So I’ve done a little research in fixing the two areas of ply separation. It seems the consensus is that I need to wedge a couple of small nails or a thin knife in between the plys so as to get the glue down into the drum sufficiently. But, the separation is super minimal. It’s literally a hairline, so forcing any sort of thin material into the drum to open up the separation scares me a bit because I don’t want the wood to crack. I don’t know how deep it is, but if there was any amount of depth to it, I’d assume the opening would be slightly larger. I was just going to run wood glue along the separation, pushing it in with my finger or a rag. What do you guys think? Do I really need to pry it open?

I've used toothpicks to pry the plys open in the past...They act like little wedges...I suppose nails would work as well...I use an animal syringe (got at my local TSC store) to inject the glue into the separation...This method worked well for me...

Just pry open the separation enough without further damaging it...You want to be able to get the glue down into the separation so you get a strong bond...

Also, tape off the area around the repair with painters tape...

Cheers

Awesome, didn’t think about using toothpicks. I’ll try that. I’ve got a syringe I had from when I got my wisdom teeth out that has a fairly large thin spout that should do the trick. Thanks for the advice all! Will grab some clamps at the store today and post some progress pics.

First area of separation has been glued and clamped. I’ll probably give it two days. Separated the plys a bit more with two toothpicks, so I’m confident that the glue got down in there enough.

Good work!! I agree, let it set for a couple of days...No sense in rushing it...

Cheers

Worked like a charm! Just glued and clamped the other area.

I still haven’t gotten a lot of feedback on as to how or if ply separation affects the sound of a drum. My local drum Dr. said it probably kills the resonance. Others say it doesn’t affect the sound as the separation was not where the head sits (mine was on the inside angle of the bearing edge). Could this have been a factor in my unwanted wonky overtones? Thoughts?