DRUMMER CAFE

Hey folks,

I'm ecstatic to report that I was lucky enough to win a free snare drum from (the very generous) John Riolo at American Music Drumparts.

John posted a contest on the message board of his site requesting people’s feelings on tom mounts.

So, I won and today, it came!
 
The first picture is of the snare drum shell (5.5 X 14) in it's natural state.
 
Ten beautiful plys of raw, unfinished maple.
 
The subsequent pictures are of the kit that I worked on building over the winter / spring.

8 X 12, 14 X 14, 18 X 18
 
The snare drum will endure the same arduous process that the other drums received. Two coats of cherry stain followed by six coats of polyurethane. It will match perfectly to the rest of the kit when it's done.
 
Poly, dry, steel-wool... poly, dry, steel-wool...poly, dry, steel-wool... etc.
 
Takes some work (and time), but it's worth it.
 
I guess all the effort that my Dad and shop teachers put into getting me to retain at least half of what they taught me about wood working sunk in a little.
 
You'll notice the badge on the drums. They looked a little plain without a badge at all. I figured, I built them, I'm not going to sell them, so why not work my name into it somehow. So that's what I came up with. My brother in-law was able to print out my design on thin vinyl and I inbedded them into the polyurethane on each drum.
 
Oh, and they sound great too.

John’s craftsmanship is outstanding. The bearing edges are perfect. Plus, he drills the holes for the drum’s hardware that you purchase for free. Some serious quality and value.

Off to the basement to do some staining…

Snare Shell

Kit

Tom

Kick

Badge

Thanks, and yeah. I like the contrast of the natural maple on the hoops and the cherry. The hoops got the same amount of poly that the shells did.

Congratulations, Christopher - John Riolo is good people, that's for sure.

The kit looks beautiful, and I'm sure the snare drum will be just as attractive.  What hardware do you plan on using on the snare?

BEAUTIFUL!

And all the more so that you did the work yourself! Congratulations and nice goin'!

Very classy looking! Your hard work shows, and I'm sure it will be a thrill to play!

robyn

Chris-
Wow, love your finished product.  I just finished a refinishing project of my own so I know what it takes to get to the point you have.  Currently I'm awaitng gibraltar rim mounts to put on the 21 and 13 inch toms.  I just posted a message on misc. about putting pictures on a post so hopefully will have something to contribute shortly.  I love the color, my next project will be to finish a bass drum (that I need to find toms for) that I currently have stained but not poly coated.  I Opted for 5 coats on the last project and will use a natural finish on the hoops as well.  I agree the contrast looks real sharp.  Congradulations, I love playing my new kit but as things go its first public appearance was at the hands of drummer for a friend of mine who came into town for a concert and needed to borrow a kit  .  I wasn't om it myself- but at least some good use was made of it.  Hope you get to use yours frequently.

Chris, that's stunning. I recall you telling me about this when I was in Philly. Hopefully I can get to see it in person sometime.

Which strainer did you get?

did you just lay the badge down and then poly over top of it? or is there an adhesive on the badge?

That looks like a cool design, kinda reminds me of the new Pearl Reference strainer. Would he have let you pick the nickelworks strainer?