What tips do you have for mounting flat natural skins on drums successfully? Here are a few that have worked well for me with regard to congas.
Soak the skin in cold water to preserve the fat content.
Soak the skin until pliable, not floppy and weak.
Make sure the flesh hoop is properly sized, round and free of rust or defects.
Make sure the tuning lugs are lubricated and move easily.
Apply a very thin coat of beeswax to the bearing edge of the shell.
Use mounting lugs that are 1″ longer than original lugs.
Use clamps around the skin to extend the size to get the skin around the flesh hoop and up through the crown.
Remove all folds in the skin.
Mount the skin as loose as possible with an even collar height of 3/8″ to preserve the collagen protein in the skin.
Trim the skin with a very sharp blade pointed away from the playing surface.
Add even tension as the skin dries to avoid a dip in the head.
Arrive at a collar height of 3/4″ at the end of the drying stage.