1st of all, I have never done this myself. However I think a read a thread somewhere on the "how to plug a hole in a bass drum. Go to a lowes or anywhere that sells wood working supplys and see if you can buy a wood dowel that has a taper to it. Depending on what size you find, you might have to drill the hole a little bigger, Make sure the hole is clean, nice and round. I would use the old Elmers glue, but there might be a better choice. Put the glue to it and press it in the hole untill it is good and tight, wipe off the excess glue. Don`t touch it for 24 hrs. Then cut it off making it a little long so you can sand it to the contour of the shell. Then wrap away! Piece of cake. Cool Dude

Thanks, I have seen that method on more solid shells, but the luan plywood seems thin and brittle. The hole is very clean and when I attempted to drill old luan in the past it can delaminate easily (60s stencil drums) even when taped before drilling. But maybe a dowel as a plug is the best route? any other suggestions?

I've seen dowels or plugs used, which should work great for a 7/8" hole on a sturdy shell. But on a thin, flexible, possibly delaminating lauan shell, I'm not sure I'd trust it to get anchored well enough. If that's the case, you can pick up a piece of shell scrap from a similarly-sized drum and use it as a backing plate, glued into place on the interior of the shell. You can then use a plug or dowel (or wood filler of some sort) to fill in the hole from the outside and sand it down.

You can pick up shell scrap for free (or pretty darn close to it) from a number of places, including Drum Foundry.

The best thing i have used over years to plug holes in drums is "ROCKHARD" you can fine this at Ace ete type of store's it comes in a red and white can...Mikey

I will let you know how it comes out. I found a thin piece of Luan used to reinforce a tom mount on a delaminated 9x13 MIJ stencil drum. I will use this as a backing. Then use the ROCKHARD to fill. Thanks!

I use scrap pieces I have found of a very thin, 3-layer veneer - a coarse grained wood very much like luauan (or whatever it is called).

They are so thin, (@ 2mm) they can be cut coarsely to shape with scissors and then finally sanded to shape. I then check how many layers I need - depending on the shell - and glue them in, using normal white PVA carpenters glue.

I make sure it is nice on the inside - and sand them on the outside, using a little filler if necessary.

VERY easy to do. And does not leave a thick patch in the shell. I have no feeling it leaves a weak spot.

Here is the inside of a couple of Premier Bass drums I filled large holes from tom mounts in - I could have made them even nicer if I the new wood had followed the direction of the grain in the shell.

http://www.gratisimage.dk/image-7439_4CA702A7.jpg

http://www.gratisimage.dk/image-F6A8_4A34CC90.jpg

The outside of a tom that had a Pearl tom arm hacked through it:

http://www.gratisimage.dk/image-30E0_4B2CADD0.jpg

Regards

Jon

I ended up using variations on all these solutions. Used thin veneer for some and re-enforced with rockhard. Used filler in screw holes. I now have a great warm sounding Blue/White ONYX kit with 22 x 14 Mayfair BD and Majestic DELUXE 14 x 14 and 8 x 12 toms an 5 x 14 snare. I have found I can get different tones with a variety of heads. Love the Ambassadors, but having fun with Evans EC2s on the toms. No wonder C&C is making new custom drums from Luan!

Thanks.