fix a cracked cymbal with a drill?

[slinglander]

Hi, everybody,
I know there's somebody out here that can tell me how to drill a hole in a cymbal to stop a crack from continuing.
My old('60's) med. weight Zildjian 18" crash had a 1/4" crack when I got it from a friend three yrs. ago and now it's made a dogleg for another 1/4". I need to stop it ASAP.
What bits, etc., do I need to drill a cymbal? Any tips would be helpful.
Thanks, everybody.

[Peace]

I am no specialist but i would pierce a 1/4 inche diameter hole at each end of the crack. The center of my hole would be at the very end of the crack.

A 1/8 hole might work too but i feel 1/4 would be better. It's like removing a cancer spot with a laser, you have to kill a few good cells to be sure you killed all the bad cells.

Makes me think of the old movie when the humains tryed to pierce the earth crust with a nuke bomb and it's making a crack growing all around the world, and then it's the end of the world, there is lava everywere. lol

I hope it helped

babaye!

[TPO]

I drilled out my crash a few weeks back, it's quite tricky to get the hole started without the bit skidding all over the place, which obviously you don't want. If yuo don't have a bench mounted drill, you might want to centre the hole a tiny bit (like 1-2mm) beyond the end of the crack and use a centre punch to give the bit something to grab. I don't know if that might cause wider issues with the cymbal mind you!

Sadly, this was ineffective on my cymbal and I noticed at the weekend that the crack has re-started on the far side of the hole. This is a pretty cheap cymbal though (Paiste 302 16" crash) which had already had a pretty long and hard life before I got it. I'm not expecting it to live much longer.

[kay-gee]

Depending on where the crack is, another useful idea is to cut the cymbal down and use as a hat cymbal or a splash. On my micro set I have a cut down (10") paiste ride cymbal as a hat bottom. Works beautifully with a UFIP splash as a top hat. Great practice but not real loud for a rock gig obviously.

all the best...

[MartyM]

Ok I have been waiting to post this picture in an appropriate thread..here is my first Zildjian 20" ride..circa 1968...in 1970 it started cracking and I kept on trying to drill holes to stop..the picture will show the results..I just should of had a machinest trim it down. but I was a kid and did not think of that or know anyone to talk to...no DC way back in the dinosar days...

[Timactionfigures]

I've been curious if anyone has ever tried to weld a crack? If you know somebody with the right equipment I would think the metal could be fused back together...especially if it's small.

I've wondered about solder too...as solder would stick very good to the copper in cymbals. But it probably wouldn't be quite strong enough to hold for long.....ya never know?