Thanks all!

Here is the inside.

The snare is a 14x7.

Cool on the skins. Will be in touch.

Creighton

Good eye, Tim! Was wondering the same thing myself when I saw the photo. Nice old drums.

> If anyone tries this and doesn't have experience with fiberglass, make sure you read up on breathing protection (not just a crappy paper mask), eye protection, and hand protection. You will be itching for days if you handle fiberglass cloth.

I'm glad you added the disclaimer! Fiberglass is hazardous stuff to work with. You really don't want any of that stuff in your lungs. Cancer causing agent. Not a real good idea to use it for wood drum repairs.

John

Making some progress. Think going to be able to save this shell.

It has a new name. Machine gun Kelly special edition :-)

No idea why it was drilled this bad.

First pic be the concave/convex clamping buck hacked out to get the outer/inner shell wrap back in place. Worked from the outside of the lifting to the center.

Second pic is using extreme measures to get the shell wraps to go back where they are supposed to be. All the holes were already there.

Last one is current state. It is now exato knife time to cut clean edges on the missing area's and cut pieces to fit. Also need to clean the glue from the narrow area's and fill those. Test tube started with sanding dust so all should be an exact match.

Any suggestions on the best way to dowel/fill non factory holes?

Thanks!!

Creighton

Looks like steady progress.. Big job.

There are quite a few threads on plugging holes.. Here is a link to a more recent one.

Cheers

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=6324&highlight=plugging+holes

Thanks for the thread!

Bunch of work and a bit of a ponder of what it was to start with. Great fun though.

I'm going to leave the wood finish exposed. Thinking about using <> shaped patch's to cover the holes. Hope this will blend better than a circle. Easier to make as well.

Anyone tried this approach?

Creighton

Why you should never leave a pillow or blanket in the BD !!

That looks like black mold damage. (dryrot) It eats organic materials, both the wood and glue, and excretes acid. (Sulfur based,mixed with humidity/H2 S O4)

I don`t see water damage to the edges, if it sat in water, it would go from edge to edge. But a moist pillow or blanket, straight down through !!

You`ll never get the stainning out from the Tanic acid in the wood consentrating all the way through.

I`ve been a carpenter all my working career and I`ve repaired similar plywood damage to sheething and you have done very well so far, so did I, unfortunately I`ve never seen it last very long. Too many voids inside the repair and the splits are all throughout.

That is a BD and you should not put weight on it any more, it`s thin 3 ply and moves too easily. It may also vibrate/buzz !!

Be careful not to pull it out of round or you`ll have trouble with the heads !!

Again, you`ve done well so far and I wanna see the final results !!

Oddball good info! I was wondering how the shell was damaged in the center. That would sure explain it.

Nice job on the fixes so far. Are you making diamond shaped plugs? Not sure what the <> is but round dowels are pretty easy to make and install. Solid fix. :)

Creighton,

You got a 60/40 chance of the sawdust mix turnning black,..I don`t know why but it has happened to me with Beech, Maple, Oak mixed with water based glue`s !!

OddBall,

Great advice! Makes perfect sense on what caused this mess.

I'm going very slow on rebuilding the strength. Gently lifting each outer or inner damaged ply until it feels firm. Scrap old glue out best possible and the hit with compressed air to get all dust out. Using a piece of cardstock to poke glue as far into the join as possible, let dry a bit then clamp. Pulling together well but also wonder how long it will last. It will be in a dry and stable temp basement for the rest of my days.

Next will be dowels into the holes but only the length of the inner ply. Will cut out diamond shape around the holes and matching mahogany pieces to cover the dowel. Worked on this today and shows promise. Very tedious though, with at least 25 extra holes topside will be done first.

Once all of this is done going to start on stripping the layers of red/blue and black paint that is on the inside. Thinking this should be last so the old paint and moisture from the stripper doesn't corrupt what little wood I have to attach dowels and such.

Going to have some questions on final finish. I've got bleaching and dark area's. Agree the dark is all the way through.

Best to just stain match the bleaching and live with the dark?

Really appreciate the help and kind words!!

Creighton

Minor progress. Did crack out the lighted mag ring to get this sorted. Big project to fix. Glad it is the only shell that needs it. Here is a close up. Will update as it goes along.

Creighton