The more I restore, the more questions I have. On my 1958 set, the three plies on the toms are straight across. Is this normal? I was under the impression the three plies were sort of angled downward toward the center of the drum.
I have also found the inner ply of poplar to be extremely rough to the touch. On my set the inner ply even shows the cut marks made by the saw that created the poplar ply. Is this normal?
Your inner ply should be mahogany which would wouldn't be as smooth as poplar or maple. The outer and inner plies would run horizontal while the middle ply, poplar, should run vertically.
Thank you, Lucky.
Oops, me bad. My original post should have read middle ply. My outer ply is maple, my middle ply is poplar, and my inner ply is indeed mahogany on some drums. On my 20" floor tom made in 1963, the inner ply is maple.
Is the middle ply of poplar traditionally rough to the touch?
Is is normal for the three plies to be cut/sanded/made at the factory straight across rather than slightly angled?
Thank you again for the clarification and comment.
If its the bearing edge you are describing then the middle ply edge would be end grain which would not be as smooth as the others. You might have a rounded edge as opposed to a thirty degree edge. Post some pics if you can, it would be a lot easier to nail it down.
Thank you.
From your answer, I have rounded edges on some drums but flat edges on others. They came from the factory this way. Is there any way to make all the edges round? Is there some kind of special technique? Perhaps using a special kind of sanding block?
The problem with sanding blocks is that they could be too wide to ride the bearing edge and it would take a long time to sand down. If you could cut a thin piece of wood to the edge profile you want then put sandpaper on the block that would work. It is hard to keep it uniform with sandpaper. If you were to take a thin piece of metal and file the edge profile on it , that would be better and faster.
