I am about to attempt this myself and really liked this guys approach. There is also a second video.

[ame="http://youtu.be/FEt7yjnMT0w"]http://youtu.be/FEt7yjnMT0w[/ame]

Very good honest and resourceful instruction video.I`ve never tried this myself but what he is talking about makes total sense for smaller sized drums(snares etc).He already outlined that he didn`t know how it would work for deeper drums(ft`s,etc,) so again very honest.As he did... i would try this on a cheap experimentation drum before trying it on an expensive vintage one.Best of luck but let the wood experts here chime in on this one before attempting.

Wayne

Thanks for the responses! Very helpful.

Here is what I am dealing with. Ludwig with no re-rings.

Trash it and get another shell. Seriously. Getting that one back into round is not going to happen, and not really worth the effort it'll take to try. Sorry to be so negative/the bringer of bad news, but in my very humble opinion, -that one- is just beyond saving.

John

Wow, if you end up fixing that you deserve restoration of the year award. I didn't watch the video, does it mention steaming the shell? I did watch it in a different thread a few weeks ago but cant remember the details. I see what John is saying about throwing it out but at the same time it would be a challenge, and if your like me, you will challenge it.

Good luck, please post your progress.

I worked on a snare drum shell once that was out of round. Here is a link to the thread I had on the project.

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=32416

Jeff - Thanks for chiming in! As a professional woodworker your opinion is valuable.

That 'plug' idea might work for the upper rims on the drum, but that is a deep shell. How do you take the waves out and round out the side of the drum? That's why I said I thought it was toast. I can't see a way to round out the entire shell short of steaming it and then putting the whole thing into a heated mold for a few hours. Where does the average guy get that kind of equipment/jig?

John

Holy Crap!!! That drum is not just out of round; it's completely deformed. Usually when we're talking about a drum being out of round, the shell is slightly oval in shape can be reformed back into a perfect circle by applying pressure and/or temperature. The drum pictured looks irreparable, unless one of our professional woodworker members here has some ideas.

Four lugs? What size shell is that?

Mike

--Ah, I see Jeff has already chimed in after I wrote this. There's our expert.

It is an 8".

I just acquired a 6" and 8" walnut cortex for cheap.

The 6" is pretty good.

I am thinking of wetting the shell and placing a wood or plexiglass disc in the shell cut exactly to the inside diameter and letting it dry.

I don't think it would hurt to try. If it fails I guess I can salvage the parts and wrap and find another bare 8" shell.

Another project added to the never ending scroll of drum projects.