I've had a brainstorm:
Drum Foundry sells 8-ply Keller reinforcing rings for about $6 per. I'm wondering if it's possible to buy re-rings 1" bigger than my shells and use the re-rings as hoops on my toms and snare. (e.g. for my 12" tom, I'd use 13" re-rings.) This would save a boatload of money, as the next lowest price for wood hoops is about $35 per hoop from Precision Drum.
My main concern is whether the hoops' diameters would be too big to sit on the heads. An 8-ply Keller ring is 0.21" thick, so by my math (which is unreliable at the best of times), that means the interior diameter of the hoop will exceed the diameter of the shell by .29 inches on each side of the drum. The question, then, is whether there are heads whose counterhoops are more than .29" wide. (To use my 12" tom example again, the head [including counterhoops] would have to be more than 12.58" wide.) I hear that Aquarian American Vintage heads are extra-wide -- but are they wide enough for this stunt to work?
Any feedback would, as always, be much appreciated. Thanks!