Vasaline?

Bildozer

Junior Member
Would your drums be more sensative to tuning if you put a very light layer of vasaline on the bearing edges of the toms? ( 45 degree bearing edges ) Does anyone have an opinion on this?
 
Man, I wouldn't do that. You spent all that dough on good shells and now you're going to smear greasy stuff on them? Nope, I wouldn't do it.
 
Nope. Petroleum Jelly is something you should definitely NOT use. If ANYTHING (but I wouldn't recommend using anything in the first place), use some kind of wax.

I know some old school people who use wax, and some people that think it actually makes tuning easier or has some kind of advantage, but I've never been convinced that it does. Plus, it will soak into the edges and de-value the drums. Even if it doesn't ruin the edges, it will discolor them...
 
Woodworkers wax (Bees Wax) is the only thing to put on wood. Do not use petroleum based products on wood.
 
Thanks for your input. I have not done this to my drums it was just a thought that passed through my head. I guess I just get tired of it taking forever to tune my drums after head changes.
 
I tried wax for the first time about a year ago after reading a post here on DW. I really didn't notice a difference.
 
Thanks for your input. I have not done this to my drums it was just a thought that passed through my head. I guess I just get tired of it taking forever to tune my drums after head changes.

May be worth looking into a Drum Dial. I used to be much better at tuning (tuned a finicky tympani in high school that no one else could seemingly).... not so much anymore. Got a Drum Dial, and I'm real happy with it.

Once you get the head on and seated, it takes 5 minutes to get in the ballpark. Then you use your ears to fine tune. Real easy to gauge what's happening between the batter and resonant heads. It's a nice learning tool being able to put numbers to what your ears are hearing.

-Ryan
 
yeah, I hear ya. I do have a drumdial and I do use it to get into the ballpark of tuning my kit. It just takes longer to tune these drums for the nice even tonal separarion between all the toms. I just thought ther may be some kind of product that can be used on the bearing edges of the drums to make them more sensative to tuning if youre drums have a 45 degree bearing edge.
 
Life is too short to be serious, laugh it up.


To be serious about what? People come here for answers to their questions and concerns.

BTW, I wouldn't use Vaseline on the bearing edges, although I've been using it very lightly on the threaded tips of my tension rods since I started to play the drums.

Dennis
 
Paraffin wax (or white candles) for bearing edges if you must. Paraffin is odorless and colourless. I use paraffin oil to protect the insides of the drum shell. The shell will look just a bit darker like it was wet. Imo the shell inside looks better after paraffin treatment because the wood grain becomes more visible. Paraffin oil will also seal the shell inside agaist humidity and dirt and the treatment is easy to repeat.

QC
 
Sorry to burst a lot of bubbles here, but plenty of drum builders use vaseline to seal the inside of the shells. I use it with absolutely no problems. I wouldn't use it on edges, but to seal a bare shell on the inside is fine.

Even C&C customs use vaseline to seal the inside of their shells. You don't see problems there do you?

Vaseline on the inside of the shells
Wax on the edges
 
Sorry to burst a lot of bubbles here, but plenty of drum builders use vaseline to seal the inside of the shells. I use it with absolutely no problems. I wouldn't use it on edges, but to seal a bare shell on the inside is fine.

Even C&C customs use vaseline to seal the inside of their shells. You don't see problems there do you?

Vaseline on the inside of the shells
Wax on the edges
I have been around and associated with professional woodworkers for years! I have never seen anyone put Vasaline on wood! they always used a non petroleum based oil and waxes for wood! Linseed Oil, Carnauba, Etc! There are numerous oils and waxes that are not petroleum based that the wood people use.
To my knowledge Vasaline was discovered in the oil fields late in the 19th century by oil workers. It was a by-product of extracting oil from the oil fields. The workers discovered that the Vasaline healed and softened their dry cracked skin!
Paraffin wax is a petrol based substitute for bees wax. Most gas and diesel engine oils are Paraffin based. You don't want Paraffin based oils on your drums!
Here is a link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin
 
Last edited:
I have been around and associated with professional woodworkers for years! I have never seen anyone put Vasaline on wood! they always used a non petroleum based oil and waxes for wood! Linseed Oil, Carnauba, Etc! There are numerous oils and waxes that are not petroleum based that the wood people use.
To my knowledge Vasaline was discovered in the oil fields late in the 19th century by oil workers. It was a by-product of extracting oil from the oil fields. The workers discovered that the Vasaline healed and softened their dry cracked skin!
Paraffin wax is a petrol based substitute for bees wax. Most gas and diesel engine oils are Paraffin based. You don't want Paraffin based oils on your drums!
Here is a link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly

Again, I know for sure C&C are using it, and many other boutique builders on the Ghostnote forums that know way more about it than any of us here. They are the builders. We aren't.

Vaseline isn't going to hurt a drum. Not even close. I wouldn't recommend trying to use it on a shells that do have some type of finish on the inside ala Pearl or Yamaha.
 
Again, I know for sure C&C are using it, and many other boutique builders on the Ghostnote forums that know way more about it than any of us here. They are the builders. We aren't.

Vaseline isn't going to hurt a drum. Not even close. I wouldn't recommend trying to use it on a shells that do have some type of finish on the inside ala Pearl or Yamaha.
It sounds like they are saving on expenses by using hydrocarbon products instead of plant based products. Wood is a plant product! I use plant products on wood. I don't like using hydrocarbons on wood!
To each his or her own I guess!
I use lanolin (oil from wool) on my hands to protect them from the hydrocarbons that I use at work when I use petrol chemicals. I am an automotive technician. I never use vaseline on my hands!
One of the main ingredients of lip balm is Bees wax. Bees wax is made from plant matter that bees process. I would never put Vaseline on my lips in the winter! I don't want hydrocarbons in my mouth! Lip balm that doesn't contain Vaseline would work well on drum bearing edges to lubricate and seal them.
 
Last edited:
Earlier I rang my mate, Robert. He makes fine hand crafted furniture. He says he would never use vaseline on wood. I explained about bearing edges and he feels they would be weakened by vaseline.

He asked about shell construction and I told him about plies and how they were glued together. He was not 100% sure but said that the plies may be affected enough over time and begin to separate which would send the drums out of round and then to the bin.

He's not a drum maker of course but he does know his stuff.
 
You can drink paraffin oil and it is a commonly used laxative for old ladies. It is used on natural color wood products to protect them from dirt and humidity especially when there is skin contact and hygiene is of importance. It is used instead of natural oils like linseed oil because they feed mould. Pure paraffin absolutely won’t do harm to your drums and gives the least color change.

Here is a recipe for really natural wood sealer but I would NOT put it on my drums: add one third of each ingredient and mix, pine turpentine, linseed oil, pine tar.

QC
 
You can drink paraffin oil and it is a commonly used laxative for old ladies.

QC
That Post really MOVED ME! And little old ladies also!
I wish that Jay Norem and That Guy were here for this one! I'm going to the coast now!
I'm going to make a paraffin martini, Stirred, Not Shaken! Shaking it makes it a weak paraffin martini! I want all of the laxative powers to come through!
You know that I'm just kidding around? Right! Good post!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top