How would you repair this...

I've been looking at this item listed as B grade/damaged stock somewhere and wondered what process you'd go through to repair a crack like the one in this bass drum:

wow! it looks like that baby may have been dropped.

if its a clean break and you can put it back together perfectly, you may be able to glue it back together.

1: take off the hardware and put PL premium high strength wood glue inside of the crack. this stuff will not break under pressure or vibration, but will still allow the wood to expand and contract. lay the drum down in a secure position, line up everything perfectly then use clamps to hold it together but be careful not to warp the drum's shape. also, just after gluing and clamping, make sure no glue has spilled over onto the finish side. once you know its clean and lined up perfectly, put a strip of masking tape over the crack on the finish side to ensure everything stays together and no glue overflows. i would let that baby dry for 24 hours dude. just to be sure. afterwards, you can lightly sand the ecxess glue off of the inside of the drum. use 320 grit sandpaper LIGHTLY, dont rush sanding.

im sure others will have more ideas, but this was the only thing i could think of. hope this helps.

The image isn't exactly clear so I can't tell if it goes through or not. What about if the crack was only through the first 5 or so plies?

it looks like it may have been dropped on the tension rod housing. more than likely it will be cracked most of the way through. but if not, i would probably fill it with glue anyways. it might prevent it from cracking more.

if a retailer is selling it as damaged/B-grade, it may not be as bad as it seems. i dont see them selling something that is completely broken and doesnt work all together.


also look at that bearing edge, its blurry but i can almost make out a crack that goes almost all the way through. when you tighten up the head, it will pull on that area quite a bit, which may cause further damage. just something to think about.

I love whodunnits ...

The crack is quite long and is consistent with a single impact failure as opposed to fatigue type failure. I second the view that the bearing edge on the left is the biggest concern. I would want to remove the washer and screw before I make a decision as there could be bad news under that washer. What is on the other side of that washer? Can you check the ovality of the end of the drum face as replacing heads will be an issue if it is badly out of round. Finally how does it sound?

All in all it doesn't look beyond repair but a few more investigations may be in order before you make an offer. Your offer should be embarrassingly low by the way!

Cheers
Davo

very true. the story might be wayyyy different when you remove that screw.

what is that screw holding? its a kick drum right? being as its just 1 screw i would say its holding a rod housing, but i may be wrong as it could be one of the stabilizer legs (which usually have a couple screws).

and if you dont mind telling, what kind of kit is this and what kind of wood?

Easy repair ha ha, since I don't have to do it. Shouldn't be too bad though.

I would get a piece of veneer from a woodworking supply store, and cut a piece the length of the break and maybe 6" wide. Remove the hardware. Moisten the veneer a bit so it bends without cracking. Figure out how you're going to clamp it in place. I would cut some flexible wood sticks that I could bend in there. Or you can modify drum sticks to fit across the inside of the drum when wedged in. Fit it once w/out glue, and when it looks good hit it with a blow drier while in place to get the wood to accept the new shape. Then take it out, use a good quality hyde glue and put it back in. Re-drill the holes the next day, reassemble, and hit it like it owes you money.

Seems like it only goes through two plies. I think you can just dip your finger in some good glue, and put a little on that crack, and it won't be visible. Unless you drop it, or jump on it... i suppose it won't crack in two pieces.

The crack runs right through, I've discovered. It's a mapex meridian maple, listed for £399 from £799.

I'm sure I could do the repair but I'm gonna pass as it's an online retailer and I don't had a way to physically check it out myself. If it was local and a bit cheaper I'd get it just for the sake of the project but not this time.

You did the right thing by passing.
It's not worth it because the Meridian Maple isn't an expensive or rare kit.
Even an expensive drum is basically worthless if cracked all the way through.
The shell will never produce a clean tone with a crack in it.
That drum was dropped hard to crack like that. Drum shells are pretty tough and it takes a serious impact to crack one all the way through.