Drum refinishing

[norm55]

Anyone know where I could find some info on drum refinishing my drummer wants to re-paint his kit?

[mikeh]

I've never seem a specific book on drum refinishing - but books on furniture refinishing provide good info.

There are several key things to understand when trying to refinish drum shells.

1. If the drums come with a wrap (rather than a varnish) there is a good chance the visual quality of the wood is poor (with splits, pits etc) - which will look poor when varnished or even painted.

2. If there is a wrap, be very, very careful when pulling the wrap off. The glue used to secure the wrap can tear pieces of wood out when removed. It's best to use a heat gun (or hair dryer) when removing wrap.

3. Be very careful not to damage the bearing edges while working on the drums. Once an edge is damaged - the drum tuning sufferes - and only a very skilled person can repair bearing edges.

4. When putting and varnish/stain/paint of drums use several thin coats and allow plenty of setting time between applications.

I have refinished a set and it was a several week project. While there was a certain sense of pride upon completion - I vowed never to do it again (too much work for my limited attention span).

If your drummer just wants a differnent look - maybe putting a different wrap on the drums would be the answer - look in any drum magazine (I'm partial to Modern Drummer) and there are several adds for wrap.

[norm55]

Hey Mikeh the drums dont have a wrap.Did the set that you did have a wrap?I'm wondering what kind of paint to use and the best way to apply it?

[mikeh]

Yes the kit I worked on did have a wrap, which required a lot of sanding and prep work before I could put a finish on.

If the kit you're discussiong didn't have a wrap I will assume the surface of the shells are in decent condition. If you go with paint, (vs. a wood stain) I would suggest a gloss or semi-gloss. I can't recommend a specific brand - read the cans to determine what is recommended for application to wood. If you go to a reputable paint/hardware store there should be someone who can make recommendations.

If you know the type of wood your looking to paint, relay that info to the paint store rep. (drums are normally maple or birch on the high end and mahogany or basswood on the low end). If you don't know, take one of the drums with, if you deal with someone who knows his stuff, he should be able to identify the type of wood.

The key thing with stain or paint is to properly prepare the surface, use several thin application (vs. trying to put it on thick in one pass) and after the final coat of paint is applied, veneer the surface with some type of poly coating to protect the surface. Obviously be careful not to compromise the baring edges.

Good luck.

[mikeh]

Regarding application - it depends.

If you use a stain (and most poly coats) you'll be dealing with a brush on application (I prefer the sponge brushes vs. the "hair" brushes). If you go with paint, you'll probably use a spray application. In either case - use several thin coats.

[norm55]

Hey Mikeh thanks for all the advise.I think I might look into a stain I think thats whats on there now I can see all the wood grain thru the finish now it looks looks great now but he is just sick of the color he's had the kit for 13 years.Some guy at his work just did his kit, it was a cheese job on a shit kit with some spray paint and glitter and lots of poly it came out all right he wanted to do the same thing but I talked him out of it .I dont want him to destoy a $5000 set with some cheap spray paint.

[norm55]

Hey Mikeh i found a web site that has every thing I need. http://drummaker.com/

[Tim Brown]

Originally posted by norm55
Anyone know where I could find some info on drum refinishing my drummer wants to re-paint his kit?

Unless your drummer (or you know someone ) can apply a professional finish-have it done. It's not something that you can really do yourself if your talking "paint vs. stain". It's not paint, it's lacquer, actually. find a quality cabinet making shop...and ask around. A car shop should be able to do it as well. But you guys will want to remove all the hardware, and store the parts...there's nothing like losing 1 piece-and and not being able to replace it easily.
You could also contact a few pro/custom companies about the finish.

Tim

[norm55]

Hey Tim I tried to talk him out of it He's going to try it anyways with spray paint to.He does have one extra tom that he is going to try it one first .So hopefully it will come out like shit and he'll give up on the idea.

Norm

[Tim Brown]

Originally posted by norm55
Hey Tim I tried to talk him out of it He's going to try it anyways with spray paint to.He does have one extra tom that he is going to try it one first .So hopefully it will come out like shit and he'll give up on the idea.

Norm

He's wasting his time. I've been building and repairing kits for years, The Finish on a drumkit is the same as a guitar-it's either lacquer, or it's a water based die, with a clear coat over top of it.
Paint is a "soft" finish.

You're not going to get a finish any harder than the actual wood (meaning the coats that you apply are softer than the wood) so you want to keep the number of layers of finish to a minimum for durability.
Spray paint's just going to look lik crap, and peel off.

I learned the hardway-I painted an entire kit that way-and guess who got to strip down an 11-piece drumkit when the paint started peeling off.

Tim

[norm55]

Good news He totally destroyed the tom he was using as a test subject and he has totally givin up on the idea.

Norm

[Tim Brown]

Originally posted by norm55
Good news He totally destroyed the tom he was using as a test subject and he has totally givin up on the idea.

Norm

Just tell him to strip the shell he "destroyed" with a paint remover, and follow the directions, and then "sand" the shell with a Green 3M scrubby pad-and he needs to sand WITH the grain of the drum-which generally means AROUND the drum, and not top to bottom..

Then, once all the paint is gone, he can stain it, and use a WIPE ON Polyureathane to seal it. He just has to use lint free rags to apply it, and with about 3 coats he can get what's called a "hand rubbed" finish. It won't be really shiny, but it will look good, and that's one of the most expensive finishes there is.

It's what I put on mine, and I just used Minwax....I have tons of compliments on my drumset.

Tim

[SpamBurglar]

I am going to do something I may regret:

I am going to cover my kit with cloth!

I have been contemplating it for a long time. I started by removing the original covering. The wood underneath looks ok (still does) but is not evenly colored. Some of the drum is a bit darker or lighter than other parts. Upon seeing this, I figured I would paint them.

I am now going to cover them with a sparkle fabric. I plan to put a coat of polyurethane on the shell, lay the fabric on the wet polyurethane and allow it to dry. I think I will then put a few coats over the cloth to give it some protection.

Does this sound crazy?

[newdrum]

Originally Posted by norm55

Hey Mikeh i found a web site that has every thing I need. http://drummaker.com/

Thanks for the mention. Yep, we'd be glad to help out with any projects. Feel free to ring us toll free 800-NEW-DRUM

Thanks
Andy
http://www.drummaker.com/

[ausrock]

Two sites that may be worth a visit are (in no particular order):

http://www.ghostnote.net/vbforum/

http://forum.drumshed.org/

Up until last year they were one site (Ghostnote) but a parting of the ways saw the original site reform as Drumshed and a new Ghostnote start up, both are mainly focused on drum building, refinishing, etc., and you will find links to suppliers such as Drummaker, DrumFoundry, and a few others that are worth looking into.


SpamBurglar,

For a visual effect it sounds OK but it sounds crazy if you have a decent kit and you care about the sound of the kit.

[orksnork]

here is something fun C&C Custom Drums did for my drummer's latest kit a while ago.

they took the shell....applied an epoxy of some sort and set her ablaze...
put her out at some point....lightly sanded and clearcoated it...

result, that we love


http://dontrunmusic.com/stuff/snare.jpg

[Bill Furnett]

I'm pretty late with this response, but i couldn't find the pics for a few days.

Here is a before and after of a Yamaha kit i "refinished" several years ago.
The before pic shows only a small amount (on one concert tom) of the many scratches the kit had when i got it. It was pretty bad.

The after finish certainly isn't the greatest in the world (I tried to stay close to the original color), but it looked far better than it did.

After i played it for a few years I was able to sell the set for almost double what i paid, which helped me fund my Sonor kit.

It was A LOT of work, but in the end worth it.

-Billy-

[orksnork]

looks like you splooged on your scanner in that last one buddy

[Bill Furnett]

It's actually on the pic (got wet at some point) , but scanner splooging isn't beyond me in the least.

[orksnork]

+rep for you then sir

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by orksnork

here is something fun C&C Custom Drums did for my drummer's latest kit a while ago.

they took the shell....applied an epoxy of some sort and set her ablaze...
put her out at some point....lightly sanded and clearcoated it...

result, that we love


http://dontrunmusic.com/stuff/snare.jpg

They put the clear coat on and hit it with a hand torch, you can create a lot of neat finishes like that.


Tim