Drummer Talk 261 – All About Bearing Edges (Part 2)

Dave and Troy bring part 2 of our series on bearing edges by focusing on how to cut your own! Drummer Talk Mailbag From Chris Dave & Troy, I loved the episode on bearing edges. Between that and the refinishing podcasts, it’s making me want to dust off my old basswood Sonor Force 2001’s and(...)

Dave and Troy bring part 2 of our series on bearing edges by focusing on how to cut your own!

From Chris

Dave & Troy,



I loved the episode on bearing edges. Between that and the refinishing podcasts, it’s making me want to dust off my old basswood Sonor Force 2001’s and refinish them. The toms are 12×10, 13×11 and 16×16. That seems really deep compared to the kits I’ve been playing on recently. Can you touch on how tom depth and bearing edge variations work together to produce certain sounds?



Also, the drums have a flat black lacquer finish I’m not crazy about. Would I be able to varnish over that or do anything to bring some life to the physical appearance?



Thanks!



Chris

Tendonitis sidelines Tommy Lee for 4th Motley Crue show
Travis Barker opens up about post-crash depression and thoughts of suicide

Topic Notes

Tools

Router Table

Router – Buy what you like but rent or hire a good router if you don’t own one I
Metal Tool Stand

Chamfer Router bits

Freud 45 Bit
Freud 30 Bit
Amana 60 Bit
Freud Roundover Bit

Johnsons Paste Wax

True Table

3/4″ Melamine Board Or Glass Table Top

Sandpaper

120 Grit Paper (20 Pack)
320 Grit Paper (20 Pack)

3M Super 77 Spray Adhesive
J-Roller
Acetone and scraper for taking of 3M glue spray when finished
3M Blue Painters Tape
Flat Hand File (if needed to smooth out wrap finished drums)
Lumber Crayon
Digital Caliper
Eye and Ear protection

6 Part process

Rough cut the shells

Using a caliper measure the thickness of your drum shell ( Use a digital caliper )
Set your router in the routing table and raise the bit height to ? of that measurement from below
Flush the shell against the bit so that it’s touching the blade and measure the distance between the blade and the bearing
repeat steps until you have the gap between the shell and the blade that you want
Lock your router and plug it in. Cut outside edge first: slowly ease on and off the bit using a clockwise motion. Cut inside edge next: slowly ease on and off the bit using counter clockwise motion.

True the shells

Take a lumber crayon, and color the flat part of your edge, all the way around the shell.
Start sanding that edge of the shell until you see no more markings from your crayon.
Do this to both edges of the shell
check the evenness of the shell you may have to sand more or you may have to go back to the router and recut the edges again, then use the truing table to get that consistent flatness.

Cut the inside

Set the height of the router bit to fit the inner edge profile you are trying to attain
Route inside of one drum shell, and determine if you need a bigger cut. to cut more material you must raise your router bit height.)
Once you have a desirable inside edge on your first shell, cut all the inside edges on all your drums
Adjust router bit slightly higher for thicker shells ( bass drums ) and cut the inside edge.

Cut the outside

If your shells are finished or have a wrap – use ¾ inch blue painters tape around the outside of the shells ( clean your router bit with tweezers after each shell – make sure your router is turned off when you do it )
Set the height of the router bit for the outside edge profile you are trying to attain. In most cases, this will either be a very small cut (since we rough cut the outside edge already), or just slightly bigger than the rough cut edge.
Route outside of one drum shell, and determine if you need a bigger cut
Once you have a desirable outside edge on your first shell, cut all the outside edges on all of your drums including thick shells.
Adjust router bit slightly higher for thicker shells, and cut comparable outside edge to complete the bearing edge profile you desire.

Match bass drum hoops

Cut inner edge of one side of both of your bass drum hoops.
Determine whether your bass drum claws have a rounded hook, or a flat style hook on them.
If flat is needed, leave the hoop as is. If round use a roundover bit

Final finishing

Hand file bearing edge at wrap overlap (if you have drum wrap overlaps) making sure there are no sharp edges
Hand sand the inside edge, outside edge, and the apex of the drum with 320 grit sandpaper to finish the wood.

Music from this week’s Show:

Blink-182 – I Miss You
Blink-182 – All The Small Things

In closing…

Find out when new articles and next episodes hit by following us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/drummertalk) and Facebook (http://facebook.com/drummertalk)
Want to support Drummer Talk and help us to continue to bring news, reviews, articles, transcriptions, and videos to free to you? Please consider becoming a Drummer Talk patron. You can find out more information including patron rewards (like shout-outs, stickers, T-shirts, and more)  at drummertalk.org/support.  Patron levels start at just $1. Remember, every donation helps keep us on the air and ad free!
Have a topic suggestion or question for the show?  Let us know at www.drummertalk.org/contact