Those look neat now. Can't wait to see the stain. I think you should do what you can with the hoops and stain em anyway...just a thought. Maybe a darker stain...

Wood glue requires clamping and unless you have a vac bag there is no good way to clamp that many square inches at once. Plus I think there is an issue with the vac bag actually crushing the shell. Veneers are to be applied with contact cement, it is not that hard. Especially if you rip your veneer a couple inches wider than the shell and let it hang over each edge while you are wrapping the shell. That way if it does start to wonder off center you just trim the crooked edge off.

The shells look great, exited to see the finish!

Thank you very much as I still plan to eventually cover a 20" MIJ bass drum with birch veneer and was planning on wood glue. Contact cement it shall be...

Mitch

This is what I did... I left about an extra inch on either side, then just trimmed it off with a sharp razor knife after the cement cured. I will now file/sand the outside of the bearing edges a little to smooth them so heads don't get hung up on the edge of the veneer.

One thing I learned: when you buy your contact cement, buy the type that allows you to reposition slightly 'cause once you start rolling the drum into the veneer with the stuff I used, it is STUCK. I lucked out though.

Staining on Friday - more pics coming soon. Thanks for all the kind words!

Ken