Cutting Drum Shell, Cutting Bass Drum & Cutting Bearing Edge

Using old school techniques cutting a bass drum shell and adding new bearing edge on it. These skills were taught to me by Drum Master drum builder, Stan Keyawa at the Professional Drum Shop in Hollywood. No Edge sounds better than a had cut edge. This take a little practice. Enjoy!
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[@raykanter3985]

Just the coolest. Thank you for the walk thru.

[@tomgreen6397]

Excellent video! I appreciate the quick edits to get to the point. This is a very practical method. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@basementapefilms]

Glad its helpful! Thanks for watching !

[@telsonalves8060]

Ficou excelente o seu trabalho. Parabéns.

[@DEVILGRAVEDIGGER]

Good job. I use a router table with a 45 degree bit for my bearing edges, will give your method a try tomorrow when I cut down my 20x18 to 20x12.

[@montinicaragua7457]

Do you have a video ?

[@josephmiddleton4422]

Thank you for the advice and tips, I'm about to cut some shells myself and this video really helped out. Oh and by the way that short piece you used to mount an old head on the wall which looks cool, but man you just made a pancake drum and are now using it to mount an old head on the wall lol

[@kanesanders6669]

My kick is from a Tama Superstar Hyperdrive (2010) and it's 20" deep (23" including the hoops). It sounds fantastic and I'm always complimented on its sound. I use an Evans EMAD head on beater side and have a port hole on the front head. The length is a problem because it's impractical. Space is always at a premium at pub gigs where the band has to fit into a small area. It takes a lot of space in the car and its heavy. It also won't fit in any generic branded case or bag and you need to buy one from Tama. Been thinking of taking a few inches off. This video will help a lot. Cheers.

[@Davysprocket213]

Your method of cutting the bearing edges is certainly different than the way most people do it, which is with a router, with the bit pointed upward, suspended in a table to facilitate the precise cutting angle. Were you happy with the results?

[@basementapefilms]

Depends on the drum. I do both methods. I learned this years ago from the Professional Drum Shop in Hollywood. I imagine once they are gone so will the art of doing hand edges...I did their restorations in the 90s. Mostly on old Rogers, Slingerland and Ludwig kits as the shells were always out of round. warped etc. If the edges were split and required glue and clamps etc. Then hand cutting is a must. You can then also use a router on your final pass ever so slightly to clean things up. The drum sounds great. It takes practice to hand cut an edge and you wouldn't do this normally to some of the modern drums that are around today. Alot of folks use a router, and rightfully so..but if you dont know what your doing with that you can take off too much material to fast and your screwed. This video is show folks that can actually do an edge by hand, it takes more time and little skill. Also your not removinng to much material off at once, rather a little at a time. This method works best on warped and older shell with big re-rings inside. Thanks for watching.

[@3sidesofeve711]

This was perfect.. I love finding videos where the person has minimal tools like myself and gets the job done. I went out and got this done in a couple hours using my Ryobi table saw and porter cable cordless hand sander. I also ended up only using 4 clamps per side. It sounds good, i need to tweak it tomorrow but I noticed a really nice heavy sound if I don't bury the beater. Thanks!

[@basementapefilms]

Sweet! Glad it was helpful

[@basementapefilms]

That’s great I’m so glad to hear it. Sorry for the late reply. I’m glad I could help. It’s a great skill to know. Keep it up.

[@craigbunney6307]

Yep. Gonna do this! I have a 22 x 22 and it does my head in! Thanks for the video!!

[@simonantics]

Excellent practical advice and a great video! Now to make a 16"x14" bass drum. thanks!!

[@gastonjabaly]

How about a router to cut the bearimg edges since bearing edges are the MOST important part of a good soundig drum

[@papist777]

Excellent video. Do you have a recommendation for the saw blade? Last one I tried with a 60 tooth blade "chattered" on me and tore into the drum a bit. I don't want to have that happen again! Thanks.

[@wilhemalmodovar8910]

Definitely trying to use this technique to make un ultra compact quiet kit

[@fnv-w3n]

Very cool. I prefer the 14" depth as well. You can play the drum, it doesn't play you.

[@basementapefilms]

Even if you use a router to get clean edges, sanding is still required, Imaging your're making a piece of fine furniture. Once you route the edge you should put the drum on a sanding table like in this video and true it down a bit more. The lemon oil helps to see the high a low spots. Then run a sanding over it. Especially for the old Ludwigs and Slingerlands. Routers are fine on the new factory made shells but the older drums were built by hand on roller machines and were never perfectly round to begin with. Try it by hand on an old drum if you can. Its a great skill to know if your in the game. I was taught this by the brothers at Pro Drum Shop in Hollywood. I worked there for years and Stan tought me this. Every big drum player in the world go's to Stanley and Jerry for the goods and Stan always does the edges by hand. This is a dying skill. I have never seen anyone do hand made edges. Just do it!

[@jaymeramirez7435]

This give me the confidence to do my edges by hand. I’ve been checking the used market to buy a table router. But maybe I should try this….

[@gehbw]

Hello. Could someone please explain about how you use the lemon oil at 1:40? Thanks

[@mattnormandrums]

Great video Mathew, Can you share the song? I can't find the correct version of it. lol

[@basementapefilms]

I built it in Logic.

[@basementapefilms]

Thanks Matt, I built the beat in Logic.

[@johnnyfastt]

I have the same drum kit, how were the bearing edges on the rest of the kit? Mine are not even.

[@RCGC01]

You can make two drums from that cut

[@kalamkanomi]

This is terrific. Do you have suggestions for the blade choice?

[@basementapefilms]

Finish Blade

[@RCGC01]

No on the bearing edge😢

[@basementapefilms]

It was kit for a corporate gig. I didn't really get into it with the other drums. However it's a cheap kit. They are machine edges which are never consistent. It takes some practice but just because an edge is not completely perfect you can still get a good sound.

[@russellesimonetta9071]

Uhh,I agree about super deep bass drums! Fourteen to fifteen" is best!

[@jross3680]

HEALTH AND SAFETY: You guys need to wear a respirator when cutting shells. It is not recommended to wear dust masks or face masks. They are useless. Why? Besides the dust, which is already bad enough, you are cutting up formaldehyde adhesive and those particles are getting into the air, and into your lungs. This stuff is nasty and carcinogenic. Use a 3M Respirator with organic vapor filter cartridges and N95 dust pads.

[@davidkindred7677]

Old woodworker's rule, also how to eliminate the glitch where end of the cut meets the beginning....Always have the larger part of the shell against the fence. At the end of the cut, when the cuts meet, the cut-off will jump, spin, buck, fly, against the blade, causing the uneven spot, but the edge you'll be using will continue in a straight line because you still have the shell against the fence....AND keeping it tight against the fence prevents kickback, the main.hazard when cutting.....and for the bearing edges, at least get a $20 trim router from Harbor Freight or a used, name brand one from a pawn shop, a 45* and small set of roundover bits, and a 2 foot square of 3/4 inch plywood, even an old table top from furniture left on the curb. KZbin has hundreds of vids on making a simple OR elegant router table, One bearing edge can then be done in just a few minutes, much more accurately, which results in the harmonics around the edge of the head being similar at each lug......and that's what makes your ears happy! Ohhh, and to help with leveling the edges, try putting colored chalk on the peak of the edge before starting. Sandpaper takes the chalk, along with the wood, off the high spots first, out of the dips last,,,,so when the chalk is all gone, the edge is as perfect as you're gonna get it....All this is simple and the total cost, with the less expensive router, should be about the same as getting both edges of one drum done at a pro shop....My one typing finger is wo' out, I hope this helps somebody!

[@jas_bataille]

This was great, except for the fact that you didn't checked whether the edge was actually true on a granite table or similar level surface... also, I don't like the idea that the sheets of sandpaper are overlapping like this. It means there's a 99% chance that the edge isn't, in fact, perfectly true. I'm sure it plays well, but I'm a perfectionist...!! Other than that - great video :)

[@PLBIV]

put the side you're KEEPING against the fence. that way you won't get that horrible spot where the cut didn't line up

[@basementapefilms]

Yes, thank you I do do that. I clearly made a mistake while I was shooting the video. Thank you for the input. I hope you enjoy the video.

[@mark-remanHamilton]

Hand cutting a bearing edge isn't a bearing edge. Pro router and router table are $$$. Drill press doesn't matter as much. Poor man cut down drums aren't any good, sorry. They're going to be super hard to tune.

[@basementapefilms]

Thx for your positive feedback Mark. Sorry Mark…you’re just wrong. Tell that to Chad Smith and Danny Carey and the hundreds of other fine drummers who have had the edges on their drums cut and tuned at the Pro drum shop in Hollywood. Oh yeah I have made much$$$ using that very bass drum on plenty of gigs. Maybe you could take the time to make video and teach us all about how to make a bearing edge.