Thanks for that info VM2K. I wasn't sure.

Spent a large chunk of the weekend cleaning & polishing lugs & tension rods. Some (well most) of the rods are plumb wore out - am trying to track down some replacements locally. I'll attach a pic of earlier owners' inventiveness.

Still deciding what to do with the outer chunk of ply that has been torn away. Is plastic wood a no-no?

If it was any where else than near the edge I wouldn't be too concerned, but as the head will be sitting on it I think I should build it up as true as possible.

I have a 20" floor tom that had the same tear out in 2 places. 1 mid shell and 1 by the bearing edge. I used a piece of veneer to repair. With a razor knife and chisel the bad section of the outer ply was squared off and removed. Then the veneer cut to size, glued in and blended in at the bearing edge. My shell is getting wrapped or I would have used mahogany veneer if it was getting stained/painted. This was some holly veneer my son had on hand.

Glenn, while you were typing that post up I was at Lee Valley tools looking at various putties & fillers. The helpful fellow there suggested the structural integrity I desired might not be there with those products. We started talking about veneers, & he ended up giving me a nice piece of maple, which is just the right size & almost the right thickness to do the job, and then do it again the right way, because invariably that is how I roll.

Thanks for posting the photos- I hope I can achieve a nice tight seam like those.

Yes it's the way to go for sure. Keep us posted how you make out. Really cool drums you have there!

Unpaint It Black:

So I thought I'd deal with some of the schmutz that had accumulated under some of the bass lugs.This stuff is really baked on. Got a little yellow plastic razor blade, and mixed up a mildish solution of Simple Green - read about it somewhere on the forum - THANKS!

Soaked a small cloth, wrung it out good, hit very small areas with it, careful to avoid bare wood & drilled holes. Judicious & light scraping with the blade. The stuff started coming off nicely.

Then, the ADD kicked in. In one of my earlier posts you can see where someone has hit the drum with some black paint. "Hey", I say. "I wonder..." So I start in on the edge of this blotch with the damp cloth, wrapping my fingernail with it & scraping. Whaddya know - it starts to lift. I get excited- "Look honey - the unwanted paint's coming off and the Duco surface appears to not be damaged by the process! What a remarkable and momentous outcome!" I am sure you can well imagine her joy. But I digress. A couple hours of alternately Simple Green-ing & plastic razor blading - small light, one directional strokes & it's almost done.

I kinda wish I hadn't used the guitar gloss before I did this.

Just as an aside, as I spend time with these drums I find myself wondering about all the folks that made a living putting them together & how many of these people might still be around. Anyone working in the Chicago factory in the mid-fifties would likely be well into their eighties by now. Anyway, I try to be mindful those who met these drums before I did.

Here's some pics.