Ok.. disclaimer here. NO experience speaking, I'm just relating what I have read. Others might disagree with the following because they know more about this than I do and I willingly yield to their experience... it is certainly the best teacher.

In the bit of reading I have done on bearing edges it seems the whole thing is really in consistency of the cut rather than the shape of the cut. Different heads and different tensions can be manipulated to render a desired sound if the edge is consistent.

If the drum is out of round or the cut of the edge is inconsistent in angle or rounding anywhere around the drum then tuning the drum just becomes very difficult... if not impossible.

So it would seem getting a good quality job on this work is more important than the angle... ok not much help but it is all I got for you... 45 is a popular edge... but I think any thing between 30 and 60 will work as long as it is consistent in angle and contact surface all the way around the drum.

Sounds like a project of love- so good on you for doing it. It takes guts to recut edges.

If I were you, I would follow PEARL`s Reference series drumset edge designs. Here is link to the Pearl Reference official webpage

If you`ve played a Reference series drumset you`ll agree that whatever science went into that was well researched. Big sound.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

You're right, Jim, consistency is the most important thing, that's the main reason I'm redoing the edges in the first place. Especially contact surface consistency :)

I completely forgot about this Pearl science, thanks OsakaBop! But now I also found out that for example Yamaha Phoenix has a completely reverse idea - sharp on bass, and round on toms! However, I think I made up my mind. Since these guys haven't worked with drums before, the easiest thing to ask them to do is a consistent sharp 45 degree. I think most bearing edges on modern acrylics are done this way, and, as Jim said, consistency is much more important than the edge itself :)

Thanks for your help, and I'll let you know how it went, and hopefully post pictures if I get a hold of a decent camera. Cheers!

DTE

Pictures of the actual cutting in progress would be sweet!! I'm really curious about the process!

Best of luck on this project..

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Well - with all due respect - l disagree that the profile of the cut isn't important - lMHO ...it's everything. Many choices - [COLOR="Green"]1) Single 45 degree insde bevel - sharp edge on outermost portion of shell -gives you a lotta 'punch' to the sound and allows the head to really vibrate and ring. 'Modern' sound (disadvantage- heads tend to go out of tune fairly often).[/COLOR] [COLOR="Purple"]2) Double 45 bevel insde and outside - as above but the advantage is the heads stay in tune better. This because the edge is moved inward to contact the head in a better place than the first option.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DimGray"]3) lnside bevel\outside roundover - roundovers create a wider bearing surface which will cause more head contact with the shell thus more vibration is transferred from head to shell - result is more of a 'slap' on the attack as opposed to a 'dooooonnnng' sorta sound. Also the decay is faster. [/COLOR][COLOR="Blue"]4) Double roundover inside\outside - simlar to #3 but with even more head contact therefore more initial 'slap' and faster decay with less ring. [/COLOR] lMHO - on acrylic shells there's little point in going with a wider bearing edge\surface because there isn't gonna be much resonance of the actual shell as there would be in say a 3-ply wood shell. l would opt for 2) wth a very slight blunting of the sharp edge since acrylic is so much harder than wood.[/COLOR]

Hey, this is very good information, thanks Jaye! Number 2) does seem like the best option, I'm just not sure if the craftsmen will be up to their task. At the moment, the edges are closest to the option 1), so I was intending just to ask to fix them a little, to make them consistent. When I meet the guy myself and when he sees the drums in person we'll see.

Jim, I'll try to get some pics, however the whole project will have to be delayed for a week or so, due to some of my other obligations :(

I'll keep you posted nevertheless :)

Cheers!

DTE

Well Jaye it would make a great science fair project for a young drummer, that's for sure!

I fully yield to your experience..:) Bowing

D T Evo... pics whenever.. I plan to be around for a couple more years... Lord willing and the Creek don't rise!

I guess I was setting my sights low with a junior high science fair project... this guy got a National Science Foundation grant to study bearing edges.. Grant No. 9987906

http://online.physics.uiuc.edu/courses/phys498pom/NSF_REU_Reports/2003_reu/Eric_Macaulay_Final_Paper.pdf

Wow, what a paper on bearing edges. I need to go back to school to understand all those graphs.