The faucet trods on the toms is just over the top super vintage mojo! Love it.

I think we'll all have post-partem depression when you finally finish this restoration John! :)

Mitch

Thanks guys, I'm sitting here looking at them and I can't believe what a beautiful set of drums this is. I'm -very- lucky to have them and I'm treating them with all the care and respect they deserve.

Scott wrote:

> Just noticing how unusually cool those lugs are. And small profile with minimal contact to shell. I'll take 20 of em please.

I wish I had a 100 extra sets of this lug/clip/t-rod set-up on this kit! I'd buy some shells and build another kit with this same hardware. The point of contact of the hardware with the shell is as small as can be. 'Single-point mount' means that the shells are free to vibrate without any interference from heavy metal lugs, washers, bolts etc. It's a genius system and makes total sense for use on a drum shell. As close to a freely vibrating shell as you can get without actually removing all the hardware. Bloody brilliant design. I've never seen it any where else on any other company's kits.

> This is a wonderful, old school, totally hands on resto.

Thanks for taking the time to document it for all of us.

I'm having a ball doing it and I'm using every little bit of experience I have with woodworking, metal working, drum repair and now I can add, re-skinning! :p As for documenting the resto... I earned my living as a graphic artist for decades and one of the things I've been trying to do (by using lots of photos) is to have the thread look and read like a good magazine article. So far, so good. VDF is the -perfect- place for this kind of restoration thread and I want this one to stand out and shine.

> Question: do you roll the skin under and double it up for the tacks?

No, single-ply, tack, allow to dry thoroughly then trim after the calf is stable. If you trim off the excess while the calf is wet it will shrink back toward the tacks and leave an uneven/wavy edge. It has to be tacked first and left to get bone dry -before- trimming excess.

>Or is it just cut off and you let the single layer edge lie where it may.

See previous response.

>I don't see any crinkling or wavering on the skin edge.

Not on the edge, but between the tacks there is tiny curls caused by the skin drying after tacking. I could have used a little white glue to stick the calf smooth to the side of the shell, but it would have affected the normal contraction and expansion of the head during temperature and humidity variations. I want the heads to be as stable as possible, not freeze parts of it to the shell. So yes, some tiny wrinkles around the tacks, but no wrinkles or waves on the cut edges.

I'm going to start taking apart the 13". I want to see this kit completed and hopefully before the thread hits 50 pages long! LOL

Thanks for all the encouragement guys.... makes all this much more fun for me knowing you all are looking over my shoulder as I work. Kinda like a bunch of guys hanging around a neighbors garage on a Saturday morning kibutzing and commenting while the guy works on his engine. I love it...

Jeff - She rolls if I push it, but otherwise it pretty much sits where you place it. Will not be a problem when playing the kit.

John

Those drums are in a class of their own. I'll be in touch soon, I gotta' stop in and see them in person.

Am eagerly following this thread.:)

Mick - You know you're welcome at Casa Purdie anytime brother. :p

Olddrumgeek - stay tuned, we're getting there!

The 13" will be the smallest drum I have worked on so far, but it will prove be the most challenging. Lots going on with this one. I'll start in on it today and report back what I find after I open it up.

John

Ok, here's what I'm looking at with the 13". These are the 'before' shots. Lots of work ahead.... see below

See next post for shots of the interior and other details...

John

Awesome work John. I will say there are a few single point lugs used in the modern era. Here are two off the top of my head:

Spaun (which is a seriously killer lug by the way)

Yamaha Nouveau (not really a fan of this lug, but it has very minimal shell contact)

Scott - All,

Here are some interior shots and a shot of one of the lugs for Scott so he can see the single-point mount foot print on these drums: see photo

Tons of work to do on this drum. Broken metal parts need to be repaired, the tacked head needs to be replaced, etc., etc., etc. I'm off to the races...

John

Love seeing the updates!! This is a VERY special and rare W&A kit... Once complete... lets talk about setting up a photo shoot for the W&A book!

Jeremy - You're on brother! I'd love to see one of my kits in a book. It'll be my honor. Anthony at Village Drums told me you guys are buddies. I got the claws I needed from him but they are the wrong internal diameter. I'm going to have to ream it up to size and re-set the angle of the wings on the clip, but it can be done.

This 13" is going to be a tough challenge and then I still have the 11" tom to deal with. Where do I find a head for an 11" tom??????

Anyway, still lots of work ahead so I'll just press on until it's completed.