old plaster walls in the 70's. :D When I removed the old wood panel I saw bits of the coolest hand painted wood trim. Sadly he used 2" nails and liquid nails to secure the paneling. So much of it and the plaster wall was destroyed. But I did find one small patch in the upstairs hallway that was well preserved. We left that and added a copy of his old newspaper ad enlarged sightly in a frame over it. I tried to take a pic but it's too dark to see well. Sorry I'm getting OT here but that's a lost art. So cool you do and teach this. Wish I was closer I'd come take lessons.

Gary, are you suggesting this faux wood grain for the inside of the shells? I have new birch veneer rough cut and ready for the outside, and I have a stain/dye/shaded finish procedure ready for execution. It is an interesting concept that you are presenting though and would like to hear more about it, sen me a personal message and I will give you my email. Then, if your planing on going to the drum show we can talk about it then as well, preferably over a beer somewhere where we can actually talk.

Glenn, great to hear from you, hope your spirit has been regained.

That is a cool think you did on the wall with the news paper add and all. Reminds me of a job I did in a 140 year old home. The kitchen was gutted down to the plaster except for about 2 feet of the original wains cote, I built a special depth cabinet to go over it so it would be preserved for the future homeowner to find when they tear my cabinets down (how dare they). See the pic, its hiding behind the base cab left of the ref.

Jeff you do such nice work. I wish you were closer and we could afford a kitchen makeover. Cool sutff for sure. Hey that stove reminds me of a old Glenwood gas-wood-coal stove that was in a apartment I rented long ago. It was still in great condition too. Ha!! :D

Thanks man always good to hear from you.

That bass drum shell looks amazing. Something about taking em all way back to the wood that's so rewarding...you almost don't want to re-assemble lol!

About them washers - the washers on Ludwig mounting screws I have don't come off, I think they put em on there and then thread. So I'm a bit confused here...:)

Mitch

You are correct about the washers being threaded on to the screw. I think they will come off if you hold the washer with some vise grips and back the screw out. If not then I would just get all new screws also but first lets see how the shells come out, it might not be worth doing. Remember, I have filled holes in some of the shells so they wont be as attractive as this bass drum shell is.

Thanks Glenn, that's actually a brand new stove, flip that upper panel open and you have modern digital controls for the oven, pretty cool stuff.

No such luck :) I just tried it and I think this would severely blunt the threads on the screws. I think it's not so much the washers were threaded on there, but rather the washers were put in place during manufacture, and then the screws were threaded. Googled it a bit and they're called "captive flat washers".

They may not be "perfect" in the end, but I think we all know they're going to be pretty damn cool!

Mitch