For starters, I thought it would be possible to strip, then re-stain the drums. The interiors looked very good, so I didn't use any sort of stripper which might have spilled over to the inside. Instead, I hand sanded the old lacquer down to bare wood. The rack tom took about 90 minutes, floor tom maybe 2.5 hours and I have at least 4 hours into sanding the bass.

jim

You're on the road to a sweet rework. It looks like that kit has some potential. I'm watching. Neato!

Thanks! This type of wide flat sanding pad is highly recommended for anyone who is dumb enough (like me) to hand sand.

These floor tom brackets were one of the biggest challenges. All 3 tom legs were wrapped with masking tape in an attempt to find some grip. As shown in the first & second pictures, the metal tabs inside these brackets were basically filed down over time by the tom legs. Without the tape, the tom would simply fall to the floor, even with the wing nuts cranked down tight. Being metric, the shell bolt pattern does not match anything I could find as a replacement. Used brackets would likely have the same issues.

After much trial and error, I found some metric stainless steel washers with holes slightly larger than the tom legs. I cut two washers for each leg as shown in picture 3. The washers fit tight against the bracket walls and snugly over the tom legs. After this repair, the brackets hold the tom firmly. I sit on the drum and it will not collapse.

Thanks for looking.

jim

Man, that takes some patience!

Little update. After spending something like 10 hours sanding these drums to bare wood, the stain would not take. This may have been caused by the birch shells or maybe some remaining lacquer that is bonded deep in the wood. Or it's possible that the outer veneer is now too thin? In either event, the stain looked like crap. I priced out wrap, which would have cost more twice what I paid for the entire set. Still wanting stained drums, I found a sheet of 4x8 ft maple veneer at my local woodworkers store for $75. I wrapped all three drums and probably have enough veneer left over to wrap two snares. I used slow set yellow glue and held the veneer in place with plastic shipping wrap till the glue dried. This took several days, because it was wrapped up so tight.

Getting closer to that transformation!

Now you're cooking. Excellent results. Love the plastic shippers wrap idea to hold the drying maple. Great move.

That`s gonna look sharp with the chrome !!