Show your wood

[motleyh]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

Uh Oh, there's a stain lol

mr. Motley, the drummer from Huey Lewis had a steam bent snare shell company at one time, do you know if it is still up and running?
And you have some of the nicest snares I have ever seen by the way.

Thanks!
I assume you're speaking about Bill Gibson, but I'm not familiar with of his snare shell company. Sorry.

[uniongoon]

Thats the guy, lol, Back when I was younger and very serious about drumming, he was featured in modern drummer magazine, where he promoted his one piece steam bent maple drum shell company. But I forgot the name, I am guessing this was around 1992-94?

I am sending you a PM too.

[Deathmetalconga]

Originally Posted by motleyh

No, a stain is just coloring, usually basically a watercolor or the same thing in an alcohol base. Oils seal and protect -- like tung oil, danish oil, linseed oil, teak oil, etc., and they will all have this kind of effect on wood, to a greater or lesser extent. Nothing terribly exotic, and used as finishes by themselves or with standard oil-based varnishes. Pretty much any time you look at fine furniture or cabinetry, that's what you're looking at. There are water-based finishes, most of which give a hazy blue cast to the wood. Sorry if I threw you off here, but this appearance change is perfectly normal and doesn't constitute re-coloring the wood. I'd venture to say that it has happened with almost every "natural" wood drum you've ever seen. If you saw a picture of any of the shells in this thread before they had a finish on them you'd see something radically different from the photos here. Raw wood isn't too exciting to look at -- just like in a lumber store. It's the finishing that makes it sing.

But if it helps, here's a basic steambent maple snare, with exactly the same finishing technique and materials. My guess is you'd accept this as a "natural" look.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not sure what sort of mistakes could be hidden with stain, but I don't sell drums with hidden mistakes. Just want to be clear about that. :) Even when I use stains, they're not there to hide anything.

And sorry -- didn't meant to hijack your thread with a discussion about finishing techniques -- only trying to respond to your doubts.

That snare on the bottom definitely looks like natural wood. I assume that before oiling, it was slightly lighter? I have put linseed oil on wood. It's not particularly dark and even it will darken up wood a bit.

I'm not much of a woodworker. I guess this thread is to show finishes that are as natural as possible, with no staining and minimal color alteration. It sounds like some darkening is unavoidable when applying oil. Even clear varnish is going to change the way light enters and reflects from the wood so I guess that unless someone uses an absolutely raw wood shell, some change is inevitable. Seems OK to me and thanks for sharing your knowledge about wood finishing.

[Guru]

few steambent shells i have been working on this week,

[uniongoon]

Loving those drums and wood hoops Guru. What is the dark wood?
Not loving your Guru name badges though, sorry, but it kind of reminds me of what the car dealers used to make to plaster their dealer name on everyones car. You are making some really classy looking drums, the name badge is taking away from that.

[Deathmetalconga]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

Loving those drums and wood hoops Guru. What is the dark wood?
Not loving your Guru name badges though, sorry, but it kind of reminds me of what the car dealers used to make to plaster their dealer name on everyones car. You are making some really classy looking drums, the name badge is taking away from that.

I actually dig the badges. They give the drums a retro feel.

[Muckster]

I dig the badges as well. Do you make those too or have them made?

These are beautiful. To me this makes more sense than stave drums. I love the fact that the grain runs around the drum, instead of top to bottom. Very nice work.

[uniongoon]

Originally Posted by Deathmetalconga

I actually dig the badges. They give the drums a retro feel.

Lol, retro like 70's shag carpet. I dig the drums totally though. Steam bent, to me is way superior to anything, but I have never tried a stave drum. There are lots out there these days, I will have to check some out. As for steam bent solid, I own three solid shell snares and they all kick butt.

[Guru]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

Loving those drums and wood hoops Guru. What is the dark wood?
Not loving your Guru name badges though, sorry, but it kind of reminds me of what the car dealers used to make to plaster their dealer name on everyones car. You are making some really classy looking drums, the name badge is taking away from that.

Thanks for the compliments, i never seen anything here in uk like you describe on cars but wish i had known when designing them lol,

the darkest wood is cocobolo very hard and oily wood, the other more stripy wood with matching hoops is ovankol another pretty hard wood but much lighter in in weight to the cocobolo

the others from left top are cherry, fiddleback sycamore, ash, cocobolo, ovankol, sapele, birdseye maple

[latzanimal]

Originally Posted by motleyh

LOL - thanks, Dave.

I was going to say you were too old and lazy to try and pull something, but thought this sounded better...lol

[Guru]

Originally Posted by sticks4drums

These are beautiful. To me this makes more sense than stave drums. I love the fact that the grain runs around the drum, instead of top to bottom. Very nice work.

thanks for the kind words, the steambent shels make for a much diffrent drum compaired to a stave drum built in the same wood, i make lots of both, steambent shells hold tention/stress created from bending wich i find raises the pitch of the drum wich allso transfers resonance alittle more , both great construction methods and have there equal places depending on what your after from a drum

[uniongoon]

Thanks for the wood run down Guru, and the steam bent/stave opinion. I am curious on the stave construction, thinking of giving one a try.

The Fiddle Sycamore caught my eye. I recently rescued an unloved 6 1/2" maple snare shell. I found some nice wood veneer but seem to be getting conflicting reports of what the wood is. The place I bought it from said Flame Birch, I had my doubts, another wood supplier said it was african Abigne. (EDIT). I saw his site with a picture of abigne and yes it looked just like this but it had more dark tint like a cedar. Now I see your wood shells and the fiddle sycamore looks alot like this, what do you think?


With a light ipswich pine stain and clear, before polishing



And done



EDIT: Sorry for the stain, just trying to get an answer from guru who seems to know way more about wood than me, and hey there is non stain here too lol.

[motleyh]

Originally Posted by latzanimal

I was going to say you were too old and lazy to try and pull something, but thought this sounded better...lol

Well, that too, but I thought that was obvious. :)

[keep it simple]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

Loving those drums and wood hoops Guru. What is the dark wood?
Not loving your Guru name badges though, sorry, but it kind of reminds me of what the car dealers used to make to plaster their dealer name on everyones car. You are making some really classy looking drums, the name badge is taking away from that.

Take no notice of him Dean, uniongoon obviously has no taste, I mean, c'mon, he doesn't even like shagpile carpet, lol!

I like the Guru badge. Classy, uncluttered & timeless. Understated, yes, but isn't that always where you find quality lying beneath?

Anyhow, everything has it's place. Give the lady in your life the choice of 6" deep shagpile or modern laminate for her bedroom floor. If she choses laminate, she's already given up on your adventurous side (wink!).

[DisturbanceDrums]

Originally Posted by Deathmetalconga

This thread is for sets with natural wood finish - no stains, colors or fades. Varnish, lacquer or sealant is OK, but nothing that changes the color. Just show your wood, the way nature intended.

Can I remind people of this please? :P

There is a few stain's coming through!

Stain bad. Oh very bad. (well for this thread anyway)

[Deathmetalconga]

Originally Posted by DisturbanceDrums

Can I remind people of this please? :P

There is a few stain's coming through!

Stain bad. Oh very bad. (well for this thread anyway)

Yes, by all means, remind them. I will too.

NO STAINED DRUMS ON THIS THREAD PLEASE.

Just unstained wood. Oils, varnish and other essential finishes are fine as long as they do not substantially recolor or change the wood.

The goal of this thread is to show wood in as NATURAL CONDITION as possible, allowing for the fact that oiling and varnishing are necessary to preserve the wood (well, most of the time - my drums have no varnish or oil, just clear sealant). The less the wood is changed from its natural appearance, the better.

No artificial colors, flavors or enhancers allowed!

[uniongoon]

Ok,no stain here. Drum is almost complete, back ordered on DW fine thread tuning screws, so I cant play it yet. Still need to get a grommet for the vent hole and polish up the hoops.

[Deathmetalconga]

Dude, that drum is so hot I want to mate with it ... OK, not like that at all, but it is outrageously gorgeous.

Did you put it together or what? And what are fine-tuning screws? Never heard of them. I just know 4 mm tuning bolts but I don't know the standard pitch on them.

[uniongoon]

The tension rods. Every drum manufacturer in the world uses the same thread, but DW? Noooooo, they have to be different and make their own with a finer thread count. I thought I would be playing it last night but the allen head rods I have bottomed out, too long.

[DisturbanceDrums]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

The tension rods. Every drum manufacturer in the world uses the same thread, but DW? Noooooo, they have to be different and make their own with a finer thread count. I thought I would be playing it last night but the allen head rods I have bottomed out, too long.

haha had the same problem in the past. PDP are the same :(

love the snare bro!! would love to hear it more so.

[TravisFans]

My wood.

[Deathmetalconga]

Originally Posted by TravisFans

My wood.

Ces tambours sont belles mais elles ont été colorés, ils devraient être dans un thread différent. Ce fil est pour des finitions naturelles seulement.

[daredrummer]

Originally Posted by Deathmetalconga

Ces tambours sont belles mais elles ont été colorés, ils devraient être dans un thread différent. Ce fil est pour des finitions naturelles seulement.

Vraiment? Ne regarde pas comme une tache pour moi. Je peux me tromper cependant.


May be a mistake or two, I'm still learning :p

[stitch]

Non c'est très bien Daredrummer. Par contre tu aurais du dire ça ne ressemble pas à une TEINTURE pour moi.

Wow your french is very nice Daredrummer. Better than some of my students and better than my english!! But the word stain was not the proper one. When you use "tâche" your are saying a stain like "you have a stain on your shirt". When you wanna talk about anything that have been stained, then the right word in french is TEINTURE. Keep it up you are very good :)

[daredrummer]

Originally Posted by stitch

Non c'est très bien Daredrummer. Par contre tu aurais du dire ça ne ressemble pas à une TEINTURE pour moi.

Wow your french is very nice Daredrummer. Better than some of my students and better than my english!! But the word stain was not the proper one. When you use "tâche" your are saying a stain like "you have a stain on your shirt". When you wanna talk about anything that have been stained, then the right word in french is TEINTURE. Keep it up you are very good :)

Merci!

I see your drums are of the same company as Travisfans, also from montreal. I assume Vaudou is a canadian brand?

[stitch]

Originally Posted by daredrummer

Merci!

I see your drums are of the same company as Travisfans, also from montreal. I assume Vaudou is a canadian brand?

Exactly, a french canadian brand.

[bradydrums]

Two of my favorite kits. All natural, all Brady!

[daredrummer]

Originally Posted by bradydrums

Two of my favorite kits. All natural, all Brady!

can i haz them???


Haha jk, beautiful kits, what's the wood?

[bradydrums]

The top one is a Blackheart finish. The bottom one is a Eucalyptus Redheart finish.

[stitch]

Originally Posted by bradydrums

Two of my favorite kits. All natural, all Brady!

WOW! The top one is gorgous!!

[nickthegreek]

The top one is my dream kit.I need to start saving some money for that. (For the next 5-6 years but it will be worth it)

[uniongoon]

Is Blackheart the species of wood? If so I have never heard of it, where is it grown?

[DisturbanceDrums]

Originally Posted by uniongoon

Is Blackheart the species of wood? If so I have never heard of it, where is it grown?

I haven't heard of it either. Being Brady, I'd be pretty sure it's Australian.

"Heartwood" is generally the term used for wood that is older and has changed colour, over time, in the center of the tree making it darker (if i remember what my shop teacher said 12 years ago). It might be a Heartwood of an existing species.

Either way - it's HOT.

Ply... but hot :P

Ps. i'm not starting up a ply vs. stave debate!!

[Deathmetalconga]

Originally Posted by bradydrums

Two of my favorite kits. All natural, all Brady!

MIndblowing natural wood finishes! I can attest that Australia has the most unusual, exotic and amazing woods on the planet.

Originally Posted by Guru

few steambent shells i have been working on this week,

Can I just say that these drums are every bit as fantastic as they look. I went over to the Jobeky drum festival last week (and just missed seeing Dean and Andy), had a quick play of some of the Guru kits and they were mindblowing. I wish I had the money to just order a set here and now because those are real drums for life!

[kallium]

This is my new kit, which I got very cheap second hand with hardware and cymbals.
It's a Stagg Jia with lovely wood hoops on the bass.
It's natural but I think it may be a wrap.
I couldn't afford to get the bands name written properly so I cut up a news paper and this is what i got!
also, say hi to crewse, my rabbit.

[keep it simple]

Cool stuff Kallium, I especially like the band logo. Are you planning on sleeping in your kick drum?

[kallium]

Originally Posted by keep it simple

Cool stuff Kallium, I especially like the band logo. Are you planning on sleeping in your kick drum?

It came with the quilt like thing inside it and it has a great sound and if it aint broke.

[TravisFans]

There's some Wood and some Woods.