Outstanding build! Free-floating shell on the floor tom... love it! This is going to be a one-of-a-kind gem when it's done. It's fun following your progress. :D

John

that is some amazing fabrication. You have some serious skills. I can't wait to see it finished

James

First real result: snaredrum up and running! I bought an antique 15 inch NOB snare drum (see furtheron) to make into a floortom. It had a very nice NOB strainer. I allready had two NOB strainers, that I was to choose one from, but I couldn't decide because none of the two was quite fitting (style-wise). The strainer from the 15 inch snare drum however is a perfect match in my eyes. (I would allmost call the strainer "cute"). It is very simple and somewhere between crude and elegant.

Tuned the snare and played it (ambassador X on top). Amazed by the sound. Better than I expected. Clear, quite some nice overtones, loud. There is less possibility to play around with different tensions between batter and reso, but that'sok.

Overall plan has changed a bit. The old 14 inch snare drum I had (see pic in next post): I was planning on making that in to the 1st floortom (the second floortom would be the 16 inch copper drum). So I have been looking for some kind of old metal drum to make into a 12 inch rack tom (to make 12/14/16/22). Couldn't find it. Because the 14 incher is actually 14+ inch I knew I would have a lot of work on it to make is fit for normal heads. I would have to cut it open, glue it around 14 inch hoops, etc.

Then I found 2 13 inch hoops AND a 15 inch metal snare drum (see above). Pling!!! Here's the new plan:

I'll cut the 14 incher in half and make an undrilled 13 x 6 tom, using the 13 inch hoops as hoops. I like the totally beat up look of the hoops, that I will keep that way. Then I'll convert the 15 incher into the first floortom. So it will be 13/15/16/22.

This afternoon I'll start working on the 13 inch rack tom. I'll keep you posted.

pics of 14 inch snare and 13 inch hoops

pic of 15 inch snare (probably French)

Folks, due to moving to another town and not having a workshop for a while things got slow. But since 2 weeks I'm active again.

Today I finished the 13 inch tom-tom. Quite a struggle that was. I made re-rings and glued the shell I had from the old 14 inch field drum around it (after cutting it in half). The single tension screws I had to shorten by removing some of the non-threaded part, because I couldn't find a thread cutter that fitted. However I couldn't weld them back together again, so I had to use solder. It al worked out in the end. The hoops I bought seperately somewhere, they were out of plane (how you call that, you know what I mean), I had to cut them on the circularsaw, to plane them. The shell and screws I kept dirty on purpose, the hoops also. Al ragged down it looks now. However, technically it works perfectly, 13 inch, all flat, perfect bearing edges. The drum sings for ages.

In another pic the now finished snare/floor/rack. Another floortom (15 inch) and the bassdrum (22 inch) coming up within approx. a month

Bass drum and second floor tom (15 inch) are more or less finished. Preliminary set up of bass and snare.

I have to fix a few details (like finding the right bolts for the bass drum spur system I made, etc.) and then I can install all drums and play them. I'll post pics, and later, also sound files.