Cutting down a BD with rings - Page 1

Posts: 11 Threads: 7

Hey all,

A friend has asked me to do work on an early 2000s 18x26 Ludwig Maple Classic bass drum shell that's been sitting around his studio. The drum belonged to a touring band that had a van wreck a few years ago and the drum suffered some damage (nothing major, some ply separation on the reso side). Anyway, he isn't too crazy about the cannon sound from that depth and is interested in having it cut down to around 14". Is anyone familiar with a good method to do this on a table saw? I have access to a woodshop and am well versed with the tools there, just haven't done this before. My next question is, since we'll be cutting from the reso side, is it important to re-glue some re rings into the shell after the deed is done?

Posted on 10 years ago

Rik_Everglade

Member

Joined 12 years ago

Posts: 537 Threads: 31

I have done this several times, but not relocating the rering. I would just set the fence at 14", bring the blade about a half inch above table height, roll the shell against the fence and roll it. With the scrap piece, use a heat gun and pry/peel the shell's ply from the rering and reglue to the shortened shell. Should be an easy job.

Posted on 10 years ago

jccabinets

Member

Joined 13 years ago

Posts: 6432 Threads: 290

If the drum has original re rings then yo will want to get a new one or try to reuse the existing one for support.

When cutting a shell on the table saw you first need to make sure you have a sharp blade, most people dont even check that. Set the height of the blade about .5" higher than the thickness of the shell, dont have it any higher, it will reduce kick back and much safer. Just roll the drum into the blade and cut a little at a time. It is kind of hard to spin a big shell like that and keep the edge tight against the fence, so take it slow and easy.

Thank you!
Jeff C

"Enjoy every sandwich" Warren Zevon

Posted on 10 years ago