Refinished my kit

greenstar323

Senior Member
Hi all - I've been coming to the boards awhile, but this is my first post!

I wanted to share pics of a kit I just refinished. I made these drums with my dad when I was 16 and went with WMP wrap and Slingerland lugs. We weren't exactly pros at gluing on the wrap. It started to brown and peel over time. I took the wrap off, sanded, and applied some wipe on poly. I think the results turned out great. If you're wondering about the white bass drum hoops, its only because I couldn't get the black paint completely off to poly so I spray painted them white instead.

Sizes are 9x13, 10x14, 16x16, 16x18 (not pictured), 14x24, and 5x14" snare. 12 years later I realize how ridiculous these looks mounted over the bass drum so I might lose the 14" tom and put the 13" on a snare stand.

Before and after pics :) Let me know what you think!
 

Attachments

  • finished set.jpg
    finished set.jpg
    183.3 KB · Views: 422
  • photo 1(2).JPG
    photo 1(2).JPG
    224.5 KB · Views: 389
  • photo 2(2).JPG
    photo 2(2).JPG
    240.2 KB · Views: 388
  • photo 2-8.jpg
    photo 2-8.jpg
    221.2 KB · Views: 383
  • photo 1(1).JPG
    photo 1(1).JPG
    240.3 KB · Views: 385
  • photo 4(1).JPG
    photo 4(1).JPG
    177.2 KB · Views: 376
  • photo 2(1).JPG
    photo 2(1).JPG
    236.7 KB · Views: 385
Welcome to the forum,nice job on the refinish.

Good that you had good looking wood under the wrap,but I guess you already knew that since you and your dad covered them in the first place.

Almost like getting a new kit with a little money and some sweat equity!
 
Nice refinish job. Of course taste is a funny thing. I went from a natural clear cherry finish to a white pearl sparkle lacquer one.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    259.3 KB · Views: 336
eamesuser - yeah Keller maple shells - I'm wondering now why the heck I would've covered that in the first place!

dboomer - It was more a matter of "necessity" because the wrap was peeling so much and browning at the seems. You can't see it in my before pictures because they were taken a long time ago. Also, I admit I just wanted a project and 3 bottles of wipe on poly was much cheaper than new wrap
 
Outside of the white hoops, I think the natural finish kit looks great. You did a very good job. Congrats.

Overall, I like the white marine wrap much better. I keep imagining the kit re-wrapped in vintage white marine pearl for a very classic look - and especially since the kit has two floor toms.

But you did a great job on the natural finish. Thanks for posting the pics.

GeeDeeEmm
 
Wow...y'all did a great job on refinishing this kit. The white hoops are a unique touch and the natural wood looks amazing. Looks like a high end custom kit to me :)

What kind/color lacquer/varnish did you use?
 
I like the lighter hoops.
Either lighter or darker would work to give a little contrast to the main part of the drums.
 
Thanks for the kind words. The before pics I posted were taken when I first made the set so of course the wrap looks great, but recently it was cracked and bubbled. I wanted a natural looking set as I'm not much of a wrap kinda gal.

To be honest if I really cared I would've purchased new hoops so they matched the set. There was no way I could've sanded off all the black spray paint that was originally there without damaging the hoops so I thought white was a better option than black... didn't want to spend the extra money on something that isn't my main kit.

I used a product called "wipe on poly" found at home depot or lowes. (Home depot by me only carried the satin version but I later discovered Lowes carries the glossy one if you want a glassier look.) I am by all means an amateur at this stuff but it was so easy to do. Basically did three light coats, wet sanded, 3 more light coats, wet sanded, 2 coats, sanded with steel wool then 1 final coat. I applied it with a foam brush and kind of wiped it down right after with a paper towel. You honestly can't mess up. I found this helpful YouTube video here if you're interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QFV8NP6ylo

Going to go with the 1 up, 2 down, but just have to finish that darn 18" floor tom still!
 
Back
Top