Tom - If you sanded the drum back to bare metal then you have to add a clear coat to protect the surface. Go to a Good Will and buy a $5.00 turn table. The reason why you are doing so much sanding has to do with ‘how’ you are applying the spray paint. Use the turn table set to its slowest speed. Do not overdo the spraying. Better several light coats with light sanding in between coats than one or two heavy coats. This is one occasion where more is not better than less. Hope this helps.

John

Your are my GURU when it comes to this stuff, but... these are maple outer ply drums (mid 50s Slingerland). There were various reasons the finish was not great, but not related to putting on too much paint (well, maybe one time here and there!!). I also tried the turntable trick, at your suggestion and I thought it was brilliant, especially if doing more than one color. After two attempts, (turntables are more like $20 or more here), I tried two that I had and found the motor/belt/perfect weight distribution problems would barely spin a snare, let alone a 22" bass. Maybe a direct drive, but most cheap ones seem not to be. Obviously you were able to succeed here. Anyway...I bought a $9 ball bearing turntable (hardware section) and 2'X2' hardboard at Lowes and it worked well for my purposes.

My real question was...now that I'm done painting and have wet sanded and polished to a surface far better than I had hoped for...would adding any top coat, such as auto wax, help protect it further? I have been cautioned to wait since the paint may still be curing/hardening? How long? Or is this wet sanded polished surface as good as if the finish were perfect right from the can (which is it far, far better)? Krylon refuses to offer any direction as I "sullied" their product with polish! Ha! As I have said, my intention is to not make it any glossier, unless that offers increased protection over the years. Thank you for your kind and wise observations John!

Can you put up a picture ? Why the wet sand ??

Basically, I'm not sure one can get a good uniform finish on a large drum, even 22" without the overspray drying onto surrounding areas. I was not able to do it after many attempts. It turned out great on the snare and tom, but easier to keep paint film "wet" on smaller drum, so overspray just blended. I did use a manual turntable. Maybe it is the nature of Krylon (which is extremely rapid drying) and auto spray paint may have fared better. Sorry, I cannot upload pics from work. I do have some progress pics to post later.

I finally got a response from Krylon that said no further protective finish is needed. I have also been told that the Krylon acrylic lacquer is much better quality than the Duco as originally painted with...if so... I will be happy with it just as it is. My question was if any of the experts recommended any further coating for protection (remember, I don't want to be any shinier...just as original looking as possible) and maybe it is just fine.

Krylon,like other paints comes with gloss, semi gloss, flat, maybe eggshell sheen. Gloss is always the hardest to work with, especially fast dry types. The gloss comes to the surface as the flattening agents sink between the bonding agents at the bottom. Krylon also comes in acrylic, oils, and alcohol base too. Alcohol drying the fastest, followed by acrylic, then oils.Application of gloss is a skill.

I can't tell the coverage by that light, but any protection you do should be under the paint. Stains and polishes are what need added protection. It looks good though from what I see.

I’m blaming it on the meds! Sorry I misread/misunderstood your post. My advice still applies for topcoats or paint jobs. It’s always a good idea to apply a protective clear coat. Your finish (that you worked so hard to get) will last longer. I have to start reading posts twice before I respond and hit send. 🤪

I dont know if this will help anyone but I spray my drums from edge to edge, not around the drum. This keeps a nice wet edge because the longest pass/stroke would be 16" unless you have an unusually deep drum. This might be difficult to achieve with a rattle can because you need to overlap each pass 50% and those rattle cans do not have a very wide spray pattern. Im not saying that placing the shell on a turntable and spraying is wrong at all, I have seen Johns work on that duco set using the turntable and the results were outstanding. Just thought I would throw this out there in hopes that someone might benefit from it. And, sorry it has nothing to do with the OP question. To answer that I would say yes, go ahead and clear over the paint as it will protect that finish (as John mentioned) but also give the whole job a better look.