A few questions what brand is the floor tom? Age? Finish?...Mikey

Basic Made in Japan stuff, 45 years old, luan plies, agate pearl.....

Likely too brittle to remove uncracked, though it might be done successfully. I have removed USA made drum wrap in larger pieces, but wasn't trying to save it, so not much help there.

Heat and a putty knife - However, please use extreme caution when removing wrap from an old drum with a heat gun. Those old adhesives can suddenly burst into flame if you're not real careful. I'm not kidding. A good buddy of mine suddenly found himself in the middle of a raging fire caused by the wrap or the adhesive reaching a combustible temperature. He held the heat gun in one place too long. So if you're going to remove the wrap using a heat gun;

1. Be in an open area. (translate, not inside the house.)

2. Have a bucket of water and some wet towels on hand. (you can throw the wet towels over the shell to smother a fire.)

3. Keep the heat gun moving. Don't hold it over one spot for too long.

If you take a few precautions, and proceed with patience and care, you'll be able to slowly pry loose the wrap in one piece, re-cut it and re-use it.

Best of luck... and most important, be safe/careful!

John

Mikey777, you made me laugh! Thank you I need that today.

Jeff

Surf Collector...

That old wrap, when its glued on, is almost impossible to get off without removing chunks of the luan shell along with it. But...you can then pull the chunks off the wrap with a thin screwdriver.

I'd say, use a putty knife and scrape your way down the line. I would NOT use any kind of heat gun, or anything like that...its too dangerous. Be safe and use the putty knife!!

Heat gun + putty knife + advice above heeded = quickest, easiest way to remove wrap and preserve the wrap and shell.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't realize it could end up in flames!

Is steam even an option, like from a portable clothes steamer? Or isn't there something similar used when removing wallpaper?

Seems like it might "re-hydrate" everything that's been dried up for 45 years.

Might be worth a test...

Sometimes you get lucky and the wrap almost falls off once you get it started.

Much heat at all warps the wrap, and you wind up with a sheet of extremely distorted stuff that would never lay down flat again.

Hope it works out for 'ya !

Kev