HOW AMERICAN CAST SHELLS STARTED

American Cast Shells was created out of necessity.

David Pimentel, a long time drum builder and former owner of Spaun Drum Company Inc., was getting frustrated with the fact that finding cast shells in the United States was near to impossible. So in 2013 he set out to create the perfect cast shell himself! He spent many months doing research and learning about the casting process, speaking to experts in the sand casting field and applying it to the drum industry. Being a drummer for over 35 years and building drums for almost 27 of those years, he had a pretty good idea of what type of sound he was looking for. David studied machining, and worked as a machinist for many years on the east coast. So, when it came time to look for a machine shop, he didn't settle on the first one he contacted. The machining process is crucial to the final look and sound of the drum,

"It needs to be perfect".

Providing cast aluminum drum shells and hoops

for the drum building industry.

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Our Process

WHY USE CAST DRUM SHELLS

One of the great things about casting is that you have a seamless drum shell when your done with the process. Drums that are rolled and welded are quite often egg shaped and the weld is always visible even after you brush or polish it. The reason why this happens is because your super heating and melting the area your welding and changing the properties of the metal in that location almost like heat treating a small part of the shell making it's uneven and warped. Also your creating a lot of stress on the seam because metal [even when rolled] still wants to spring back to it's original shape. This is sometimes a bad thing because the seam is brittle and could be susceptible to cracking. Shells created this way sometimes have harsh overtones and excessive ringing.

OUR PROCESS

When an American Cast Shell is cast it is allowed to cool down to room temperature then it is sent off to heat treat for hardening. Our castings are Solution Heat-treated and Artificially Aged by super heating the aluminum to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-12 hours and quenched in water at 150 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. What this does is force the shell to cool evenly all around and all the way threw. American Cast Shells are hardened to a T-6 condition. Seamless shells not only look great when you polish, paint or powder coat them, they also have a superior sound to rolled shells.