Bearing Edge Question

RobJoanisse · Mar 31, 2019

I'm wondering if anyone on here can help me. I have a 60's Gretsch round badge bass drum that I plan on rewrapping. The edges were not flat, so I flattened them on a truing table with sandpaper adhered to the table. Then I checked to see if outer shell walls were square with the table and they are not. Some areas are square and other areas are about 3/16" out of square. Should I just leave it alone? One idea I have is to put the shell on a crosscutting sled made for a table saw with the outer wall of the shell against the fence of the crosscutting sled and trim the edges.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

REF · Apr 1, 2019

I'm not quite sure I understand your predicament. Does the drum sound alright? I would not mess around with a vintage drum like that. Nothing you do is going to significantly change the sound of the drum. Indeed, leave it alone.

I am curious though. A 60's Gretsch. Double round-over, "baseball bat" bearing edges? Why did you feel the need to flatten out the edges to begin with?

After you flattened the edges, did you re-router them? Not that it would matter much on a bass drum. Muting the head a little more might even be more desirable, depending on your taste in sound.

RobJoanisse · Apr 1, 2019

I got the drum recently without the hardware, so I have not played it yet. The edges have the 30 degree cut and were a little wavy. After I sanded down the high spots I hand sanded the inner bevel around those areas to adjust the edge so it is now consistent and smooth. When the drum bearing edge is sitting flat on the truing table, I put a framing square against the table and against the outside face of the shell and checked all around the circumference of the shell and noticed that the shell is not 100 % square all the way around. It's like the shell is leaning slightly in one direction. I hope that I've explained my predicament a little better.
I probably should just leave it alone.

davezedlee · Apr 2, 2019

unless you intend to re-cut both edges, you might as well leave it

squaring one side would mean making the other co-planar as well, and means redoing both

not hard to do, but requires commitment and some tooling

Tommy D · Apr 2, 2019

davezedlee said:
unless you intend to re-cut both edges, you might as well leave it

squaring one side would mean making the other co-planar as well, and means redoing both

not hard to do, but requires commitment and some toolingView attachment 392252

What the heck kind of jig am I lookin' at here. Looks dangerous. I like that.

RobJoanisse · Apr 2, 2019

Very cool jig indeed!

davezedlee · Apr 2, 2019

its my modular rig that can be setup and knocked down fairly quickly... the majority of my woodworking takes place in the laundry room of the basement apartment i rent; one of the upstairs tenants has an Asperger or autism condition that limits my ability to make machine noises

essentially, i "square" shells using a set of shims i got from Lee Valley with hot glue, then use the wheels to track the perimeter of the shell to keep it under the router bit... once one edge is done, i lower the bit a hair and do the opposite edge; its all assembled on a 3/4" sheet of tempered glass, so it slides and stays relatively flat, and can be disassembled and stored before "buddy" gets home ; )

i have a second rig for shorter shells that does the same thing, but made it out of a two-tier side table, with a glass chessboard as the sliding surface