So today I randomly decided to refinish one of my snare drums (view all the pictures here).  All I got done today was disassembling the drum and sanding off the original finish. 

Unfortunately, I never took an picture of the original drum before I started working, but in this picture you can see some blotches of the old color on the inside of the shell:

Next, the challenge will be to actually find time to paint and laquer the damn thing. Sanding took about 15 minutes tops with a power sander. But painting is a more delicate and patient process. In the past I've always put on at least two coats of stain or paint, plus about 3-4 coats of laquer. Each coat has to dry, etc etc etc. This time I want to do at least 5 coats of laquer, as all of my drums in the past haven't turned out as shiny as I've wanted them.

I also have to choose a color. I'm leaning toward a really in-your-face yellow. I'm not going to stain it this time - I really want a solid color without the wood grain showing through. There really aren't a lot of good colored stains out there anyway unless you either want to pay a ton of money or settle for some basic colors.