On drums...

... or the modification of it. The Sonor 600 double cymbal stand is a great design, but I dislike the lack of memory locks above the base of the cymbal risers. Then angle of the cymbal arm, the reach of the arms, and the cymbal angle that result from the arms spinning in the clamp, is all just too many variables for one little wing nut, and the frustration of finding a workable setup after a teardown is terrific. Using the standard Sonor 19mm memory locks (my cymbal arms are the latest iteration, hollow tube 19mm OD) as a guide, I milled a slot into the clamp cylinder. *







The cylinders (and the memory locks, for that matter) are chromed aluminum, and so are easily machined. The chrome showed no tendency to peel when milled.
The fitted unit:

* There is a difference between the early (like Link era) 19 mm locks and the modern ones: Early locks have two different size lugs, one .383" and the other .393" wide. The modern lugs are both the same, at .388". I made the slots wide enough to accept the widest, at .995" width. Works like a charm on all three sizes.

Right now, Gerd is selling 19mm memory locks (presumably the newer ones) at 1.26 Euros each

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Gregory

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

That's great Greg, I can't do that. I was never good with tools machinery etc.,

Ach, well. I've been around milling machines and have even run them, but setup is not something I trust myself with. A friend owns the mill, not I, and he did the job for me. I should have stated that.

Around here, if it can be done, there is a person who does it. If no one does it, it doesn't need doing - at least not commonly. To city dwellers, it can be remarkable how self-reliant a rural population is. The trick out here, of course, is to have the right friends.

Once the setup was established, it took about half an hour to cut the slots in all five cylinders, so even at machine shop prices, the cost should not be high.

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Gregory

Details details.....nice job Greg.
I need some free time.

Nice.. I'm surprised the engineers didn't think of that..

I've had/made some things for my drums. I have a couple of machinist friends and it does come in handy...

Too busy engineering a way to not say they had engineered the veneers, perhaps?

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Gregory

"Details" is right, Kel. Straight stands are easy, just get the height right. These things take endless fiddling and resetting, then walking around the kit to the throne each time to recheck and, when it is imperfect, either putting up with it or making another minute adjustment, hoping only one of the three possible adjustment changes changes.

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Gregory

A great idea for sure - congratulations Gregory.

Just a thought - will the memory lock work turned on the other side (for the tooth to go in the free space), without drilling the piece?!?

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

Thanks, Goki.

If the memory lock is turned 180º, it will work, albeit loosely, without altering anything. Two caveats: The "back" side of that clamp cylinder is cut away, so very little of the tooth hits the clamp cylinder, but there is enough contact between the two to serve as a stop. The setting is not singular, but rather depends on the memory lock's tooth coming to rest against the wall of the clamp cylinder, which is achieved by twisting the cymbal arm one way (or the other) and holding it there while tightening the clamp.

Good thinking, and thanks for bringing it up, Goki. I should have mentioned that possibility, but I was terribly impressed by the success of the little slots, which knocked everything else but pride out of my head.

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Gregory