Seal the shell first with a deep penetrating sealer like Danish Oil or heavily thinned varnish/enamel. This will help keep the fibers together and prevent splintering.

Next episode of my YouTube Series will feature cutting Lauan shells. Will be up in a few days. See this page: http://compactdrums.com/diy-optimized-compact-players-kit/

I will await further developments...

Impregnate with CA glue first.

What is the sperm count of CA glue? Car Driving2

Sorry, I don't understand your question.

Tom ,

Its like cutting off a door, you have to take a utility knife with a new blade and score the veneer, then cut right up to that score line. That would be hard to do on a drum but not impossible. I dont think applying oil or glue over the veneer will work. You have to use a router table. You could also try climb cutting, which is cutting in reverse. This is done when you have real bad chipping/splintering problems but is normally done with a power feeder. I have done it free hand, you just have to go slow and hang on tight. Now Im talking about routeing an edge on a flat board. For a drum you could cut in reverse but like I say, take it slow and get a good grip. Your not removing much material so it shouldn't grab too bad. Also, take some of that Frog tape ( love that stuff) and apply it just below the cut, this will help with the splintering as well.

Yup. Had the edges on my Stewart kit re-cut by a professional (Jeff Woods). Was well worth it. He squared up the shells, re-cut the bearing edges, and sealed them up. Vast sound improvement. I'm gonna have him do the same thing on my latest MIJ purchase, my 60's Baxter kit. I say, go for it.

Cheers,

* My Stewart kit, post edge work.

[ame]https://youtu.be/n-OzRoePk9M[/ame]

* My Baxter kit, re-edging pending.

im·preg·nate

imˈpreɡˌnāt/Submit

verb

1.

make (a woman or female animal) pregnant.

synonyms: make/get pregnant, inseminate, fertilize;

aha, now I see. ;-)