Seamless Brass Shell Snare 14X6.5
Back at it with the metal alloy snare builds. This time I got myself a seamless 14X6.5 all brass shell. The shell goes from 3mm thich to 5mm thick (top to bottom) with a 45 degree edge at the top and a 60 degree at the bottom. This seyup turned out really good in previous builds to make a really good and musical snare drum. The tickness and 60 degree bearing edge maximize the conact to the resonant head.
First step with the shell was to give it a good cleaning with some brasso. Once most of the surface stains are out, a good sanding with a fine grit (500+) will polish and give you a nice uniform brushed look. One final wipe with windex will get rid of all the fine residue and have it ready for taping.
With the shell taped up, you can begin mapping all of the holes for the hardware. Just a tip when it comes to drilling into any metal, especially brass since drill bits can often get caught on the shell and ruin the shell, is to use a lubricant when drilling. They are a lot of different types of lube you can use; even WD-40 will work like a charm, but it will help drilling easier and smoother, significantly smoother. I would also suggest getting a good drill bit. Using a brand name drill bit set will often create smoother holes than drill bits from harbor freight. Not to knock them too much, I like and use a lot of tools from there, but I always had to go back and clean the holes up when using their tools.
After one final cleaning, the shell is ready for lacquer or hardware. I chose not to give this one a finish to build patina over time and allow the user to decide wether they want to get a warmer / dryer sound from the drum or keep it clean to get the most resonance out of the shell possible.
