Kenkeni repair

[rachelnguyen]

I am on a roll with drum building this week! First I put my first cowskin on a djembe, and now I have a kenkeni that needs one new head and a repair. I also just ordered a pair of skins for my big dununba. I am going to be knee deep in soaking skins for the next week or so.

So, the kenkeni. This is a beautiful drum that apparently had a knot near the edge and at some point the knot broke off. Luckily it was stuck inside the drum, so I have the piece to try and effect a repair.

Here's what I am thinking:

First, I want to try and glue the knot back on. I am thinking of drilling some holes and using hardwood dowels to try and reinforce the break. Then using very strong wood glue. (Suggestions welcome.)

Because I am only heading one end right now, I am going to move the existing, dried head to the end with the break. That way I hope there will be less pressure on the repair when I tune the wet end.

Advice, comments and shared experience welcome!

[michi]

Wow, quite a job ahead of you there!

I like the dowel and wood glue idea. Get the strongest industrial-strength wood glue you can find. Some browsing of woodworking forums might be useful to track down the best brand of glue.

In the past, I've seen djembes repaired that were damaged much worse, with a foot that was shattered into three pieces, and one with a big chunk missing out of the bowl. In both cases, the repairer used fibreglass matting on the inside, with a (two-pack) epoxy. That will add a lot of structural strength without affecting the sound. (With dunduns, the inside surface texture doesn't seem to affect sound very much; besides, the fibreglass matting after applying the epoxy still has an irregular surface that will disperse sound waves.) The repairs I saw done this way worked well, and the drums sounded just as good afterwards.

Without the fibreglass reinforcement, I'd be concerned about structural integrity, even with dowels and good glue. There is a lot of tension on a kenkeni with a cow skin...

Cheers,

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

Michi,

The fiberglass matting is a great idea! I think it would certainly be worth a try. The worst case scenario is that the repair doesn't hold. My big concern is to not do MORE damage, so I want to be judicious about the dowel holes.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress.

[bkidd]

Hi Rachel,

Generally, wood glue is pretty strong, although there are differences among the glues. One thing to make sure is whether it will expand or not as it cures (just so you have enough space. You should be totally solid if you created a nice joint with the dowel and glue approach. Plus, your piece will ultimately be in compression so as long as there are enough dowel to counter act the shear force you'll be fine.

Good luck,
-Brian

[djembefeeling]

Hi Rachel,

I am always working with dowels and glue alone which usually work just fine, but Michi's fibre glass idea sounds good to be sure. Be careful drilling the knot, it can easily break into pieces. I start with a very small driller and continually increase the size to the size that is needed for the dowel.

As to the idea of changing the heads I am not sure if that's a good one. Isn't it shaped already in a way that fit's the other side? If you dry put it on your kenkeni it's not flexible to adjust, is it?

good luck from me, too,

jürgen

[shortypalmer]

when i had a rim break off of a djembe i had close to same kind of repair only longer along the rim. i used carpenters glue. tite-bond two. i glued a piece of 1/8 plywood on the inside of the drum to help reinforce the side wall of the drum. i was able to rehead the drum without a problem.

[the kid]

i wouldn't use fiberglass or epoxy on my drums or a drill. It's sacreligious

I'd simply make a mix of fine saw dust and regular wood glue/resin and fill up the hole and let it set for about 5 days before working on it. you can sand it smooth when dry.

[rachelnguyen]

Hey Jurgen,

Fortunately, the rings on this Kenkeni are a bit too big, so the head from the other end of the drum just slips right on. The fact that it won't adjust is actually what I am going for. It is thick enough that it will be a stable force. Of course, I could be wrong about it. If so, I will just switch it out, LOL.

Great advice about drilling knot! A gradual increase in drill size makes sense. That also gives you the opportunity to adjust as you go along.

[rachelnguyen]

Hey the Kid,

I understand your perspective, but the glue only approach has failed on this drum. There are remnants of past repair attempts. I could try it again, but it really seems like a stronger joint is necessary. Whatever I do, I will try to remain respectful of the drum! I have loved this kenkeni for years,

[djembefeeling]

I'd simply make a mix of fine saw dust and regular wood glue/resin and fill up the hole and let it set for about 5 days before working on it.

yeah, I know this kind of repair. People use to bring their djembes to me after this kind of fix failed. didn't know about your religious adoration of the djembe, though

[Rhythm House Drums]

System 8 Structural Epoxy is the ticket! Dowels will be tricky in the knot... drilling that piece is one thing, but keeping the knot from splitting or crumbling is another. With the epoxy you shouldn't need any... unless you just want to make sure it doesn't slip while the epoxy cures... but you could just as easily tape it into place.

titebond is a great glue. however it only leaves for about 1/64 gap before totally looses it's strength, and really needs a nice clean edge to glue up right. I use titebond 2 and 3 for my slated drums and have not had any problems... acutally I have an old cedar powwow that didn't quite workout sitting in my back yard, uncovered, for about 4 years now.. glue is just as strong as ever. BUT.. for your situation, I don't think a wood glue is going to do much unless the fit of the piece is really tight. The system 8 structural epoxy is great for this..

[Rhythm House Drums]

oops.. just checked my box... it's 'System Three T-88' Epoxy

[rachelnguyen]

Hi all,

Just wanted to check in with the latest on the kenkeni.

First, I recruited my husband to help, which meant that I had to defer to his judgement in some cases, LOL. He wasn't into the idea of epoxy at all. Instead, he drilled tiny holes and used a hypodermic to squirt titebond 3 into the holes and then gently tapped bamboo skewers into the holes. He also slapped a bunch of glue to the exposed surfaces of the wood. This was not a perfect fit, but he put in about 6 or 7 small dowels.

We let it dry for a day and today I reheaded it. It turned out that the drum was not a perfect cylinder, so in order for the rings to fit properly, I did have to mount the new skin on the damaged end after all. I did a wet pull today and it seems fine so far. Unfortunately, it turned out that my skin was extremely uneven in thickness, so I am not at all confident it will stand up to being hit with a stick. (Super thick on one side and as thin as goatskin on the other. Darn.)

But as of this moment, the repair is barely visible and seems to be holding. The skin is on and in a couple of days I will try a dry pull and see what happens.

Photos soon.

Rachel

[michi]

Unfortunately, it turned out that my skin was extremely uneven in thickness, so I am not at all confident it will stand up to being hit with a stick. (Super thick on one side and as thin as goatskin on the other. Darn.)

It may not matter. You can play the other end instead and use the new skin as the resonating end.

But as of this moment, the repair is barely visible and seems to be holding. The skin is on and in a couple of days I will try a dry pull and see what happens.

Thanks! Will be interesting to see how well it turns out. And good luck!

Cheers,

Michi.

[rachelnguyen]

Here are some shots of the repair in progress.