Thanks man,

Here in west texas the wind and dust blows regularly. Anyhing oily will attract dust, thus making the dressed item look brown. The dye on the black panters make them totally black again. No need for vinyl dressing.

When I got the BP's there were 10 bd claws missing. I had a few n my parts, thought I had more, but decided to buy all new. The new ones are wider than the originals. I stopped by one of my fave pawn shops today and bought a 16" 1st act bass drum for $10. I mainly got it for the hardware on it. the bass drum legs are exactly like one I need for my majestic bass drum. As I was driving down the road looking at the bass drum claws, exactly like the ones I bought for my black Panthers, I had an Epiphany, I put those original Ludwig Bass Drum Claws on the kids drum kit I built about a yr ago. I just got home and, sure enough, There they are, on the kids drums bass drum, back in the grandkids room. Doah! :confused:

Now I have plenty of oem luddy claws to put on my Black panthers. That means I have to R&R all the heads on both bass drums and do some more polishing. CryBaby

Poppy

Im starting the resto of my Black Panther Keystone badge set. (May 20 1969)

Exactly how you did the dye coloring on yours? just boiling water mixed with the dye and then aplying with a piece of fabric? Please let me know

Thanks!

Vin

I used SEM Color Coat. It comes in a spray can. The name of the color I used is called landau Black. There are 3 different blacks with different sheens. I picked the medium sheen. Semi gloss i guess. This product is a flexible coating. Changes or renews color on most flexible and rigid plastics, carpet, Vinyl, and Velour. I have been using this product for decades at my Auto Trim Shop. It is a very good product. It is usually sold at professional automotive paint store. All of my auto upholstery suppliers sell it. The trick is to make sure what ever your dyeing is clean and no oily substances on it. Make sure there is absolutely Amour all or any other vinyl dressing residue on it. I used spray away glass cleaner and a scrub brush, then wiped it with a wet bar towel, using purified water. I rinsed it with a wet towel twice, using two different towels, making sure it was thoroughly rinsed. Our water here has a lot of mineral deposits. The mineral deposits would also leave a residue. I didn't remove the badges, just taped em off real good. There were some spots on the shells that were whitish looking, and a few scuff marks. Probably from being banged around. This dye eliminated all of these. Vinyl dressing would temporarily hide these spots, but when the dressing dries up the spots would come back. This dye completly restores the color.

Oh, I didnt leave any oil on the finish at all! I removed all the excess. I tested the "dust attraction" leaving the floor tom a whole day on my back yard and it didnt attract any dust. The Oil restores the finish but you need to deeply remove it afterwards.

For those who do a lot of lug polishing by hand, here is a the way I have been polishing lugs for the past few years. It is so much faster and very effective. I can polish 30 lugs in 25 minutes or less. The pumice I use will not scratch the chrome at all. I used a test lug when I first started doing this and tried to damage the lug...but could not. A lathe similar to this one (which is a Dental lathe) can bought at Harbor freight at a fairly good price. I think they also sell the rag wheels. The pumice is very cheap and can be bought on ebay.

BTW....the Black Panther kit is looking great!

http://www.youtube.com/user/drumsjinx#p/u/9/2HGOAbBVgrI

http://www.youtube.com/user/drumsjinx#p/u/8/PNtYRud0Spg

Lug polishing is the most tedious part of a complete restoration to me. Is that pumice anything like ***eler's rouge ?

I said black panthers were cheap to Ludwig-dude. Well here is one that can most likely be had under $500.

http://denver.craigslist.org/msg/1596555294.html

New bass drum spurs (not good) and a acrolite snare($100 tops) . Looks like a 18" FT So its a 22" bass 12" and 18" toms. it might fetch more on ebay.

I wouldnt take $500 for mine. Like LD has said, "They are only worth what someone is willing to pay." I bet the floor tom would get $4-$500 on ebay.

i bet that floor might hit $300. Really rare size...and I think Ludwig-Dude is looking for an 18 inch floor-tom.