Wrapping drums?

[ams]

A customer brought in a couple of drums and need them re-wrapped. The inside is wood, much like a basal wood. The out side is some kind of black plastic, it's like a thicker PETG or a really thin acrylic.
He was told that sign shops can do it, but I don't have a clue. Any ideas?

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

A customer brought in a couple of drums and need them re-wrapped. The inside is wood, much like a basal wood. The out side is some kind of black plastic, it's like a thicker PETG or a really thin acrylic.
He was told that sign shops can do it, but I don't have a clue. Any ideas?

In all likelihood it's just painted and/or lacquered. Wrapping a wooden drum shell in plastic would probably alter the tone pretty significantly. There are a wraps made specifically for drum kits, but they're pretty expensive.

When he puts the hardware back on after the drum gets wrapped, he's likely to get some wrinkling in the wrap around the lugs. This article might give you a little direction.

 

[JJGraphics]

Leave the plastic shell on it and wrap over it. I wouldn't worry too much about the lugs moving. If they do, it will be very minor.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Leave the plastic shell on it and wrap over it. I wouldn't worry too much about the lugs moving. If they do, it will be very minor.

Yes, definitely wrap over the shell.

Tuning drums and replacing heads is done by loosening and tightening the tension rods, which do cause the lugs to move a bit. Over time they can cause a poorly done wrap to wrinkle or tear.

 

[eahicks]

Drummer AND sign guy here. I have wrapped MANY drums. If those drums are newer (like past 20 years) then the wraps are usually easy to take off. Remove ALL hardware, and the wrap is typically put on with a tape not unlike banner tape, at each end of the wrap. The new wrap, whatever that may be, goes on the same way. I have printed my own wraps before and I used gloss laminated IJ180C-V3 on top of .020 styrene. Works great. You do NOT want to just apply vinyl to the shell....it will look terrible.
You want to remember to start the wrap with the seam as close to a line of lug holes as you can, so the seam is partially covered by the lugs when re-assembled. Also, leave about 1/4" gap from the bearing edge of the drum shell, so the head collar and the rim go on easily So if the drum is say 13" deep, then the wrap should be 12.5". Any other questions on this, feel free to PM me.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Drummer AND sign guy here. I have wrapped MANY drums. If those drums are newer (like past 20 years) then the wraps are usually easy to take off. Remove ALL hardware, and the wrap is typically put on with a tape not unlike banner tape, at each end of the wrap. The new wrap, whatever that may be, goes on the same way. I have printed my own wraps before and I used gloss laminated IJ180C-V3 on top of .020 styrene. Works great. You do NOT want to just apply vinyl to the shell....it will look terrible.
You want to remember to start the wrap with the seam as close to a line of lug holes as you can, so the seam is partially covered by the lugs when re-assembled. Also, leave about 1/4" gap from the bearing edge of the drum shell, so the head collar and the rim go on easily So if the drum is say 13" deep, then the wrap should be 12.5". Any other questions on this, feel free to PM me.

That's actually a good clarification. Drum wraps aren't applied directly to the shell.

To give you an idea of what a wrinkled, poorly wrapped drum looks like, check out this picture.

[Edit: Also a drummer, 22 years! =D]

 

[ams]

Drummer AND sign guy here. I have wrapped MANY drums. If those drums are newer (like past 20 years) then the wraps are usually easy to take off. Remove ALL hardware, and the wrap is typically put on with a tape not unlike banner tape, at each end of the wrap. The new wrap, whatever that may be, goes on the same way. I have printed my own wraps before and I used gloss laminated IJ180C-V3 on top of .020 styrene. Works great. You do NOT want to just apply vinyl to the shell....it will look terrible.
You want to remember to start the wrap with the seam as close to a line of lug holes as you can, so the seam is partially covered by the lugs when re-assembled. Also, leave about 1/4" gap from the bearing edge of the drum shell, so the head collar and the rim go on easily So if the drum is say 13" deep, then the wrap should be 12.5". Any other questions on this, feel free to PM me.

These drums have a thicker black plastic wrapped around them like 0.32 aluminum thickness. It's not like an adhesive vinyl it's hard plastic.
The problem is the black plastic has busted and is separating at the seam so he wants it completely replaced, meaning ripping off logos, grommet, etc and putting back on. It's around 1/4" thick wood for the drum and then it's wrapped over that, the wood is bare inside.

 

[eahicks]

These drums have a thicker black plastic wrapped around them like 0.32 aluminum thickness. It's not like an adhesive vinyl it's hard plastic.
The problem is the black plastic has busted and is separating at the seam so he wants it completely replaced, meaning ripping off logos, grommet, etc and putting back on. It's around 1/4" thick wood for the drum and then it's wrapped over that, the wood is bare inside.

Right...it's a plastic wrap. Take the hardware off and remove the plastic wrap. It's garbage. Sounds like this is a cheap set of drums.