I believe you are asking about the cup washer?

To push the cup washer in would be over tightening the

screws.

Yes, I have seen both from the factory and I have seen them so deep in the cup washer that it is hard to even get a socket over the head of the screw.

I do not use a rachet or electric drill to tighten them down. I usually use a hand screwdriver with socket on the end and hand tighten them.

Other then that on any drum give it a good twist with the wrist and they

will be fine. These can easily strip if they are over tightened.

Did I answer your question?

Hope that helps.

David

Hello David,

Thank you for answering.

Yes, I mean the cup washers.

Recently I restored a Supraphonic with these washers being equal.

When putting back the lugs onto the shell, I used a drill with a socket on low volume to tighten the mounting screws. I made the mounting screws pushing in the cup washers a little bit to make sure they're tight enough.

I dindn't push them in that much as you see sometimes from the factory.

So I hope I didn't overtighten the screws.

Koen, Belgium

I would never use a power tool to tighten these. I had the unfortuante experience of stripping out a lug by overtightening the screw. BUT...I also discovered a "fix" for the problem:

If you happen to overtighten a screw and you feel it strip, all you have to do is remove the cup washer and "dimple" it a bit with a center punch or something. After this slight indentation is made it will allow the screw to penetrate into the lug casing far enough (hopefully) to grab the part of the thread that hasn't stripped. This fix worked great for me. When it started to strip, the shape of the cup washer actually prevented the screw from being able to penetrate further into the lug casing threads. So, there was plenty of good thread left to grab onto. The dimple allowed the screw to reach that good thread.

Overtightening things on vintage drums is a common problem and it should always be avoided.

If you are worried about things coming loose, then a better solution to overtightening the screws would be to use a couple of drops of light-duty thread locker like Loc-Tite or something similar. WARNING! Only use the light-duty stuff!!! The medium or heavy-duty thread locking liquid is too strong and you won't be able to EVER get the screws off again if you use it. Even with the light-duty stuff, use it VERY sparingly -only a tiny drop or two.

I also advocate for hand-tightening everything on my drums -carefully. :)