It happened.... Sh....!!! - Severe flaw when mounting mule skin

[Mike]

Hih zwar,

yep I´m gonna get the epoxy 2komponenten for sure.
Thanx & greets
Michael

[burke]

If this bad advice please let me know - but what about the glue & a band-aid?

What I mean is also taking a small piece of the left over mule (or other left over skin) and glueing that over the cut as well for additional strength.

I did something similar witha ripped bodhran and that worked for years.


Darrell

[Mike]

Sounds like a good idea. Priority should be on the gap, though. I´ve just got hold of an American epoxy glue called Devcon http://www.devcon.com/devconcatsolution.cfm?catid=38
and I´ll start fixing the cut with it after the skin has dried. Maybe then that´s enough.
A bodhràn has got a far thinner skin than the mule so I can´t really imagine that pasting a piece of left-over hide will be of much success.
But thanks for the input anyway , I really do apreciate any response.

[jorge]

Hi Mike,
Of all the Devcon epoxy glues in that website, I would choose the "Devcon 2 ton", it seems to be the strongest they make, and that is what I used. If you can't get that, if "Verarbeitungsheit" means working time, the 2 component German epoxy Zwar suggested looks good.

I don't think flexibility is a big factor given the location of the cut on the skin. Go for strength and slow cure rate.

[Mike]

Hi Jorge,
I see, so I guess I´ve just bought the wrong glue, because it says Devcon 5 minutes-epoxy. OK, what about the curing time, can you tell me if and why a long curing is really vital?

[jorge]

The slower curing epoxy glues are stronger, and the increased working time allows the glue to soak into the porous material being glued more thoroughly. It is worth going back and getting the slower setting glue. If you haven't opened the package, you should be able to exchange the 5 minute glue. If you can't exchange it, it is only a few dollars more and it is worth getting the stronger glue. The 5 minute epoxy is great for quick repairs around your home, and you might want to keep it for that, but it is not as strong as the slow set epoxy.

[Mike]

Yes, Jorge, you are speaking my mind!
It´s surely quite OK to spend a few more bucks for a better, more sturdy result...
Thanks for your info!

[Congadelica]

Mike some of the glues i mentioned had a 30 min cure time ..HTH

marco

[Mike]

Well, Marco, there is such an astounding variety of
Epoxy resin glues on the market, that I´m gonna check my various local stores for that tomorrow. I just went to a shop for model planes maybe that wasn´t the best idea ???

It makes perfect sense to me now that a more slowly-drying epoxy will be better as Jorge said, because it adjusts to the area affected and fills the holes...

[pavloconga]

Just looking at the photo of the skin - it looks damn thick - so with some luck you may not have any problem at all.

[Mike]

Well it´s definitely not thin, approximately 3mm.
So I hope when fixed properly the mule will do the job -
donkey´s business... :laugh:

[Mike]

After more than three months, I wanted to give everybody a feedback on my quinto´s epoxy-fixed skin:
Well, not only does the repaired spot withstand highest tension, what is more, the skin has broken in and the sound is: AWESOME, mucho fantastico, f#%&ing brilliant!
So it was definitely worth glueing, I took this slowly curing epoxy and took a 100W bulb to heat and dry the area, which is supposed to make the dried glue harder and more stable .
OK, there is this drop of epoxy you can still see, but who cares if you saved the skin of a conga beauty from ripping? :laugh:
At last I´d like to say thank you again to everybody for their brotherly support and sound advice!



Edited By Mike on 1188914546

[blango]

I use finger nail polish, clear.

It has a brush, drys smooth, invisable and you can keep putting on layer after layer.

This will prevent it from spreading, but it will split in time.

For me, i would reskin the drum. I wouldnt want it to snap in the middle of a gig.

Tony

[Mike]

Hi Tony,

For me, i would reskin the drum. I wouldnt want it to snap in the middle of a gig.

I hope good old muley won´t snap :laugh:
Well, I think the part with the epoxy glue is even more protected against splitting than the rest of the skin .
Plus, I couldn´t afford a reskinning at the moment - my wife´d kill me... :;): -->



Edited By Mike on 1189175261

[jorge]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the update. I am glad to hear things are working out well with the skin. With a 3 mm thick mule skin on a quinto, I think it will not just snap without warning. In my limited experience, a skin like that, if it rips at all, would tend to stretch and split slowly, over weeks, months, or years, and you would see the defect growing long before it actually fails. If it hasn't shown any sign of problems in 3 months of use, I think it is very unlikely that you will have a problem with that nick in the skin in the future. Besides, when you get a skin that sounds great, play it, enjoy it, take really good care of it, and don't worry about it. Keep it dry and clean, try to tune it evenly, don't let people play with rings or watches that could damage the surface, don't leave it where people can put beer bottles on the drum, etc. With all due respect to Tony, I say just play your drum, it will be fine.