Jeff, what you did is fine. I have done the same thing to the interiors of some mahogany shells. I sealed my shells with multiple coats of Tung Oil followed by sanding (in-between each hand-rubbed coat) using 00-00 steel wool. After six or seven passes with the Oil & steel wool, the finish looked and felt as smooth as glass. Nice hard surface finish.

What it did for the drums is; it made them project 10x's better than before! The shells sounded a bit muddy and they were low-volume. Finishing the interiors made them louder and the drum projected beautifully. Nice clear tone, Nothing muddy about it after the treatment. But be aware that it does alter the way a drum sounds. Softer, sanded, open-grained interiors will absorb certain sound vibrations more than others. What you lose is usually on the high end of the spectrum. With finished, hard-coated interiors, more of those vibrations are -reflected- and projected out of the drum by the hard surface (as opposed to absorbing it,) increasing volume and adding more high end tones. In short, they will project better.

You did fine. The inside of that bass drum looks GREAT. Do em all! It's an MIJ Luan kit... no guilt involved. You'll only be making them better!

Did you re-work the bearing edges on those shells? If not, you might want to consider putting a vintage 30 degree inside cut w/round-over to the outside on them. Those luan shells will sing for you with a rich, warm tone. You should pm my friend, JR Frondelli. John has worked on Luan kits and performed little miracles on them. He's a great guy to ask/consult.

John

So, Purdie, what is the tonal difference in the 30 degree round over edge and a 45 degree with a crisp edge?

I'm at that stage myself with a project and haven't heard of a 30 degree...Would love to know my options and their effect....

Nevermind, just found this.....

http://www.drumsoloartist.com/wiki/drum_techniuqes/emails/bearing_edges

A good way to think about it is; 45 degree inside cut bearing edges = Modern drum sound. Clear, loud, projects well. With 'clarity' of tone being a major aspect.

Vintage 30 degree inside cuts with a big round-over to the outside = Warm, fat, resonant, deep tone, low volume. All the sounds you associate with mellow sounding vintage kits.

Of course lumber plays a big part, but the sound a drum produces starts at the bearing edges and what kind of contact the head is making with the shell.

I hope that didn't sound too confusing... sound is so subjective and I tried to describe it as well as I can. Hope that helped/answered your question.

John

Purdie, I have finished all of the drums the same as that bass drum. I really know how to make wood look nice but it is interesting to me to hear how finish can effect the sound of a drum. I did not do much with the edges ecxept lightly sand them. Being a cabinet maker I have all of the machinery and tooling needed to re cut a new edge. I dont want to start doing that until I know exactly what profile to use and how deep to go, again I dont want to do anything bad to the drum. I would like to learn more about the edges, once educated I will try it. These drums looked like the edges were in good enough shape to me.

How can the edge efect the sound, are we wanting to achieve a uniform slightly rounded edge for the head to bear against, is that all ther is to it?

Thanks

Jeff

> is that all ther is to it?

Yep! A 45 degree edge has a smaller area/point of contact with the head because of the sharp angle. It'll transmit more high end frequencies to the shells. Clear, good projection.

Shallower 30 degree with a fat round-over provides a much larger area of contact between head and shell. More low-end vibrations are transmitted to the shell. Warm, fat sound, lots of low-end.

Depends on what you want your tubs to sound like. Contact John, (JR Frondelli) he's the one who's brains you want to pick. Much more knowledgeable and experienced than I am. But he'll confirm what I have told you so far.

John

OK, thanks so much!

I've had this bookmarked for a while, but can never get through the whole thing!

No mention of the 30 degree, but lots of good info...

http://online.physics.uiuc.edu/courses/phys193/NSF_REU_Reports/2003_reu/Eric_Macaulay_Final_Paper.pdf

Here's an illustration to help you see the difference between the two edge profiles. It makes it easy to see the difference in degree of contact between the 30 and the dbl. 45's.

John

Well thanks again for the education on bearing edges. Now iI feel very confident with cutting some new edges. But in order to properly restore a bearing edge you would need to actually reduce the hieght of the shell somewhat because the heads are not riding on the angled part of the shell. They are contacting a very small top flat edge that could still have some uneveness to it even though you just routered the 45 degree angle on the inside of the shell. To me that very narrow edge that contacts the head is the key. getting it straight and flat.

What do you think about routing the edge to a sharp 45 degree edge then taking a block of wood with sanpaper glued to it and taking off the sharp point so you end up with a uniform flat edge that is 1/16" or so wide, then hit it with a 3/16" round over bit from the outside of the shell.

Jeff