Jeff,

I think this is the best looking wood finish Ludwig kit that I have ever seen. Your work is second to none.

I purposely got stain and lacquer on my new edges. Back when I did do the edges I tried to bring the apex to a sharp point, that way I could sand the shell on my sanding table one last time, removing the stain and reveling a fresh unstained flat ( 1/16") apex. The problem I have is that the thickness of all the plys together is inconsistent, therefore creating a flat apex ranging between 1/32" and 1/8". I am not sure if that is a big deal or not but I have gone this far and would like to hear from someone who has a lot of experience cutting edges. My answer to correcting the issue is to take my block sander and sand the outside profile, which is an 1/8" round over, in the thicker areas to get the apex a more uniform thickness.

I attached a photo of the edge. You can see that the lightest color is the apex I'm talking about. What do you think?

I would put it together with the inconsistency and determine then if there is a tonal-tuning problem. The drums came from Ludwig with this problem and usually sounded pretty good.

Last pics before the completed kit. I worked so hard to remove all the paint form the inside of these drums. Then I was disappointed in the (interior) finish at first but now that the hardware is all on and the wrap is done, I think they look just fine. I am real happy with the badge installation, wish I had the proper tools for it but it turned out fine. I highly recommend the use of the double sided carpet tape on these badges, they are very nice an tight just like they should be. And the tape will keep them from spinning around as you tighten up whatever tool or flat head bolt your using to flare the grommet.

Good point Tom! Im so excited about getting them done I will do just that. If you go to this very well done tutorial you will read that edge work is pretty muck experimental,

http://www.drumfoundry.com/t-cutting_drum_bearing_edges.aspx

This site has been a ton of help, I have referred to it several times.

Well, after a very long time, here it is. Thanks to everyone for following along for so long and thanks for everyone's input and comments along the way. You guys are the ones that really can appreciate just about any drum related topic, that is why I like to share my hobby here on VDF.

Well worth the wait, fantastic!

They look fantastic Jeff.

The kitty likes to photo bomb you.

A job well done, they look wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to document your progress. That's a lot of work in itself.

Wow those are beautiful Jeff~! They look like a brand new drums fresh from Ludwig. Really great color on the finish on these. So nice. How you like them?