CYMBAL REPAIRS / MODS

[themazk]

Alright so in addition to TIG welding cracked cymbals, I have recently ( in the last week or so) started trying to re-hammer cymbals to do my bidding. Here are my normal playing hats. Top hat is a "marathon" brand cast N12 alloy top hat, the bottom was a Sabian B8 pro medium bottom. I love these cymbals together, but thought i could get more out of them.
So today i re-hammered the B8 pro bottom into my own version of the "sound edge" style of hat. 16 total "ripples". I started off with just 8 "sound edges", but the top hat was to dominant, seemed like the bottom hat was not getting enough action, so I added 8 more "edges" to get more contact between the two hats. Worked liked a freakin charm, OMG these hats are bad ass. I'll get a sound file up soon, here are some pics.

 

[lefty2]

What about the re-tempering that TIG would create? I've never seen it done because it may well increase the brittleness of the bronze alloy.[/QUOTE

I tried welding my med. thin Zildjian 16" today. When I tried to straighten out some of the warpage, it craked in the other direction. It became too brittle. That's what I thought would happen. That cymbal lasted over 20 yr. so it's not so bad.

 

[themazk]

That weld looks decent, did you do it with a torch? Because the HAZ looks huge and really dark. How did you try and remove the warpage? With a hammer or with heat?

 

[lefty2]

That weld looks decent, did you do it with a torch? Because the HAZ looks huge and really dark. How did you try and remove the warpage? With a hammer or with heat?

I used TIG with silicon braze rod. I just pushed on it with my hands to try and pop the warpage out.

 

[themazk]

Well, I already know what caused the cracking just by looking at the cymbal, unfortunetly that is the part of the process it took me years to figure out, so I can't reveal that info. Your welds look good though, better than mine lol.

 

[dabomb]

hello guys ..my name is
Giovanni and just arrive here from the philippines...i do cymbal crack, dent, repair and modification ....if you have cymbal for repair ..i can repair it for you ...heres a sample of my work ...enjoy...

https://www.facebook.com/CymbalCrackDentRepairAndModifications?ref=hl


you can contact me on this address or bring your cymbals for mod or repair

15413 lefloss street norwalk california
number is 562 -2066464

please do call or PM me before you come ...thanks

 

[Cymbalmagic.com]

Take a look here people, I'm based in UK, but offer a worldwide service!

www.cymbalmagic.com

 

[davelan]

Here's one: I acquired a Sabian HH thin crash as a throw-in with a kit I bought a while back. The reason it was thrown in was because it had numerous cracks radiating from the hole in the middle and, as a result, produced a weak, choked sound. Anyway, as I was about to throw it away, I thought I'd have a stab at quite a clumsy, bodged repair job whereby I found a washer with the same diameter hole which was also wide enough to reach to the outer edge of the cracks and superglued it in place. I've been hammering it pretty hard for a few weeks now and, while the sound almost certainly isn't up to the original standard, the repair is holding up and I now have a perfectly serviceable cymbal.

 

[themazk]

Here's a paiste 505 green label 20" heavy crash, that I tig welded a 3 inch crack. In the video are my 16" hi hats I made from some old crashes I had welded up but could not sell,lol, they make awesome hats...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtaFuZmFm1o

 

[CL4MBURGLAR]

hey guys. so my friend just gave me a slightly cracked 10" Sabian HHX Evolution splash. the crack runs along with the circular shape of the cymbal, almost in an arc shape. Now the crack is so thin that it makes a rattling noise every time its touched. i definitely dont want to get rid of this cymbal. what is the best repair i can do in this situation?

 

[themazk]

This belongs to a customer of mine it's a 2002 20" crash that had nasty multi-directional cracking, turned out nice though, first picture is of the crack tack welded, then the finished weld that has been dressed down with my grinder and a flap disc...

 

[rocketsurgeon]

My fix for a damaged hole

Here's what I used: Rat-tail file, JB Weld, brass washer, wax paper for the cymbal to rest on, 000 steel wool for finishing. The job took about an hour. Curing time was about 48 hours. I bought an 18 inch HHX Studio Crash in case it failed....at least that what I convinced myself. PM me if you need details.

 

[letsgetapizza]

Recently bought a 20" Ziljdian A which I later realized had a crack along one of the tonal ridges. Drilled out 2 3mm holes, each approximately 3mm past the end of the visible crack, and then drilled out the entire crack with a 1mm drill bit. Then filed down the crack with a 2mm rat-tail file. Don't expect it to last forever, but we had a 22" ride in my high school which someone had done the same to, and it lasted for at least 5 years, so we'll see. WIll post back in the next few months with a status report.

 

[customdrum]

Re: My fix for a damaged hole

Here's what I used: Rat-tail file, JB Weld, brass washer, wax paper for the cymbal to rest on, 000 steel wool for finishing. The job took about an hour. Curing time was about 48 hours. I bought an 18 inch HHX Studio Crash in case it failed....at least that what I convinced myself. PM me if you need details.


i tried the same jb weld and cut a washer from a old cymbal to fix the center hole and it fell right off after i hit it a few times, i dont see how people get jb weld to stick to the cymbal, i clamped the washer to the cymbal to hold it tight. hell i cant get jb weld to work ever regardless of sanding, cleaning and mixing corrrectly, did the washer stay on or did it come off?

 

[uhtrinity]

Just did my first repair on a Sabian AAX 14" Dark crash. The cymbal developed a short crack on one edge, I drilled it over a year ago to stop the crack, that took 2 tries. decided I wanted to remove about a 1/2", so improvised a lathe using an old industrial hand drill, a 1/2 bolt, nut and washers, and a broken grinder cutting disk. The drill has a broad handle and a long grip where the trigger sits, so essentially a tripod. I can work the trigger switch with my foot.

Managed to take about 1/2 off the outer edge converting it to a 13" crash cymbal. It is now noticeably brighter, but not quite as bright as my 14" AA med thin crash and has a fairly short decay. Will either use it as a crash on my spare set, also considered using it as the top of a 13" secondary hi hat, that is if I can find or fab a 13" bottom.

The next project will be trying to make a 12" Wuhan China usable by thinning it out. It is so thick it doesn't have a musicality to it.

Edit: Picked up a silver looking Pearl hi hat bottom from a local music store for $10. Cut it down to match, lathed the varnish and silver plating, turned out to be brass (yellow color). The bronze AAX top and the brass bottom work surprisingly well together. Added some pics. Also started making lathing and cutting bits out of dull drill bits shaped on a bench grinder.

 

[uhtrinity]

Picked up some broken cymbals from a drummer friend this weekend for modification / repair.

18" Sabian xs20, already cut it down to 15". At 15" it sounds like heavy crash. I plan on lathing it a little thinner on the edge, thinking omni style.

14" Zildjian A custom hat, the top is cracked, the bottom is fine. Based on the cracks 12.5" will be the largest functional size.

17 & 18" Ziljian A Custom Crashs - These will only be good for 12 - 13" each.

Yes, he is very rough on expensive cymbals

I get to keep half the cymbals, he also gave me an older Zyn 2 star 20" thin ride. Based on the color it appears to be B10 or B20 bronze. I'm going to clean it up, might mod it as well, thinking large paper thin crash.

 

[uhtrinity]

Over the last few days I cut down his Zildjian A Custom Masterworks. Cut down to 12.5" they were too dead and clanky due to heavy weight and small diameter, so I thinned down the top by about 30%, and bottom by about 10%. Made a huge difference and brought them to life. Btw, I told him it might be better to just find a used 14" top, but he opted to have both cut and lathed. All of his broken cymbals have been collecting dust for quite a few years. All the cuts were done by lathing, no tin snips used used in the cutting of these cymbals.

 

[Dignan]

So I'm on the quest to find, or make, good practice cymbals (mostly just looking for hats and a small cymbal to use as a ride). I've used the rubber e-cymbals and real cymbals with pads. Neither of which really give the feel or sound I'd like. In an ideal world where money was abundant, I'd buy those Gen16 E-cymbals. That's what I'm going for here.

My idea is to buy some garbage/cracked cymbals and drill a bunch of holes (like the Gen16s). Anyone ever try this? Does it significantly reduce the volume? Worst case I break a $20 cymbal I got on ebay.

 

[wave]

I have repaired a number of cracked cymbals using an angle grinder with a cutting wheel and finish with a sanding wheel. It works much better than using tin snips. One I play is a Paiste 18" Giant Beat that had a half inch crack in the side that I got very cheap. I cut it out with a smooth angle covering 4" or more instead of a straight V cut. The only one I craked myself was a Sabian AAX hihat bottom. I tried to put sound edge style ripples in it with a claw hammer and the B20 was too brittle. I would up cutting four V's in this one so it is cymetrical.

I tried to solder/braze some cracks using a copper rod and map gas. It kind of worked, but the gas is so hot it will melt the cymbal like nothing. It probably also affects the sound quality.

The only other "repair" I made was to a Zildjian edge splash. It was cracked around the center hole. I sanded it a bit and put a thin coat of marine epoxy on it. It is holding but I don't know if it affected the sound or not.

 

[lankyman]

I repaired my Paiste 20" thin crash using flux coated silicon bronze braising wire and a no.6 braising tip. I recommend practicing on a rubbish cymbal first to get your heat correct as things happen very quickly once the metal begins to flow. Be sure to very lightly buff the surface on both sides to remove any wax coating (I used a die grinder with a small flapper wheel). A little reshaping with a planishing hammer to remove distortion and I'm pretty happy with the result