DIY Project: refurbishing and improving a favorite practice pad

In 2023, I purchased a custom pad from Rudimental Control. When I got my pad, I was pleased with the appearance and the performance.

But I was also a little concerned about the potential for the pad eventually bottoming out with use and compression. The inner platform had a lower profile than subsequent versions and over time the metal hoop made contact with the wood outer platform, limiting my ability to achieve good tension.

After I purchased  a newer generation of a pad from the same company, with rounded edges and a taller profile, I knew that I would want to find a way to raise the profile on my first-generation pad. While Rudimental Control made the very kind offer of taking back my first generation pad for modification at no additional charge, I decided that I really wanted to make this a DIY project.

Since I don't own power tools, I knew I’d have to work entirely by hand. The plan as I envisioned it below was to slice the inner base horizontally, and add another layer of wood in between the two halves. I ordered a  13” diameter x 1/2” thick wood round from a guy on Etsy, and hoped it would arrive around the time the sawing was done.

I marked where I thought the line ought to be, a process made easier by following the edge between two layers of the ply. Then, I wrapped the edge of the outer base in several layers of shop towels and clamped that into my bench vise.

And I began to carefully saw through the center of the inner base. I began with a fine-toothed Japanese pull-saw, to take my time, maintain control and avoid damaging the wood too much.

Over time, I was able to switch to a standard (American-style) hand saw so I could make faster progress. It took several days of short sawing sessions, taking time and care and giving my hand a rest before resuming again in several hours or the next day. It took me about five days doing it this way, which made it easier on my hands and gave the Etsy order time to be shipped.

It was slow going, and I was fine with that.

Finally, a couple of days ago, I was able to separate the two halves. As I’d expected, there was some stray pieces of wood that came off on either side from the ply and the glue. I carefully chipped away the biggest pieces and sanded the rest reasonably flat on each side.

The Etsy order arrived early this morning. I sanded the edges slightly round, and roughed up the smooth sides of the new “slice” so the glue would adhere better. I knew that there would be gaps, but I wasn’t worried about those. Any small gaps would be filled in a little by the wood glue under compression, and any larger gaps could be filled in after that with some wood filler and sealed with more glue. I’m not a woodworker and don’t pretend to be; and as long as 90% of the wood was in contact with the first glueing and compression during drying, I wasn’t worried. 

Glueing, Part One: middle slice and bottom of inner base. Instructions said to keep clamped for 30 minutes. I let it sit for two hours while I went to grab some lunch with my sister.

Since I don’t have any fancy woodworking clamps, I applied wood glue, centered it carefully by hand and waited five minutes, then let go and set a wine case and a cinder block on top of it to weight it down. Using the wine case [empty] would spread the weight out over the surface of the base, and the cinder block would center the weight for a firm bond.

After lunch, I removed the cinder block and wine case, checked my work, and repeated the process with the top of the sawn base, glueing it to the “slice” and putting back the wine case and cinder block. I left this overnight.

Next step: applying filler to the biggest gaps between the middle and top sections and letting them dry. Knowing that there would be gaps around the outer edges of the layers, I saved all the sawdust, poured it into the gaps and chased it with Elmers Glue-All. When that stuff hardens, it’s a solid. 

Doing a quarter at a time and allowing gravity and drying to do the rest made a difference. Since Elmer’s has a relatively short drying time of a few hours, it took most of a day for this part of the process.

However, just to be on the safe side, I decided to let this application sit weighted down overnight and into the next morning.

When the Elmer’s had dried completely, I sanded it lightly and applied a clearcoat by hand to protect the edges and seal everything.

Then I was ready to reassemble with a new pinstripe head.

After I installed the new head, I let it sit for another half a day, in case any more glue might seep out. It did, and I carefully wiped it away.

Aaaand done. Pinstripe head didn’t make me happy so I swapped in an Emperor head and it’s *much* nicer now.

Arthritis hands post-lawn mowing, but I don’t care. I’m really happy with how this turned out.

And I’m honored that Rudimental Control included this pad in their custom gallery. It’s still a good-looking pad, I play it nearly every day and I would heartily recommend Rudimental Control pads to any drummer looking for a craft-made, serious practice tool.

And if you buy a Rudimental Control pad now, in 2026, rest assured that it will have rounded edges and a higher profile, so that it will never need to be modified in this way. 

Lesson? If you like a pad but want it to be even better, don’t be afraid to experiment and get your hands dirty. The worst thing that can happen is you might have to replace some parts. And you can do this with any well-built tunable practice pad (and, if you’re careful, some rubber-on-wood pads as well).

Vintage update: Sam Ulano’s King Size Pad, refurbished

Remember when I got this gigantic practice pad?

I was thrilled to add this vintage pad to my stable. But I was also really nervous, because the large slab of gum rubber was showing its age. I worried that I’d ended up with a museum piece rather than a playable vintage pad. My goal with nearly all of my vintage pads is that while they’re historic, they should also be in decent enough shape to at least offer a short demonstration if asked.

I sat on this pad for a couple of months and asked around about ways to restore the rubber. After not getting a reassuring answer from anyone at local hardware stores or the handful of woodworkers I know, I weighed whether or not replacing the gum rubber would make sense. Gum rubber from fifty or more years ago is unlike what industrial suppliers call gum rubber today, and I worried I’d lose the feel by replacing it.

Finally, today promised to be a sunny, dry day and I decided it was time to act. I’d gently pry up the original rubber. If it was too degraded, I’d replace it with a new piece cut to the same size.

I took a deep breath, applied a thin flathead screwdriver to one edge of the rubber slab, and gently began to pry up the rubber. I took my time and pried a tiny little bit at a time before taking the whole slab in my hands and slowly tugging on it. To my relief, it came up in one piece. I was surprised to see that it was almost 1/2” thick, rather than a more standard 1/4”. 

(The top of the gum rubber, a

Ready hardened and crumbling, cracked even more as I pulled it up.)

To my even greater relief, the rubber was only degraded (by air, light, and time) less than 1/8” down; the other side of the slab was like almost new. Whatever glue had been used to adhere the rubber into the wooden frame had stayed with the wood. 

All of this meant that I could simply flip the rubber over and glue the old side down into wood frame, and the fresh side could be the new playing surface.

I lightly sanded the wood frame, applied a thin layer of wood hardener, and set it in the sun to dry. Out in the sun, it took about five hours to dry thoroughly. (I was careful not to get any hardener on the hard rubber surface on the reverse side.)

When the hardener was dry, I lightly scuffed up both the wood surface inside the frame and what used to be the top of the rubber slab, wiped off the excess crumbs from the rubber and the wood, and applied the glue.

Then I carefully pressed the rubber back into the frame. It was a snug fit and I took my time to make sure it would be fully seated all the way around. Then I weighted down the rubber and let it sit for two hours. This evening, I checked my work, and was happy with how it had turned out.

I tried it out and noticed that without the thin hardening on the top of the rubber, the feel and response is a touch softer now. I think this will be best with concert or drum kit sticks. With 1/2” of rubber, marching sticks will feel a bit sluggish, and I suspect that’s not what Sam designed these pads for anyway.

In case there’s still an odd smell — I was born without an olfactory sense so I can’t tell — I’m letting it air out overnight in the shed, right next to the open screen window. It should be ready to bring into the house tomorrow.

DIY Percussion: Homemade practice pad

Inspired at least a little by the Live Edge drum pads, where someone took a tree round, dipped it in flex seal and charged a hundred and fifty bucks for it, I decided to make my own.

It’s not pretty.

I used the bottom deck of an old Remo practice pad. The second generation of these pads used hard plastic rims that would chip if you hit a rimshot too hard, and eventually the rims cracked completely. I removed the screws, the broken rim, head and foam insert.

Roughed up the bottom, poured successive thin layers of Flex Seal liquid, let each layer dry for two days before pouring the next. (Outside, in the shed, with the screen window wide open. Don't do this inside your house!)

I had trouble wrangling the can and the liquid and made a bit of a mess. But I wore protective gloves and shop glasses, and got it done.

The end result is surprisingly functional. Best with concert or drum kit sticks.

You may want to glue a closed-cell foam backing to the bottom to give it more muffling and a nonskid surface.

I ended up doing three of these pads and I’m giving a couple to friends as gifts. I probably won't try this again, as a can of Flex Seal starts at around 18 bucks. 

Right now, this pad is drying outside because I decided to glue an ensolite foam pad to the underside.

I think it will help with the tone and slightly reduced vibration.

 

Video below shows the pad in use with jazz sticks, concert sticks and light marching sticks.

 

 

 

Vintage Corner: my very first practice pad, circa 1973

In the Fall of 1973, I walked into my grade school auditorium to see about joining the band.

I originally wanted to play a brass instrument, French horn or trumpet; but the few that the school had were already out on loan, and my parents couldn’t afford to rent an instrument from a music store. So I asked the music teacher what was available on loan.

After considering Cello (beautiful, but too big for my bicycle basket), flute (too much danger of hyperventilation) and clarinet (too squeaky, no thank you), the music teacher was out of options.

Except… 

“Well there’s a drum class that meets once a week, and anyone who passes all the lessons and quizzes can join the 5th grade band at the semester.” He paused.

“What?” I asked.

He pursed his lip, and then said, “Well, right now there’s ten boys in the class, and if you join you’d be the only girl. They might make fun of you. But if you hang in there — and I think you can — then you’d be able to join the band in January, with two or three other students. I expect the rest to get bored or wash out before then. And you’d start with a practice pad and some sticks, which would easily fit in your bike basket.”

I thought for a moment. And then, I said yes.

I went home with a pair of drum sticks, a lesson book and this practice pad.

I wrote my name on the bottom in case it got lost. I showed up for every class, and learned how to read rhythm and count and how to play long rolls and flams. Other rudiments would follow later. In January, I joined the fifth grade band with three other kids, and after just a month, I was moved up to the sixth grade band because I was making rapid progress. (The fifth grade boys were jealous, but even they had to admit that I had earned it.)

This pad went with me into middle school, high school and college. For many years, long before specialized drum pads became commonplace, it was my only practice pad. I replaced the head my freshman year of high school, and again in college. The bottom foam strip got a little dirty and dinged in the bottom of my backpack, but the pad held up beautifully. I just stuck a new-old-stock replacement head on it today, and added a thin layer of yoga mat material under the original foam to stabilize the foam a bit. It still works as advertised, and it’s still a cool little pad.

Vintage Corner: Restoration, Remo pad 1964

Restoration: Remo pad, 1964.

I purchased two of these old 10” pads, with metal rims, plywood base and fiberboard underlay. They came to me in a pretty filthy state. The original foam had been pummeled enough that the foam in the center was worn away a bit.

Here are before and after photos of one of the pads.

I carefully scrubbed the metal rim and the head with warm, mildly soapy water and a sponge. I also repaired the gap in the metal rim, originally covered with a “Remo” sticker, with some metallic plumbers tape.

The head was old and had a bald spot in the middle where the coating had been worn away by a lot of practice. To reinforce the worn center and help the head last a little longer, I applied a couple of strips of clear packing tape to the underside and smoothed them down.

When I reassembled it, I replaced the original foam with layers of bubble wrap, yoga mat and ensolite sleeping pad. 

The three layers stacked just a bit higher than the metal band that held the foam, meaning that it would compress nicely when the head was replaced and re-tensioned.

(Below: the layers, in order. L-R: bubble wrap, yoga mat, ensolite pad. Lay the bubble wrap with the flat side up so it sits flush against the middle yoga mat layer.)

All of these materials can be found for cheap or free at yard sales, thrift shops and in packages you might receive.

It plays beautifully with concert sticks.

I did the same thing with the other pad, and it’s also much more fun to play on now. I’ll probably keep one of the pads and rehome the other one.

Vintage Corner: Bower Practice Pad, NOT a replica!

It’s here.

I managed to obtain an original Harry Bower practice pad in an online auction, and it arrived today.

If you remember, back in 2021, I made a replica of this pad from found objects, and it was successful enough that I offered to make a few more for some fellow pad enthusiasts.

It turns out that my guesses at materials were only slightly off.

The original pad, designed by Harry Bower in 1919 and approved for patent in 1921, was made from a round of solid wood (probably pine, which was cheap and easy to obtain), with holes drilled to allow the attachment of a playing surface with some wool batting stuffed between the playing surface and the wood.

I’d assumed that the playing surface was leather, and my replica sounded and felt rather nice using this material. However the original seems to have been made either from a leather that has hardened so much with time it’s no longer really playable, or with a surface made from fiberboard, the same material used then (and now) in making drum cases. If this is fiberboard, it makes for a harsh, unresponsive playing surface. If it’s hardened leather, then my hunch was correct.

Additional info, from the original patent application of 1919:

“ …present embodiment of the invention consists of .arather thin plate which may be formed of gutta percha, whalebone, or a composition, such as papier mache, fiberboard, or any relatively stiff yet flexible or vibratory material which will be affected by the impact of the drum sticks similar. to the effect occasioned by said sticks when they sense by those acquainted with the art of drumming.”

So this solves the mystery. The original design did not use leather, but a piece of hard fiberboard such as that used in the making of drum cases from the 1920s through the 1980s. 

Apparently, the reason for using fiberboard was to give the most exact response possible, something on which mistakes could not possibly be hidden.

The OG pad measures exactly the same size as my replica.

I’m very pleased to have found an original of this pad, which is likely the first pad officially patented for commercial production in the US.

By modern standards, it’s horrible.

Even my replica isn’t all that, though the supple leather does make for a nicer response.

I may be inspired to design a display case for this pad, to hang it on the wall and keep the dust off. I’ve never felt this way about any other vintage pad. Though to be fair, this pad is actually an antique at over 100 years old.

I am so glad to be able to give this piece of drum history a home.

Vintage Corner: 1950s pad, maker unknown

When the world gets scary, I get geeky.

I did a mad bunch of flipping to come up with the scratch to obtain this beautiful old practice pad. Ludwig stand dates from the early to mid 1970s. The practice pad is older, probably from the 1950s. Pad is possibly homemade (it’s a little too narrow for the big mass producers of the era), and the rubber feels surprisingly bouncy and nice for its age.

It’s a keeper.