Why don`t you just put it on the bandsaw and cut it down to a 16" ??

Actually ,it looks more like 14" !!

I did that recently (on a bandsaw) and the resulting cymbal is pretty much useless-almost a gonglike tone.

Yes, I've heard this same result from others. They really sound good still just grinding out the affected area only.

I wonder why that is !! There must be some thickness to radius rule or something.

[COLOR="Purple"]I disagree with the assessment that it becomes useless. It does dry the sound out a bit; and on a cymbal of a small size such a cutout might kill it. But on an 18"....it should work out OK. It sorta depends on how much "cushion" you wanna give the crack. Sometimes folks cut out too LARGE a cymbal area. You wanna find a happy medium.

Granted, it won't sound the same as before, but it still will probably be a usable cymbal....but looking at that photo...I think a proportion of cutout-to-whole like that would be OK.

This is often a better alternative than cutting the entire cymbal down. If the crack gets to 1" in from the edge (meaning a reduction in diameter of 2" should you cut it down)...that alters the response/performance of the cymbal way, way more than slicing off a piece as pictured above. You can get away w/ it with a thin cymbal or a large cymbal 21"+; but 2002's aren't thin......and this one's only an 18"-er.[/COLOR]

repaired craked cymbals. the sound you get may vary from cymbal to cymbal. if your fixing cheap cymbals like sabian b8's they dont sound very good to begin with. now cut into that same cymbal for sure you get a gong sound. now repairing a quality pro cymbal like 2002/hh/k's is likely to have better results they sound good in the first place so if you got to cut into the cymbal the cymbal retains some of the original tonal qualities

I bought the 18" Paiste 2002 cymbal for approx. $35 so it's worth a try. Yes, it is a medium so it's thick as Jaye stated...maybe I'll try and make a vid of myself doing it once I receive it. I have a 16" zildjian thin crash that was cracked along the edge of the bell about half way around the bell (seems like someone stepped or fell on it to crack it like this) and drilled a hole at each end and ground out a space in between. It's useable but really altered it's tone. I've done it on a 16" cracked B8 also and it still sounds fine...for a B8. I also have a top New-Beat hat that I did this to that was cracked about an inch in and 4-5" long and this thing still sounds great. For some reason, I have to go on as administrator on my computer to transfer pics from my camera. I tried this on user and it messes with my camera..this is how I lost pics that I had of the Chicago drum show... Here are pics of a couple repair jobs..

I had the same problem with a 17" 2002 thin crash. I cut and ground out a tighter radius and it still sounds great. Just gotta make sure I keep the affected area away from from where I'm playing it. (Those 2002's ain't cheap.)