Thank you, yes I was concerned about the steaming creating more problems as well. Thanks for adding your opinion. One thought was to slide a piece of aluminum coil stock under the warped veneer, steam it up, clamp it down flat then let dry. If it stays flat then start gluing. But then again the ply will compress flat fairly easy as dry as it is so Im not sure if its worth the risk wit the steam or not, probably not.

Since they press down don't need steam. If they do crack under pressure no big deal clean break with the grain.

For tools I used a dental pick, nail and a small thin bladed tool that is used for mixing oil paint. Can fold sandpaper over it. Variable pressure nozzle pictured is a must have.

Here are some photo's of my project. The red is from the house paint that seeped through the cracked gold sparkle wrap. I wouldn't bother but this is a 20x16 18 lug that I have had for almost 40yrs.

Creighton

holy cow Creighton, I have it easy!

Not only did it curl Jeff but it shrank. Hot wet towels, lots of them or keep heating the same ones and keep one on it all the time and hot. In about four hours of babysitting that, the veneer will be much more forgiving and swelled. Even if you want to leave a damp towel there all the night before it will help.

I remember Crieghton doing that BD,... he took his time thought it out and it came out real good. You`ll be going the other way with the curve.

Take the before pictures and post it on your shop wall. under it write seat belts work, pillows don`t.

Jeff... for your repair I would use Creighton's approach... toothpick etc and work through each "Flap" individually. It may be that you need to "even up" the length of some flaps to access them. Cutting along (with the grain) in order to lift them back for glue application.

Have done a similar job with satisfactory results...

Cheers

John

Very good points below. I wish had been a bit more daring in peeling back the ply. Should have used OddBall's method to correct for the drying out. Also, bigger form"s for clamping the shell. Chit you learn and hope helps others :-)

You should not have any trouble. A toothpick photo. Fun but very tedious repair.

Hope it goes well !!

Creighton

Porcupine method looks good.

If there is a next time will cut the outside points off. Getting poked while moving forward with it was annoying :-)

Creighton

I am finally working on this drum. Should have it done in the next few days. I am basically lifting the loose plys one section at a time and getting plenty of glue under them and clamping. I ripped some sticks out of a pine board that will bend easy and wont break. I made them 1/4" longer than the inside diameter of the shell. I am using these sticks like springs to compress each section, one at a time. Its working great, I have few sections glued down. The drum is in worse shape that I thought it was though, the ring has started to separate from the shell in places. So I need to work on that before I send it back to Gary. Hoping to meet Gary at the Chicago show, give him back the drum shell in person.