Dee74

Good choice - I think older drums have a better timbre

D

Charon

That and the Gretch shells are mahagony. I think their snares sound better than the Ludwigs.

Dee74

I didn’t know that - cool

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Charon

Actually the Catalina Club serries of Gretch have mahagony shells. That's the one I vought. I don't know it other serries do or if their shells are a different wood.

Charon

The snare is supposed to be delivered today. Can't wait to make some noise. I've done a little using the practice pad on the snare stand - boy am I ever rusty. LOL I'm sure it will come back - but slowly. I'm in no hurry. I have the rest of my life.

Dee74

I hope it got there today

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Charon

Snare got here a few days ago. It is magnificant.Better than any snare I've ever played on. THe last few days have been difficult. Aprehensive about quickly approaching surgery. Feeling poorly.Wife is back home from her visit to Nantucket and that is helping.

Charon

Found out that surgery isn't thursday, but is instead friday. Glad about that. It gave me a chance to get things done leisurely. Also, what might not get done doesn't matter. It can wait till spring. The important stuff got done. Especially a last ride on the Super Cub, changing the oil & oil filter and getting it stored (with battery conditioner) for winter. Even more important - a visit with my 19 month old granddaughter. She is a pip and a half. LOL

Charon

Mostly recovered - just have to abide by Dr's limits. Can start riding the John Deere this coming tuesday. Found I can play drum set without stretching, so I am practicing whenever wife is out. Not good enough to be heard yet. Added a high hat set which should arrive today. Once I can use my arm I plan to build a cajun bass drum and design it for a foot pedal. I have a pedal picked out and the design is simple. I could fancy it up some by using a box/finger joint on the sides and just use a dado to add the front and back. Still trying to derermine wall thickness and dimensions.Might make it out of plywood, but I have a lot of hardwood that I could use. Might do the sides from poplar and do a mahagony front and back. Plenty of time to think about it. It will be months before I get a realease to use my shoulder.

Dee74

Sorry I missed your surgery date but I’m glad you’re recovering well Charon

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Charon

Might end up skipping the bass at least for a time. I found a good 13" timbale on a stand at a good price. Tuned down it will make a good mounted tom. So that makes a pretty full set - snare, mounted (high pitch) tom, floor (low pitch) tom, high hat (sock) cymbal and ride cymbal. Not sure I'll ever need a bass. If I decide I'd like to add bass I can make one out of a plastic barrel. I tried thumping one I have and it sounds about right. So all I'd need would be a foot pedal.

Right now I'm trying to ID one or two songs to seriously practice. Something that isn't too complicated that I can memorize and pretty much duplicate. I made a folder of a few and I'm going over and over culling till I get down to one or two. Then just work on those till it's reflex and then move to something more complex. Fun!!!

Shoulder is fine. Shurger went far, far better than I expected. Only bummer is that the nephrologist told me that my kidney function is down to 44%.

Dee74

sorry about the kidney news but glad your shoulder's good and you're on track with the drumming Charon

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Charon

Well, change in plans. Just out of grad school I decided I wanted to play guitar. Play - not learn to lpay. I learned some songs but never learned to play. Not making that mistake with drums. In high school I took lessons for 3-4 years on concert snare and tympanies. Translated that to a drum set and was able to do OK playing out. This time I'm going back to the dicipline of lessons. Found some great Youtube lessons and am now practicing exercises about 4 times a day starting with the most rudimentary. I want to learn to play the drum set well. So no playing to songs for now. Just practice. It's still fun - actually more fun.

Charon

Well, the set is minimally full. Snare, mounted and floor toms, ride cymbal, and high hat. Bass is a pedal with a 19" high by 10" wide by 6" deep frame with a ¼" plywood striking surface. Sounds terrible but I can keep track of what my right foot is doing.

Bass drums are very expensive. Even putting one together from bought hardware is a lot because of the price of the shell. I've done a lot of wood turning of segmented bowls so I plan on making an 18" diameter 5"-6" deep cylinder on my lathe for the shell. Three overlapping segmented rings.

I've got a slab of mahogany but it's a bit thick & heavy to cut on either the table saw or the band saw. I might strike a chalk line and cut strips off with my arborists chain saw. It would make for a huge kerf (waste) but the only other ways I can think of slicing it is passing it twice through the table say cutting half way deep each time (might cause burning), possibly having my son help me support it on the small band saw table, or hand sawing it with my rip hand saw (way too hard and would take forever). It's a piece I got for free and I'm inclined to use the chain saw.

Another option is to use some lacewood that I have. I'm not too fond of it and am unlikely to use it for bowls or jewelry boxes. Might as well use it up for this project.

Dee74

Good luck with it Charon

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Charon

Segmented cylinder is made. Next step its to put it on the lathe and turn the outside. I ended up using the lacewood (actually it's lepoardwood). It was great to work in the shop, one of my past drinking spots, with not the hint of an urge or craving.

Dee74

Good to hear Charon

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Charon

First try on the lathe a failure. The joints of the segments stick out too far and are too far apart for the speed the wood past the tool (rotational speed within reason for an 18" diameter). One other factor is the splinterieness (a real word?) of the lepoardwood. One reason I don't like to work with it. Took the cylinder off the lathe, clamped it to a work horse and nipped the protrusions with a Stihl MS 192 T (first time I ever did woodworking with a chainsaw), remounted on the lathe and was able to turn it (very carefully). Took it down to an even outside surface. Tomorrow I will dimension it and sand the outside. Still not sure what I'll do about the inside. If I turn the inside, the walls will be about ¼" or so. I will probably turn the top inside so I can do a proper bearing edge for the head.

Charon

Well, it was fun while it lasted. On turning down to the finished size so the head would fit, one edge ended up paper thin. Reversing the cylinder on the lathe didn't resolve the problem. I thought of a way around the problem that might work, but ... there is still the issue of the inside not being able to be smoothed and no assurance it would sound good. I've decided to cut my loss and order a shell. I'll stain it the same as the floor tom I assembled from parts and be done with it. The shell I ordered is 12" deep so I can leave it that deep or cut it down to 6" (which is what I intend). If I cut it down I'll have an additional 18" by 6" shell that I can use for another drum at some point. It makes sense to admit when it's gotten to be a bit too much to continue. Better to spend time on practicing or something else fun when the activity has become a chore.

Dee74

Sorry it didn’t work out - it looked cool

D