Filling in badge holes on lacquered drums

Orbit

Junior Member
I have some modern drums, birch shells - lacquered in a black stain, you can see the grain very well, and the drums kind of almost look dark brown with lighter and darker patches due to the grain. There are 4 small holes were badges once were. Holes are 2 or 3mm. How do I fill the holes in to match the finish? I hope to avoid any crazy re-sanding and re-lacquering of the whole drum just for the sake of 4 tiny holes that use to hold a badge on! I would really prefer not to indulge in any unskilled woodworking as I expect disasters my part! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
To color match and make them unnoticeable you will have to do some woodworking. There is no way to just plug the hole and it be unnoticed, especially since the drum is lacquered and the grain shows. Even if you filled the holes so they were perfectly level with the rest of he shell and color matched, you would still see the little circles that were filled.

You can always put the badges back on.
 
To color match and make them unnoticeable you will have to do some woodworking. There is no way to just plug the hole and it be unnoticed, especially since the drum is lacquered and the grain shows. Even if you filled the holes so they were perfectly level with the rest of he shell and color matched, you would still see the little circles that were filled.

You can always put the badges back on.

I think it's time to call a local furniture restorer....they'd be able to do it.....hopefully
 
Or just get some vent grommets from a drum parts supply place.

From a woodworking perspective, filling the holes to make them unnoticeable, save from a distance, would be difficult. Grain plugs would have to be made to match, and finishing would not be an easy task.
 
Or just get some vent grommets from a drum parts supply place.

From a woodworking perspective, filling the holes to make them unnoticeable, save from a distance, would be difficult. Grain plugs would have to be made to match, and finishing would not be an easy task.

+1^ This.There are threaded vent hole grommets available at most drum supply houses.You just put the grommet through the hole,and thread the nut on the interior side,and your golden.

Getting a perfect match is very tough if not impossible in some cases ,to do.It would also be time prohibitive and expensive.Go with the threaded grommets.

http://www.precisiondrum.com

Steve B
 
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2 to 3 mm is pretty small. why not just get 4 nice screws, small heads and flat heads and screw them in?
Nobody will spot thsi from more than a meter away anyway.

the only other quick fix I can think of is black shoe polish or putty.
 
Carpenters putty. drys whitish , then a small black or brown marker. They are too small to matter
 
I second the small screws, you might even look into carrage bolts, they would be clean

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2 to 3 mm is pretty small. why not just get 4 nice screws, small heads and flat heads and screw them in?
Nobody will spot thsi from more than a meter away anyway.

the only other quick fix I can think of is black shoe polish or putty.

Ding,ding,ding,ding. Get little screws with little washers and matching nuts. Cheap and clean looking.
 
Badge holes? Badge holes? We don't need no steeenking badge holes.
 
Nuts and bolts, really? Sure it fills a hole, but how many of you would do that to your own drums? So it would then go from a barely noticeable hole to something shiny and obviously visible. Not to mention the underside of the bolt head can rub the finish. Lets not forget that the vibrations of the drum will be transferred through the bolts. This is a really poor idea.

They would be better off just being left alone.
 
I'm part of the group that would leave it alone. Any refinishing job will be noticeable done by anybody.

If you have suspension mounts on the toms, how about re-positioning those so the bracket area goes over where the badge holes are? Then it would be much less noticeable, and you gain four extra vents ;)
 
Nuts and bolts, really? Sure it fills a hole, but how many of you would do that to your own drums? So it would then go from a barely noticeable hole to something shiny and obviously visible. Not to mention the underside of the bolt head can rub the finish. Lets not forget that the vibrations of the drum will be transferred through the bolts. This is a really poor idea.

They would be better off just being left alone.

What was in those holes originally? A small screw held in place with a small nut on the inside? By your reasoning I should take the grommets out of the air holes on my DW's and to heck with the badges, let's get rid of those screws too. Screws will not effect the sound or the finish at all, in fact that is what used to be in those holes. My OCD would never let me leave them unfilled.
 
What was in those holes originally? A small screw held in place with a small nut on the inside. By your reasoning I should take the grommets out of the air holes on my DW's and to heck with the badges, let's get rid of those screws too. Screws will not effect the sound or the finish at all.

The screw wont effect the finish with a badge on there because the badge is touching the finish, not the screw head. An over tightened screw will compress the finish (or the wood for that matter), leaving a visible ring around the hole. Furthermore, before you try to negate my "reasoning", perhaps you should reread what I said, and take note that I never said anything about the sound nor metal grommets. If you still don't think a screw will damage the finish, drag one across your DW's finish and get back to me.
 
Nuts and bolts, really? Sure it fills a hole, but how many of you would do that to your own drums? So it would then go from a barely noticeable hole to something shiny and obviously visible. Not to mention the underside of the bolt head can rub the finish. Lets not forget that the vibrations of the drum will be transferred through the bolts. This is a really poor idea.

They would be better off just being left alone.

Okay. I take every badge and piece of hardware off of my drums about once a year. I give the shells a coat of tung oil and the chrome gets a bath in solution. Then the whole thing gets put back together. Easy peasy. Put two black round over Allen screws where the missing badges used to be. This is a really good idea.
 
Okay. I take every badge and piece of hardware off of my drums about once a year. I give the shells a coat of tung oil and the chrome gets a bath in solution. Then the whole thing gets put back together. Easy peasy. Put two black round over Allen screws where the missing badges used to be. This is a really good idea.

Okay, black Allen screws are a much better idea visually than chrome. I still say leave them alone.

I do most of that stuff you listed too, just differently. I have a ~40 year old Pearl kit wit a wrap and lined with fiberglass. No tung oil for me.
 
Okay, black Allen screws are a much better idea visually than chrome. I still say leave them alone.

I do most of that stuff you listed too, just differently. I have a ~40 year old Pearl kit wit a wrap and lined with fiberglass. No tung oil for me.

Nice! Pics? I'm a sucker for vintage gear.
 
Nice! Pics? I'm a sucker for vintage gear.

It isn't very good, I don't have a proper camera. Anywho, Pearl Wood-Fiberglass, 8, 10, 16, 18, 24, Dynasonic snare, 18" Turkish K Zildjian, 20" El Rajah (no info other than from the 30's. Sounds phenomenal), crappy 14" NuVader hats, numerous Ludwig stands, Pearl 902 double pedal. Also came with a Ghost pedal and the goal post section of a Speed King, cases, and a Rogers Swiv-o-matic throne. Found it at a garage sale for $125. It was supposed to have 12 and 13 toms also. Dudes wife threw them out as she thought they were trash. The 8" and 10" are concert toms.
 

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Everything for $125? Cymbals? Rogers snare? Now I know I hate you ;)
 
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