Show off your axe

[michi]

BTW, glad to see a real djembe in the picture instead of a Galaxy Giovanni...

Cheers,

Michi.

[jimmymack71]

yeah I brought four of my guinean djembes with me on the road, the red drums are djun djuns with modern bolt tuned hardware, they're made by moperc a canadian company and sound great!! yes a small truck load there, good job they've got 20 huge trucks!!

[rachelnguyen]

Oh, oh, tell me that this isn't one of the prettiest, plainest, most gorgeous fat Mali bowls you have ever seen. Finally, Sidy finished putting a cowskin on my new shell and it is so sweet. He did a beautiful job. I can't wait till it is all tuned up and ready to go.

This is the drum I got from my teacher in Mali, Mazé Kouyaté. I brought it back to RI in a duffel bag, LOL.

Of all the drums, in all the world, this was the one I wanted. Sweet Mazé, I hope someday I can do you proud.

[rachelnguyen]

The skin, incidentally, is from Shorty at Goatskins.com. He sells something called kip, which is basically thin calfskin. It is nice stuff.

[bubudi]

that is a beautiful drum, rachel. have you done anything about the crack in the stem?

[rachelnguyen]

Not really, Bubudi. It has been filled with a little bit of filler paste in the past, but it is going to need a bit of attention at some point. Suggestions?

[michi]

Not really, Bubudi. It has been filled with a little bit of filler paste in the past, but it is going to need a bit of attention at some point. Suggestions?

I fill cracks with two-component (epoxy) glue sold as Araldite over here. (Make sure to use the slow-setting 8-24 hour version, not the 5 minute version.) Any other brand of two-pack epoxy glue will essentially be the same. Just make sure that you get one that takes several hours to set. Also try to get the glue in a double-barrel syringe, as shown in the link. That makes it easier to heat it before mixing.

To fill a crack, I tape over the crack on the outside of the drum with gaffer tape or some such, pressing it down hard along the edges. That's to stop glue creeping out of the crack on the outside and messing up the outside surface.

To get the glue into the crack, I put the entire syringe into a jar of boiling water for a few minutes. The heat makes the glue go really thin and runny, so it's a lot easier to make it flow into a narrow crack. To mix up the two components, I float a small disposable plastic container (such as the ones you get for condiments in chinese food stores) on boiling water. (Any small plastic cap, such as from a small spray can, will do equally well.) Mixing the glue in the floating container keeps the glue hot to reduce viscosity.

To apply, get a small disposable syringe from a pharmacy, pre-heat the syringe in boiling water (without sucking water into it), and fill it with the pre-mixed glue. Lie the drum on its side with the crack down, and dribble the glue into the crack from the inside, so the crack is completely filled. The tape on the outside stops the liquid glue from running out of the crack if the crack goes all the way through the shell. Any excess of glue on the inside you can scrape or wipe off. Let the drum lie on its side for 24 hours, then remove the tape.

Any slightly messy bits of glue on the outside can be sanded off easily. The glue sands very well and dries with a darkish grey/brown color, so it doesn't show up much.

Two-component glue has the advantage that it retains some flexibility after it has set so, as the shell moves with changes in humidity, the glue isn't going to come loose.

I've used this successfully on a number of drums, and the repairs have lasted several years so far. I expect that glue will last as long as the shell (near enough forever, for all intents and purposes). Note that the slow-setting epoxy is preferable because it retains more flexibility once it sets, and also makes a stronger bond than the fast-setting version.

I find this type of repair particularly useful if there is a crack in a shell that goes right through the bearing edge. The glue completely fills the crack and can be sanded just as well as wood. Once sanded, you can barely tell that there was a problem with that shell. (I've filled cracks as wide as 2mm that way, without any problems.)

Some people mix (very) fine sawdust in with the glue, to match the color better to the shell. Be aware though that this also thickens the glue and makes it harder to get it properly into the crack. If you use sawdust, you may need to use a small spatula or some such to force the glue-and-sawdust mixture into the crack.

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

i would suggest before gluing that you drill a hole extending just over the edge of the crack, to remove the possibility of any further splitting down the track.

i can't tell from the pic if your crack goes all the way into the inside. if not, you may need to put the glue in from the outside. in that case, i'd skip the heating process.

when dealing with epoxy always always work in a well ventilated area.

[michi]

i would suggest before gluing that you drill a hole extending just over the edge of the crack, to remove the possibility of any further splitting down the track.

Yes, good advice. Make a small (2mm) hole.

i can't tell from the pic if your crack goes all the way into the inside. if not, you may need to put the glue in from the outside. in that case, i'd skip the heating process.

Can you explain why? I would have thought that, the runnier the glue, the easier it is to get it in there and fill the gap right down to the bottom.

when dealing with epoxy always always work in a well ventilated area.

Yes, good advice, too. Virtually all two-pack products are carcinogenic while they are liquid, because various hydrocarbons evaporate as the glue cures. (Once set, the compound is inert and no longer harmful.)

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

i can't tell from the pic if your crack goes all the way into the inside. if not, you may need to put the glue in from the outside. in that case, i'd skip the heating process.

Can you explain why? I would have thought that, the runnier the glue, the easier it is to get it in there and fill the gap right down to the bottom.

only to reduce the mess as it's easily going to run down across the foot of the drum. epoxy at regular viscosity may need to be worked into the crack, but that's no biggie.

[michi]

Ah, OK, I see it now: if you glue a crack from the outside, the glue will have a tendency to run around the sides. Yes, I agree, in that case, not heating the glue is probably the better option. (I've never had to glue a crack from the outside so far--all the ones I've done were wider on the inside than the outside.)

BTW, if you take a strip of masking tape or some such and run it along either side of the crack if you are glueing from the outside, that should help to minimize any mess from runny glue.

Cheers,

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

Great advice you guys. I am not sure how easy it will be to get a syringe here in the US, though. I think we may need a prescription for them. (I'll check.) There are actually quite a few little cracks at the base of this drum, so gluing them all back up is going to be a bit of a process. I love the suggestion to heat the epoxy, though. That makes good sense!

I'll keep you posted on my progress. Maybe, when I get the materials together, I will create a new thread for it.

Love,
Rachel

[Djembe-nerd]

If you go to lowes or home depot, you will find the 2 parts with the syringe. All you have to do is open them and the syringe does the mixing together.

There are some wood glues also there which you can look into and ask the people over there about them.

[michi]

If you go to lowes or home depot, you will find the 2 parts with the syringe. All you have to do is open them and the syringe does the mixing together.

Yes, but you want another syringe to suck the mixture into to then apply it to the crack.

No prescription required for syringes here--you can just buy them at pharmacies. Surely, it must be possible to come up with something like a syringe over there. After all, there are plenty of applications for syringes that don't involve the injection of drugs. Or pose as a heroin addict and see whether you can join a needle exchange program...

There are some wood glues also there which you can look into and ask the people over there about them.

That might be an option, too, but be careful--most wood glues aren't designed to fill large volumes and also tend to be too soft once they are set, so they don't sand back well. Also, largish amounts put into a crack are not as strong as epoxy. (The bond made by wood glue when used in a thin layer is probably just as strong, but wood glue doesn't work as well as a filler as epoxy does, at least not the wood glues I tried. I switched to epoxy after trying wood glue and found that epoxy works better.)

Cheers,

Michi.

[michi]

the red drums are djun djuns with modern bolt tuned hardware, they're made by moperc a canadian company and sound great!!

The dundun shells look like they are recycled oil drums?

Good to see proper cow skin on the Palladium quinto, too! You need to replace the skins on the other three though...

Cheers,

Michi.