Djembe Repair Instructions

How To Save Your Cracked Djembe Shell

repair cracked djembe shell
Cracked Djembe Shell

You've spotted a crack in the shell of your djembe? You're not alone. Mensah, the djembe repair specialist in West Africa, has to deal with cracks on a daily basis.

Wood is an organic, living material. Even when worked into a drum, it still reacts to it's environment. Cracks are just a natural result of that.

Fine hair-lines are nothing to worry about. But as soon as a crack is deeper, you need to fix it. If not, your drum will eventually split from bottom to top. And that would make it sound really, really bad...

Fortunately, it's easy to fix. Let Mensah show you how:

What you'll need:

white glue
a handful of sawdust
medium to fine sandpaper

If you prefer, look for professional wood filler. You might get it in a do-it-yourself store or from your local carpenter. But really, even glue and sawdust will do the job.

All set? Let's repair!

Pour a good amount of glue on a disposable surface.
Add the sawdust and mix thoroughly.
Work this filler deeply into the crack with your fingers.
Clean the wood from excess filler as long as it's still wet.
If necessary, remove any residue with sandpaper.

This will fix the crack effectively. But you better make sure it doesn't happen again!

repair cracked djembe shell

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

Do your drum a big favor:

Learn some simple, effective tricks to prevent the shell from cracking in the first place!

Mensah shares these and lots of other useful tricks in his how-to guide with the members of African-Music-Safari.com.

Log into the member area on the left to download your free copy of the complete Djembe Repair, Tuning & Care guide.

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