Cracked Stave Shell

Captain Bash

Silver Member
Anyone have any experience in fixing a partially split mid stave shell. Bit distraught, decided to give my Brady Stave 14 x 7 snare (Jarrah) the once over, as I do every month or so and discovered a nasty crack emanating from snare side. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a complaint about Brady Drums, the drum is 19 yrs old and has been played out every week for 17 yrs non stop. Definitely good value for money, compared to buying lots of average snares that don’t quite hit the mark. It is/was a fantastic instrument with that I have become wholly used to, I guess is the problem is this isn’t easy to replace.

Anyone tried glueing a cracked shell, what glue should I buy use or is it a futile effort.
 
Is it cracked at a seam or one of the staves?? The only glue I use in my woodworking is Titebond 11. It is water resistant and when dried the seam will be stronger than the wood.
 

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Is it cracked at a seam or one of the staves?? The only glue I use in my woodworking is Titebond 11. It is water resistant and when dried the seam will be stronger than the wood.


It’s cracked down the middle of one of the staves, running vertically down the length of the wood grain, the crack goes the whole way through the stave, its not along a seam.
 
Like GD said, hypodermic some worthy glue into the crack. if you could get some fabric strap/band clamps (not sure of the proper term) to go around the perimeter and tighten down, it may help, but verify that with others before clamping down on a stave shell. Too much pressure could ruin it. Gluing without clamping may be enough to stop the crack from spreading, but again verify that with someone who knows more about wood than me.
 
I repaired some cracks in a stave bass drum recently. One of my friends is a highly skilled antique repairman and he recommended that I avoid tightbond glue. His suggestion was Fish Glue which is available online at StewMac. I bought three fabric clamps from Harbor Freight (you can probably get away with two since you aren’t doing a bass drum). Depending on the exact way your shell is cracked application can vary. I used a high pressure glue gun (also available from StewMac) to push glue into the crack). With fish glue you can use a damp rag to remove any excess glue as you clamp down. Be sure to use something (I used cardboard from a box) to put between the metal part of the fabric clamp to protect the shell as you apply pressure. Slowly tighten the clamps, alternating between them so you don’t put too much stress on one. Don’t be afraid to clamp down. You can see the crack gap close and hopefully some glue come out so you know you got enough in the crack. Leave the drum clamped for at least 24 hours and when you take off the clamps, release the pressure as slowly as you can, again alternating between clamps. This should do the trick. Did for me. Good luck!
 
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Send it to Chris Heuer @ Heuer's Drum Lab in Burbank, California. He's the only authorized Brady repair person in the USA. 818-231-5311.
Hi Brady Drums,

Thanks, I am not in the USA but the UK, I guess I could ship it over to the USA.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Do you hear the defect?

I don't as I have some vertical cracks in my Jarrah Block too, and they are only visible when every hardware piece is removed and you can't hear it. Not even solo under a mic.

But when you want to have it fixed, I bet there are great luthiers in the EU that can help you, like Lignum in Belgium (a personal friend of Chris if i'm not mistaken) and Brasswood from Daan van Diest in The Netherlands.
 
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Did you ever get it fixed?
No, I found two other smaller cracks and other issues with cross threaded rods etc. So I bought a new 14 x 7 jarrah stave in the same 14 x 7 size from the excellent red rock drums. https://www.redrockdrums.com.au/ The Brady was my main snare for well over over fifteen years (many gigs) and so didn’t owe me anything - great drum. But red rocks is sonically similar dry bark, pleasing overtone, very direct feel under the stick. In this instance I decided the drum had done it’s job but it was better to move on.
 
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