Finish Matching

[highmileage]

Any advice on how I'd refinish to match the purple? This is a '99 or so Tama Starclassic Performer, and I picked up the 10" orange tom to give it a shot. Not a lot of Violet finish out there to choose from... I thought I'd try to sand the old finish off first and it went through pretty quickly with 120 by hand (with a block, of course). Once I broke through the clear finish, the orange went away quickly so it's not deep into the wood. And the wood, what is it? They're birch shells, but obviously this is not like the stuff on the inside which matches cabinet-grade birch plywood, etc. I picked up a powdered dye kit for wood (mix with water) and thought I'd experiment on some scraps of birch plywood, but now I'm not so sure...

 

[tubelugs]

I would pay an antique wood furniture finisher for advice, even if I end up doing the work myself. Those guys can do anything.

 

[highmileage]

Good advice, I'll check around for one here. I got all the finish off down to what I thought was bare wood, then gave it one more sanding with 120 - but the dust wasn't wood, I think it's another layer of finish. Furniture refinishers have probably run into all kinds of stuff.

 

[blueshadow]

Try Duplicolor Metalcast purple spray paint, it's a auto candy paint but goes on transparent and lets the wood grain show. I've done several drums this way and I'm not very good at diy and have been good results. It will get darker with each coat and is it's true color instead of muted like a dye which you don't know the exact color until you put a top coat on. I've had good results with the metal cast and then top coating with Deft Gloss lacquer.