20-25 is a good number. I did 25 myself on the snare I'm working on. Started off with light coats though, wanted to ensure I didn't remove the glitter with excess clear coat. Might not be a bad idea to spray the first coat or two before brushing. This way when you do, you won't accidentally rub any off.

And no worries man.

(PART 1)

Hello guys, it's been a really long time!

So... the reason I haven't updated in a while is primarily due to school (20 credits is a *****) and secondly because we Michiganians in the U.P had a really long and cold winter.

However, now that school's out for the summer and I have a little more time on my hands, I got back to work on the project.

The first thing I did after all of that spraying was to clean up the shells on the interiors with lacquer thinner, to take care of all the residual spray left from the base coat spraying. I also lightly sanded the base coat with 220 grit wetordry to give a little adhesion surface for the upcoming lacquer. I then taped all the edges, trying to leave as much of the shell intact as possible.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/C9njN2i.jpg?2[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/lTzmlDf.jpg?2[/IMG]

I'm going to send all of these shells to Precision to redo all the original bearing edges, so I'm not worried about the space right next to the bearing edge, as they will likely shave off a little bit anyway.

So now for the scary part! I was ready to do this but still a little apprehensive about not f'ing it up, so I grabbed a clean plastic cup (what I had on hand) and decided to apply it by hand by shaking it on, little by little.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/g4jkPWO.jpg?1[/IMG]

As always, when dealing with any lacquer or pungent agent, always use a respirator and adequate protection!

[IMG]http://imgur.com/S69on7W.jpg?1[/IMG]

So here's what I did:

[LIST]

[*]Used a compressor to blow-off the shells outside, to remove any residual dust or residue.

[*]Used a tack-cloth to go over the shells again, to double-check for residue.

[*]Brushed on a generous layer of the clear quick-drying lacquer, and covered the whole shell.

[*]Sprinkled on the clear German glass glitter, in a back & forth motion where the lacquer had become tacky.

[/LIST]

(PART 2)

Here are the results after one pass:

Here's the high tom:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/SqZgbzt.jpg?1[/IMG]

Here's a closeup of the floor tom:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/NrArSdT.jpg?1[/IMG]

Here's the whole rack:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/mU26Q3n.jpg?1[/IMG]

I learned after the first pass that it requires a special hand technque to do it this way, and over-pouring is a real concern if you don't keep the shaking consistent. If I were to do this again, I probably would've gone to the dollar-store and got one of these:

[IMG]http://www.stecindia.co.in/img/Tableware/Table%20Service/Chilli%20Flake%20Shaker.gif[/IMG]

But alas, overall, I was pretty happy. I let these sit for a week or so before I could get to them again.

(PART 3)

After a few days, I went back to the workshop and I was really pleased! I applied another coat and more glitter, and this is what they looked like after the second pass:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/I7J8AO8.jpg?1[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/OYmfzd0.jpg?1[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/XhgFDaB.jpg?1[/IMG]

...and here's a closeup of the detail.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/W3rLbAq.jpg?1[/IMG]

(PART 4)

...and finally, here's the results from today! I spent a little time combing through the finish, taking out mistakes, and using a tiny amount of cover-up lacquer in places where dust or wood chippings had gotten caught in the finish. Overall, Very pleased with how these are turning out!

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/nN4dVNT.jpg?1[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/nuxTDhN.jpg?1[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/cItOKrM.jpg?1[/IMG]

Now it's just all about layering on lots of lacquer and allowing it to cure! My wife took this photo of me while I was working, I really liked it!

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/JLdXOye.jpg?1[/IMG]

My next goal will be finding a good chrome plating service for the old nickel coated hardware (it's kinda nasty, and i want to match it with the Slingerland hardware and the new mounts I have for everything), anyone have any ideas/recommendations?

(PART 5)

Here's the glitter being applied, in a time-lapse video:

[ame]https://youtu.be/esLYdjlqDIQ[/ame]

Thanks for the interest guys, more to come!

Coming along great! Nothing like doing the home glitter lacquer. There may be a trick to the application, but you got it. Can't wait to see them fully assembled.

Great thread!! The finish looks impeccable!! Excellent work so far!! I will be following until the finish...

Cheers

Stunning! Thanks for the as it goes photos.

Creighton

This tip comes too late, but I'll give it anyway, for other readers planning to make their own glitter wrap. Or for boomstick if he wants to do something similar in the future:

1. make a test: apply some of the laquer you intend to use on a scrap piece of material that you have primed just the way you primed your shells. What you want to know is: how much time will the laquer take to get a little stiff (not completely stiff, but stiff enough for a bump to stay in place after you pushed it in with your finger). Let's say this takes 3 hours.

2. Aplly a reasonably thick coat of laquer on your shells. Set a timer. Immediately springle on the glitter.

3. When the timer says 3 hours. Take a piece of non-stick backing-paper. Spread it over the glitter and use a large smooth metal spoon (or something similar) and firmly rub the glitter deeper into the laquer. Act quick, before the laquer stiffens completely.

Speaking from experience: This method strongly reduces the amouts of clear laquer you'll have to use to fill the surface up.

By the way: waterbased laquer hardly yellows over time while resin or spirits based laquer does!