Back on track

Good morning everyone! I'm working toward getting everything back on track. I've been home about 2 weeks now and my days have been very full, having to tend to some matters that needed tending to along with continuing forward motion with Louisiana Backbeat. I've put in some time at Scott's Drum Center to help them out there and bring in some nuts to squirrel away for winter. I always enjoy working there to help out people with their drumming needs. I've also played several gigs since I've been back and had a ton of fun with the fellas playing jazz, funk and blues.

Back in the shop, the '65 Slingerland went out the door to a very happy and satisfied drummer and in return I acquired an early to mid '60's Rogers WMP 22, 13, 16 shell set. It appears to be all there, but will need some fine tuning. It was definitely a players kit and it's showing signs of 50+ years of playing. The wrap is good and all the seems are tight. A little TLC and it'll be good to go. It should be ready to go out before Christmas, if anyone is interested.

My trip to New England was very fruitful and exciting. It brought some new energy into the drumstick endeavor. Meeting my new friend Jeff was definitely a high point. The man knows a lot about making sticks. We spent a lot of time talking about the steps and processes of what goes into stick making. The visit to the machine shop was very positive as well. I found out I need to get my order in soon for knives since they have sold the business and "the man" that has been making everything may not be going to the new company. Crunch Time!!

When I met with John Witt of Goodspeed machine, we talked about some of the obstacles I was having with the FH30. I explained to him I had a small hydraulic leak in the tail spindle and carriage rams, and he recommended that I fix them soon before placing the machine into production. In the past several days I've pulled the tail spindle ram to get the part number. I've ordered the rebuild kits from John to do the necessary maintenance on the rams.

While having the ram out of the tail block, I decided to pull the tail spindle and check it. It had a lot of excessive grease which could potentially cause bearing failure down the line, so I cleaned up the excess and reinstalled. I will eventually need to pull it again and have 2 inches of the tip turned down to accommodate the 3/4" die for turning drumstick stock. At first I was hesitant to turn down the tail spindle because it will weaken it when turning larger stock. I've since come to the realization that this will become a specialized machine and I just need to do what needs to be done.

Speaking of getting things done, I spent the better part of Sunday gathering up my thoughts and ideas for drumstick designs and putting them down on paper. I've been needing to do this so I can get these to the machine shop for Back Knife and template fabrication. It took awhile but it felt good once I was finished. I'm really excited about this. even though I used other drumsticks as models, the drumsticks that come out of Louisiana Backbeat will truly be crafted and unique. Looking forward to it :)

Monday and Tuesday saw some good milestones in the shop. I made some adjustments to the template and tried another trial run for a stick. It's getting close and I'm very excited to see the progress! This machine is going to sing when it makes sticks and definitely different than anything I'm used to. After running a couple trials I decided it was time to teach myself how to sharpen the gouge. I have a gouge that had a bad edge on it and decided to clean it up and use the good gouge as a reference.

I'm getting close but still have a bit of tweaking to do for better gouge performance. I believe I need a smaller wheel to get the scoop in the gouge tip. The wheel I'm using works great for the flatter face but not so good for the actual gouge section. I will also need to invest in a diamond shaper to shape my wheels as I was told. That's coming very soon and I'll probably look for those components this weekend.

There's a lot more happening behind the scenes and I'll let ya know what's happening as it happens. I'm going to go head over to the shop and get a little done before lessons this afternoon. I've got a busy weekend coming up. A full day in the shop tomorrow and a double header gig scenario friday night. Saturday brings a short trip to pick up another machine for the shop. Exciting times with forward movement. Thanks everyone for keeping up with this endeavor.

'til later,
Frank