Other than the cut, this is turning out to be a cool project.

The shells are very thin (from what I can see) which translates to a fairly quiet volume. If you are wanting loud, you might want to consider putting some wood laminate on the INSIDE of the shells. It sounds strange, but it would really perk up the volume and cool the tones, which would be more inline with young turks bangin' away. Just a thought. That's going to be a sweet old set for neighborboy to go slaphappy upon. I can't recall, have you brought him into the scene to decide color/pattern for the wrap?

Or, and this is just a theory mind you, you could try a thick poly on the inside as well as the outside. Maybe just sand and stain the shells with a dark mahogany (skip the wrap and save some $$$).

I would think a nice thick layer (or 6) of poly would not only strengthen the shells, but give you more of a fiberglass or fiber/wood type tone as well as volume.

I did a stain and poly job on an old set of import shells from the mid 70's for a nephew of mine about 20 years ago. The drums looked very nice and they have held up well to some serious abuse (he was a teenager when I gave him the drums).

I was working as a furniture maker at the time, so I had access to not only lots of hand tools and free stain, but a spray booth. The booth made the job so much easier.

I know that a stain or lacquer finish may not be as exciting to a young drummer as a cool sparkle or some other crazy wrap, so if you're feeling really creative, you cold try a sunburst or two tone type stain job.

Well, I have two single ply snares that are just LOUD as hell, and the thick luan one is not so loud. I thought the thin shells let the sound ring out with a quicker decay. Oh well, I am wrong yet again. No, I have not brought him in, because as of yet, all he knows is that he will be "borrowing" them. I am using my moey, so it will be my call as to how they look. I know that at some point, I will get them back. Right now on CL in OKC, there is a killer set of newer Premiers for 300, and they are in fantastic condition. Anyone want a really nice looking and sounding kit for cheap? & pc set up, no hardware, but they are in good shape. And yes BD, I am thinking the same thing, since the hospital and the doctor screwed me on my short term disability timing. I am using the poly to strengthen them anyway, so layer or three inside may very well do the trick. I will keep this updated. I need a few lugs for the floor tom, as some of them are broken, like maybe three or four, so I am scavenging right now. The older Pearl/Maxwin/Royce lugs are what I need. And a 22in wood hoop. That will be easy to get from the community, don't you think? NOT!

Well I am going to make a custom color for the stain since the shells are pieced together mahogany luan on the outside. I don't want to make them too dark, but too light is out of the question as well. So I am going to mix my own color. And since I have a Dollar Tree next door to the Ace Hardware, Sparkles are really cheap. Now the trick is going to be to get just the right amount of glitter, and the right mix, since there are 6 cool colors of glitter. I think it will be the best of both worlds, "stained sparkle". Who knows, I may have a new process to work with. Since I am going to do at least three coats outside, it will be poly/sparkle, poly/spakle, then either poly, or another poly/sparkle before the final coat. I am going to have different colors of glitter in each layer of poly. How cool is that?

Cool1 OR Lame

[COLOR="DarkRed"]I always thought about veneering the inside of crap shells...but over at DrunShed.org those folks really suggested against it...not that it couldn't be done, just that the labor intensiveness of trying to fit the veneer in a concave fashion in between the re-rings would just be too much of a bear.

So, I would lean towards BD's suggestion....do the poly on the inside of the shell...it'll densify the interior surface and that'll allow the sound to bounce around in there more...it'll make the surface less absorptive and the drums should sound livelier.

...once again, I might add that a recut of the batter edges will also do them a world of good, but we have already had that conversation ;)

Alternative cheaper wrap could be a Satin Flame...those are usually pretty dang cheap wraps and they do look good for the first 4 or 5 years...

IMHO, Luan is not a good wood for a finish surface...it's just not great looking, the grain is too open, and it doesn't take colors evenly...also, for a 1-ply, the poly/stain may well soak right thru the ply and start to warp the shell....

But if you are set on doing your stain/sparkle experiment...keep us posted, (and I will glance at its progress w/ one eye closed Eye Ball)

;)

[/COLOR]

1) Yes Sir, maybe. They carry factory paint, so I may not bother.

2) I have done so. I cut all of my reworked edges by hand, using sandpaper. Each edge tells me how it wishes to be cut, and as such, I usually do it spot-on. I tend to keep close to the original shape on some, and sharpen or round out others. For instance, on this set, the BD has some horrific damage to the res side due to extended time w/out the head and hoop, so it had to be re-built almost all the way around. The batter side wanted some change, so I took the flat out and rolled it over to more of an arch. This kit turned out to need much more work than I really wanted to get in to, but it is done, and the edges and shells are all in great shape(s) now. And I am really a fan of waxing and burnishing it in over tung oil. Just my personal preference. Wax can be had almost anywhere you are if you need to touch up.

3) Uh...yuk. Sorry, I am not a fan...I don't do acid anymore.

4) Yeah, I know, but see below. This is my custom mixed stain, and is getting multiple layers of alternating glitter as the poly goes on. As for the concern of saturation, I got lucky. They were painted from the factory. BTW, This kit has been re-wrapped at some point (remember the first pics showed it in plain black crap wrap, with only the seams and a spot opposite held by tape). As I removed the grommet from the bass, I found a large piece of gold sparkle attached to it. ( the floor tom grommet sliced my pinky knuckle open, requiring stitches)

5) See below. The following is the process to be used:

a) Custom mixed stain color with Red and Silver sparkles added while wet.

b) First coat exterior poly with Gold and Purple at this stage.

c) Second coat poly with a fair amount of Pink. This pink is like a nice Champaign Sparkle. I think that having it last will bring the red up from the bottom. These photos do not show well. I did the best I could, but with or without flash, it just isn't ready to twist and shout.

They will be unique, no doubt about it.

Great idea about mixing some sparkle with stain. I have a couple sets worth of these luan shells sitting in the garage myself. This might be a nice job for a Christmas present for some budding drummer here in town. Keep the pix coming. I'll check my parts, but I don't think I have the lugs your needing. Most of mine are the slingy copies.

I will post after the first coat of poly goes on. It is raining here right now, and I hate painting in the rain, although it does leave the poly wet long enough to get the whole bass painted and sprinkled before it sets up too much. I think it is going to look pretty good. I had originally planned to put 6 colors in, but I don't think green will look good with the mix I already have going on.

I would take 16 of those, as I a picked up another 16x16 to go with the Majestics. I got 2 16s with this set, but one is a Royce with 5 lugs. I'll let you know when it gets here if the lugs are slingers or not.

The bass is almost certainly not from the same set because it has 3 ply re-ring construction and had gold sparkle on it found hanging on to the grommet, and the toms and snare are missing the grommets and they are single ply w/rings, all mahogany. An interesting note on the bass: it is laid up with opposing run on the grains, which I find to be more work than I have seen these types of kits use. I am beginning to wonder if the bass is even a match. The lugs have been re-drilled in order to accept the slightly different Pearl stuff, the tom mount has been re-drilled to take the Pearl as well and the interior is painted black with grey speckling, while the toms seem to have been painted to almost match, as the speckling is a slightly different color.

Can anyone tell me who used these interior colors? I know it is probably a $300 bass, that is forever wrecked, but at least someone else de-filed it before me.

FYI I am applying the sparkles while the stain/poly are wet. I paint it on, then sprinkle it over so that it sticks. So far, I am getting a fairly even distribution.

OK, I need 8 T-rods and claws for the bass. It is beginning to look more and more like a Slingerland bass shell, and I don't have a clue who did this to it, but anyway.... The T-rod is 5" without the collar. See pic below: