new floating snare project

techristian

Senior Member
This is my old floor tom from my very first set of Silvertone drums. I bought it in 1971 and it has gone through many changes. Originally it was blue metalflake wrap. In the 70's It went through a psychedelic time when it was painted like a multicolor rainbow. Mellowing out in the later 70's I ground and sanded all of the Varathane runs out and painted it black. This was the drum I took on stage back then. Then in the later 80's I used this as my practice set up until I bought my Pearl Forums in 2000. After that it has become a stand to hold my newer drums off of the basement floor. It has a shell that is slightly thicker than 1/4" and a beautiful resounding ring !!!

But I have something new planned for this old 14" drum....................

tomtom.jpg
 
What you're chucking it into the river?

Snares float.

:p
 
I think we're going to have to ask you to document the process and snap many pictures of the CNC-ing of the shell for us restoration/build thread junkies.

I'm getting giddy for the process. I love seeing older gear getting re-worked and turned into something new and fancy. My favorite of all my snares, the snare that I could never part with, started his life as an abandoned and unloved Ludwig shell that I scored off the 'bay while drinking one night. Now it is my favorite snare.

Plus I have a soft spot in my heart for old gear with a sentimental attachment. This thread is like Chanukah and X-mas for me. If you go lax on this one and forget to update I may get antsy and start pestering you with messages. Fair warning.
 
I'm pretty much with Red Menace on this one. If there were one of those makeover shows but for old musical instruments, I would be sooooo there. Especially if it were not all stuff that had originally been high end.

The three snare shells from a single floor tom photo kind of blew my mind.

I have a feeling Mr. Ismore will not approve.
 
I'm sorry, I know you're trying your best, & I'm sure they'll sound fine, but in the context of my background, the voids, form irregularity, & grain tearout around the edges is painful to look at.
 
I'm sorry, I know you're trying your best, & I'm sure they'll sound fine, but in the context of my background, the voids, form irregularity, & grain tearout around the edges is painful to look at.

They will sound GREAT....but I'm going to only build one right now. I'm going to store the other shells for another day....and I may re-work them a bit.

As a long time employee in the automobile business, I built cars. You would be surprised to know what is hidden under your nice looking plastic trim. The same with this. Once all of the hardware is in place, you won't recognize this drum. I'm saddened when I read posts by kids who buy brand new drums , take them apart , and then complain to the manufacturer about some scratch in the shell or some other stupid thing. You wouldn't take your brand new car apart ,for inspection, would you ?

However, the splitting should have been fixed before painting, but after painting it jumped out at me as well.

Dan
 
They will sound GREAT....but I'm going to only build one right now. I'm going to store the other shells for another day....and I may re-work them a bit.

As a long time employee in the automobile business, I built cars. You would be surprised to know what is hidden under your nice looking plastic trim. The same with this. Once all of the hardware is in place, you won't recognize this drum. I'm saddened when I read posts by kids who buy brand new drums , take them apart , and then complain to the manufacturer about some scratch in the shell or some other stupid thing. You wouldn't take your brand new car apart ,for inspection, would you ?

However, the splitting should have been fixed before painting, but after painting it jumped out at me as well.

Dan
I appreciate where you're coming from Dan, but I wasn't referring to the appearance, it's the function of the bearing edge. The uneven outer form, the voids that intersect the peak, & the tearout on the round over radius all contribute to the drum's performance being less than it could be. I am very particular on this stuff though, maybe more than I should be.
 
I have a feeling Mr. Ismore will not approve

Mr Ismore actually works on cars, Im the drummer.

The wood has had almost 50 years to dry and is very resonant. As to the appearance, I'm going to try and get my son-in-law to "dress" (smooth out by taking 1/32" to 1/16" off) the outside with his CNC machine.

After I cleaned it up, it looked better than I thought, so I will skip CNC.


Oy Vey! Thank the lard for intervention on that one.



I typed out a bunch of 'as to why you should/shouldn't' for a response here, then deleted it. Im just going to sit back and watch this as a comedy thread for now, these come along too infrequently. Hey Andy, pass the popcorn please.

Go Dan go!
 
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