Thanks for the quick response on the wood staining and also the video clip...a fabulous-looking kit and you provided some insightful information. Gracias!
The last kit (and only) I refinished I sold to a drummer in NYC. My snare (not me) even made it on the Conan O'Brien show backing up Rick Okasek (sp) of the former Cars. It was a 60s Slingerland jazz kit configuration 20-13-14 and I went with the natural so as to match an old Slingerland snare refinished in the natural stain. It was a tough job, for as you spoke of all the green paint and such to remove, I had to sand down a horrible black stain without getting too deep into the outer maple ply and bleeding into the second ply. I really didn't think it would be possible to rid of the darker stain but it turned out all right. I'll see if I can find some of the photos of it to post.
That was my first refinishing attempt and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Took about 3 weeks one summer. And believe me, if I can refinish drums (with very little background in woodsmithery), any one with a bit of knowhow and common sense can. I asked a lot of questions and learned a lot. It is a great feeling of accomplishment when you are finished too. Besides, you really know the in's and out's of your instrument when all is said and done, too.
To the dismay of my wife, I eventually sold the kit on eBay (my wife was upset I did that cause she knew how much effort went into refinishing the kit). I sold it, however, so I could afford to purchase a '67 Gretsch kit in Tangerine Sparkle. Sacrifices sometimes have to be made. I'm glad it went to a drummer who appreciated it as I'm sure your friend will yours.
Of course, that was before our 2 1/2 year old daughter made her enthusiastic presence known in our lives. She takes most of my time these days and digs the drums. Most of the refinishing work is done during her nap time on the weekends or after 8:30pm when she goes to sleep. Because she's shown more than moderate interest in drums, I'm currently working on her mini-kit out of 70s Slingerland shells (I think it's a mahagony exterior ply...any experts out there who can add to this would be appreciated...I'm more knowledgable about Gretsch). This has been a bear of a project because I'm having to strip from the shells adhesive glue (Zip Strip works well). Underneath the glue is a dark brown stain. I'd like to darken it a bit but not too much to overshadow the grain so your advice on the darkening is indeed helpful.
Other projects, as I wait for better weather, are my attempting for the first time to recover a 60s Gretsch snare shell in Tangerine Glitter (Precision Drums has been super to work with on this...they also supplied me with a tom-riser and two 16 wooden hoops for the floor tom to bass drum conversion if anyone out there is in process of a similar rebuild). With regard to the Gretsch snare, removing the White Marine Pearl wrap from the drum required holding the snare shell over a hot plate (I used our stove burner...wife didn't like that) to loosen the adhesive and then using a metal scraper I peeled back the wrap in sections. Once I got started it went smoothly. Be careful though if heating for some wraps are known to start on fire from the heat.
Ten minutes later, I had the wrap off and discovered underneath the adhesive the maple shell was covered with a black primer seal. Apparently, this primer is to prevent discoloration and bleed through to the WMP wrap. The next day I cleaned the shell of primer and adhesive with Zip Strip and metal scraper.
The adhesive I plan to use for the wrap will be 3M Fastbond 30NF (Note: it is hard to get in most hardware stores...got mine from Precision Drums...but has gotten good results.) It was recommended by PD.
Well, again thanks for the information. It's been extremely helpful. Now if I could only wish the 1/2 foot of newly fallen snow on the ground away.
