I have used that cement to successfuly repair two vistalight drums that were broken at the seams. For real good information on this problem you may want to contact member Purdie Shuffle. He is quite knowledgeable about this.

That freaking duct tape residue is kicking my butt right now...figure I better clean the drum then work on glueing it up...

I hope John will weigh in if he has experience to share..

Jim - Actually, I've been following this thread just to see what kind of feedback you'd get. I never like bringing tidings of bad news, so I opted to keep quiet rather than play the part of Dr. Bringdown.

Only because the break is at a critical stress point, where the lug goes, I think it's a waste of time trying to save it. If the break was anywhere else, I'd recommend Weld-On #3 to do the repair. The 'Y' in the break is directly under the lug. I can't say how long a repair would last, but I can't imagine it would be too long before it explodes while being played. Every time you hit the drum, all the force and stress goes to that lug mount point (which is why it broke 'there' in the first place,) and it will eventually pop again. If it was anywhere else on the shell, you could probably get away with a simple Weld-On treatment. I honestly don't think that one can be saved. Just my opinion.

Mind you, my opinion and $2.50 will get me on a city bus, so take my comments with a grain of salt. Somebody else may have a different opinion, or experience with Vistalite than me. I can tell you that I've worked on more Vistalite drums than most and I don't think that one is worth saving. I ''may" have a blue vista shell that is cracked on the seam (repairable) that I will gladly give to you if you want it. But don't waste your time and money on that one. Not worth it. It took a hit in the worst spot possible - right under the lug mounting point.

Let me know if you want the rack tom shell I mentioned. It's a freebee and I'll cover the shipping. I think it's a 12".

John

PS - I had a second look at the close-up photo. That drum has already been glued/repaired at least once before. There is glue residue visible in the cracks, so this is at least -the second time- (maybe even the third, or fourth time,) that this one has 'popped'. It only reinforces my initial thoughts about it being a waste of time and money to repair yet again. Repair number three? Strip it of all useable parts and hunt for another shell.

Jim check this thread. By far the best save I've seen. Maybe Adam can update you to how it's holding up.

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=40491

Glenn - seriously... bracing?

I was impressed with what Adam did, but only with the fact that he managed to put all those pieces together again into something resembling a drum. It's interesting as a curiosity, but it's no longer a 'musical' instrument. Drum shells are meant to vibrate freely. What effect, on the sound of that drum, do you imagine all that added glue, metal and bracing does to kill the vibration of that shell? It was cool that he pulled it off, (putting all those shards back together, it's kind of a miracle if you think about it,) but as a great sounding drum? Not any more.

Jim's shell is blown out directly -on- one of the lug mount holes. The minute he tensions up the head, the pressure begins anew on an already weak spot. The more tension on the head, the more tension on that hole. Hit it a couple hundred times with drum sticks and it's just a matter of a short time before Jim is holding the shell in his hand in two pieces again.

Just not worth it, Glenn. I'm willing to gift Jim a Blue Vista shell that is cracked -on the seam- completely repairable and it will stand a much better chance of survival than the one he has now. I strongly disagree with using internal metal bracing to repair that tom. It'll kill it 'more dead' than it already is.

I would just shop around for another (sound) orphan shell and throw the hardware from the blown one on the replacement. It's the common sense/right thing to do. 'Some' shells just can't be saved. This is one that needs to be retired from duty and put to rest.

Adam - No disrespect intended at all, brother. You did -an amazing job- putting that bass drum shell back together.

***I'd be real interested in hearing from, Jinx! Jerry, what do you think of gluing this one back up?

John

John.. THANKS!, really a generous and kind offer. However mine is a smaller drum 10" so I'll just keep looking to find a true match.. maybe buy an RCI shell. Thanks again for that offer. Obviously this drum is an "eventual" goner and sooner rather than later.

Glenn.. wow that link is... uhhh... inspirational, THANKS!!. Talk about hump de dump de had a great fall. I am going to glue mine back up. I am going to "skin" that section to distribute the tensioning forces to a larger area... it will probably be a "nice from 30 feet" kind of drum... but I don't think the quality of the sound will be greatly impacted if I can make it strong enough to tension the head the properly.

RCI Blue Starlite looks like a pretty close match.

OK then... I'll keep progress posted. A friend of my kids (and mine) plays in local band here in Columbus "Something Keen" and he really wants to gig these drums so they will get a test soon.Cool1

Hey John don't shoot the messenger. Laughing H

I'm pretty sure the bracing on Adams shell was what the PO used to hold it together (along with 30 some odd screws and holes) before he bought them. I should have expressed I was mainly showing/linking Jim to the epoxy Adam used. I thought it was a brilliant fix. I wasn't suggesting he use metal braces... no no.

I agree it's a tough fix. And since your offering him a replacement shell (very nice gesture btw~!) that's the way to go. Plus the fact it was a bass drum (in Adams case) with much lower tension. I'd say the odds of it holding up would be better. Also the difficult thing with Jims shell being glued before is adhesion with the old glue residue still in place. New glue on old glue so to speak. That would be a weak link I'd think. But I do understand the points you make. Valid and well taken.

Jim good luck with the fix! Hope she holds up good for ya! Clapping Happy2

Keep us posted please!

Ok first task was to get that the darn duct tape adhesive off the drum... no easy task.

1. Magic Eraser... didn't work at all and clouded the shell.

2. Citrus Stripper... worked well... might have further clouded the shell.

3. Shop Buddy VERY worried

4. Rub... rub... rub... rub... rub with "Scratch Out" that I grabbed off the shelf at the grocery store.

5. OK not bad... on to the next tasks.

:)