Well, I have an MIJ Gracy kit that has black wood hoops and an inlay strip that I re-did. Not Rogers of course, but I would imagine the process would be the same. This is what I did that worked well for me. I'm sure you can tailor your project to fit your own needs. This is just my suggestion, you are obviously free to do it any way you choose.

First, I put painters tape over the inlay. The narrowest painter's tape I could find was 3/4", and my inlay was 1/2". So, I tore off strips of the painters tape and cut them in half length wise, and taped the left side of the inlay, and then the right side (so the tape would overlap in the middle of the inlay). This was a time-consuming pain in the a** initially, but was well worth my efforts!

I then filled in anything that needed to be filled in with Minwax wood filler. Stuff like gouges from the pedal, nicks, chips etc. After this dried overnight, I sanded down the whole hoop lightly with 220 grit, but being a little more aggressive on the spots I filled in. After that, I used 000 steel wool to get it nice and smooth.

Next I used Krylon black spray paint. I chose flat for better initial adhesion, but you can choose any finish you like. I gave the hoops 4 thin coats of paint, inside and out over two days (and gave an initial "priming" coat on the spots where the wood filler was). To do the outsides, I took two wire coat hangers and cut them near the hook, then bent them so they were straight, and then bent another hook at the other end. I hooked one end onto the rafters in my garage and the set the hoop on the other hook. They hung about chest level which was perfect.

After the paint thoroughly dried (48 hours), I put four coats of Minwax satin finish polyurethane on them. I then used 000 steel wool to get them very smooth. It's important to use at least four coats of polyurethane. If you use less, the steel wool can (and will) take off some of the black paint. I then put three more coats of satin finish poly on them. Then one more 000 steel wooling, for "baby's butt" smoothness. Finally, I finished them with 2 coats of Minwax gloss polyurethane. I took off the painters tape, and was super happy with the results. Here's how they came out:

[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/vyacheslav13/th_P1010001-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/vyacheslav13/th_P1010002-1.jpg[/IMG]

I am not a handy guy at all, and this project was easy (and actually fun) for me. Good luck on your project!

V