[Edit - Warning! Go to page 3 of this thread before attempting this job; it wasn't as easy as I thought!]
Hey all, I put this here instead of restoring because of the much heavier traffic and what I consider the importance of this.
I've had these 25" Leedy/Ludwig BD hoops for years - the drum got flooded and the calf heads rotted out at the bottom both sides. Well it's a 25" drum and so pretty useless minus the cash/work to have calf heads tucked, at which point I'd have all the issues with calf heads.
So I've been thinking about cutting them down to 22" for a long while now. Finally took the initiative two days ago, messed up the first try but was able to save the hoop with a section from a third, busted hoop. I'm not going to say how I messed up just yet - it's pretty embarrassing, so I'll let you guess for now...:) The extra section will be where the kick pedal mounts, well out of sight.
This thread is not about my workmanship, which is unremarkable due to lack of tools, shop, and patience. But this can be done!
What's absolutely key is having a form to put the hoop into. I didn't have a sheet of MDF or anything else to cut and didn't want to spend any money doing this. Finally it hit me - my hard cymbal case! It's sized to accomodate a 22" cymbal, with of course a little extra space all around. I took a steel MIJ hoop I have and dropped it in there and it was a perfect fit. Note - there was another such case in the basement, left over from when there was a jam space down there, and it was a tick too small. The case I used is a Sabian.
So, you cut the hoop straight across, insert into case, mark the overlap/material to be removed, plus where the lap joints will start/end, pull it back out, cut the lap joints, [I cut mine by hand with a jigsaw], smear the wood glue on both surfaces, re-insert the hoop into the case, and clamp it to the wall. The wall is plastic, so I used more sections from the 3rd busted hoop for added strength.
That's about it. I'll post more on the second hoop with pictures of the steps. Very excited about this as I wanted maple hoops for my maple finish Ludwig bass drum but didn't want to spend on them. A bonus for me is the natural relic look from 30s hoops that were painted black. Stripping is a drag so I took the paint off with a palm sander, leaving the divets with paint still in them. The hoops will get a hand-rubbing of linseed oil and then be put to work.
Mitch
