Restoration of a rope drum

Restoration of a rope drum.

While working on my own 16″x16″ historical rope drum (“DIY historic rope tension drum I”, “DIY historic rope tension drum II” and future articles), I came across an already made 14″x12″ drum at a very good price, so I could not resist the temptation and got it. Said drum was a Gonalca in reasonable conditions, but in need of some work to make it sound and look to its full potential. As it happens with almost all the projects that I show you on my blog, I ended up working on quite a few of them at the same time.

As always, the first thing I did was stripping it down to pieces.

All the parts (shell, bearing edges, snare bed, etc.) were in good condition, but the shell featured kind of a “kitchen table finish”, so that was the first thing that I got rid of.

I sanded the shell (grit 40) to return it back to its “natural” state. I repeated the process with finer grades (both in and out) untill it was smooth like a baby bum. This shell is made of birch, and working with this wood is a pain you know where, as it produces foam-like shavings, which get everywhere, making working with this wood a real mess. Here is the shell after the sanding process:

Then, I applied tung oil to the interior, letting it dry for 24 hours before applying another coat (about six coats were applied). See the difference between the treated interior and the raw exterior.

And old friend of mine was applied to the shell: chesnut dye.

Once done, I wax-finished it. This is the final result after 10 coats.

Then I attached the new butt end and the snare strainer. I ordered them with an aged-brass finish to get an antique look.

The shell was done, so I started working on the hoops, which had some problems with the laminate. I glued them and used clamps while they were drying.

Then I sanded them and applied ten coats of tung oil.

I had the idea of decorating the hoops somehow. I have not seen iconography showing ornate hoops, but I wanted to make my drum look more “Baroque”, so I was not afraid about “over-elaborating” them. My first idea was pyrography, but I soon abandoned it, as I never did anything like that. Then I got this idea while wandering through the aisles in Leroy Merlin:

I also added a carry hook (missing in the original drum) so I can use a sling. It was ordered, too, in an aged-brass finish.

Here we have both the shell and hoops finished:

I then moved to making the leather ears responsible of tensioning the rope (the old ones did not match the new look and were not very practical). I chose some light-colored leather matching the hoops but contrasting with the shell. On the contrary, I chose some dark-colored leather tape, as it would contrast with the ears and match the shell. This way the whole design would be homogeneous and nice. I got everything at Curtidos Carrasco, a local business worth a visit because of the colours, smells, stock, the kindness of the owners… A real time capsule!

I made ten ears and, when done, it was just a matter of roping the drum using new, fresh hemp rope (I will show you how to do it in a future article).

I made the snares using natural gut that I got from Baena Sonido (I am learning how to make my own, and already have everything I need to make them).

Here is the final result:

I hope I can upload sound samples soon. Do you own a rope drum?, have you made it yourself?, have you repaired one? Leave your comments!

…et in Arcadia ego.