There are some really good results happening with laser welding on cymbals. welding used to be an almost impossible task because of the excessive heating and uneven cooling around the weld but some laser welds can be so precise that those former problems are pretty much gone.

Thanks calfskin!

I'm afraid I don't own a laser weld, or have access to one. I can only handle JB Weld. Any thoughts on that?

This laser welding thing sounds very interesting and may have a future but to my knowledge, there is no way to satisfactorily repair a crack in a cymbal, short of cutting it down and re hammering/re lathing it.

Unfortunately, the location of your crack makes this impossible.

Enjoy your cymbal for as long as you can.

There is a guy who has done alot of welding repair on his cymbals - - - -if you just look for him - you will find his posts on here. He always posts a video with it and much of his work has been on Paistes.

If I find it, I will stop back in here and point you in the right direction.

Considering most don't weld for a living, perhaps an affordable option (considering your low investment thus far - not too much to loose) is to stop in to the local high school and see if a student wants to give it a try. I am sure the instructor will over see it so it will 'work' when done. Cosmetics are not important here (I am guessing) and this may be a very welcomed repair job in the class.

John

He "fixes" them by welding. But they don't sound very good afterward. I've already tried the high school welding shop route twice. It just doesn't work. There are some occasions when a cracked cymbal sounds cool, and you can nurse it for a while. Some areas with cracks don't spread. But the cymbal is 99% of the time junk. Of course, if you are just looking for something to hit, JB Weld will work perfectly. The best fix I've seen done frequently is the JB Weld of a washer at the mounting hole.

Thanks for the replies. I may try it. Honestly, it depends on how it sounds after the two ends of the crack have been drilled out. I have it with the repair guy now. It is dark and already dry, so I'm sure that it will be even a little drier. I may throw a few rivets in it too.

The way I see it, I don't really think that a little bit of JB Weld will have much effect on the sound. The cymbal is already going to be dead (no vibration transmission to the rest of the cymbal) where the crack is anyway, so why not try it? If this was an Istanbul K once owned by Elvin I wouldn't try it, but for my modest cost, this makes it a good guinea pig cymbal. If I do it carefully and properly (don't do a sloppy job or use way too much JB Weld), I can't see how it would make the cymbal sound worse, while having some reinforcement there would certainly be better than none. I know that JB Weld is not "real" metal, and is certainly of a different material than the rest of the cymbal, but for that small of an amount, that's like having a couple of drops of Sprite in a 44oz cup that you fill with Pepsi. Are you ever going to notice or taste it?

Of course there is always the option of cutting the entire crack out.....and leave a shape that has no corners. One thing I have learned (from experienced advisors) is to always use a lubricant when cutting cymbals. You don't want them to heat up on you, as that will weaken the cymbal there and make it more prone to further cracking, even 'new' at a spot that is weakened.

I have little hands on experience with these things, though am just trying to share what I do know about it. It would be easy to oversee some of these things that are discussed here and then fail as a result.

I have a cymbal that appears to have a section cut out - no doubt to cut out the crack, and it looks as if they used a drill to drill out the large semi-circle there. It is all smooth and I predict will never crack again. Good repair there. Of course this is in the case of an edge crack and not one at the base of the bell like the OP is looking at.

Yeah - try to cut that out into an oval-like shape, and if done well, it may give you much more lifespan for the thing.

John

I have a similar 22" Zildjan cymbal that is missing a chunk out of the hole, so I threw a grommet in there and have been blasting that thing ever since. I figured if it breaks, it was already broken.

I am pretty sure others have tried the JB weld route though, and cannot report on those results. I still say what is the worst that can happen? An un-repairable, cracked, cymbal breaks again?

Go for it!

Toodles

Drumhack

I TIG weld mine, and they sound good IMO and my customers agree. A small crack as you described is not to hard to repair. As far a people laser welding cymbals, as far as I know I'm the only guy in the world welding cymbals, a process I have developed over the last 10 years. It takes more than just running a bead, b20 bronze is a PITA to weld and requires exact temp. control. In fact I have a Zildjian A 18" rock crash a guy dropped off yesterday, that I intend on welding about 30 minutes from now...