Salvageable zildjians?

[Knucklebuster]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new here but have been playing drums one way or another since the 70's. Anyways, last summer there was a fire at my house and everything was burnt. My pork pies are gone, my vintage Ludwig snare that I had for 40 years, all my other snares, hardware, hand drums cymbals... I had quite a collection and it hurts to think about it. But this isn't a sob story, this is about rebuilding and since this is cymbal talk forum we are talking cymbals. Mine, all zildjians, A, Z, A custom, you know, the quality stuff were in a cymbal bag in the bottom of a closet that started burning from the top. Like I said the drums are ashes but the cymbals were still recognizable. The bigger ones like my 22" A custom ping ride was melted halfway down, a china and a crash are fused together. But I had two sets of hi hats. The A's didn't look too bad, just a little melted at one edge so I cleaned them up and took them to a gig. By the second song they were done, cracked really bad with pieces coming off. I used ride only to finish the set. Now I am tired of seeing my melted cymbals and being reminded of my loss and was about to recycle them. At $1.80 per pound I figure I can at least get all new heads for my kit and maybe a couple pair of sticks. I don't have a bathroom scale, it burned in the fire so I don't know the weight, but I know my cymbal bag would make a grown man say, dang that's heavy LoL. But I am looking through them and the Z3 14" hats are just a little bent over on one edge. Has anyone heard of annealing cymbals so that they won't shatter when struck? With the economy the way it is and trying to rebuild my life after the fire I don't have the money to get quality cymbals right now and if I could save these it would really help me get back in the swing of things. I will post some pics of them. Thanks for reading and any suggestions.
Dan.

 

[lossforgain]

Hey Dan,
I can’t really answer you authoritatively about the cymbals, they look like they’re beyond salvaging to me. I just want to say how sorry I am for that fire and all the loss that came with it. I would bet that you could find some heavier well-used Zildjian stuff for low prices. You could start by calling Rej over at Dale’s Drum Shop in Harrisburg PA, they have some stuff that could work for you on the cheaper side. Definitely don’t want to buy new.
Jeremy

 

[TPC]

Unfortunately, I believe those cymbals are goners. Any work to retemper them (or whatever the proper metallurgical term is), if it’s even possible, would end up costing more than the replacement.

Sorry to hear about your losses.

 

[type85]

What happens to bronze when exposed to the hi temps of a fire is it loses its "temper": it's been heat cycled and is either much softer or much more brittle, either way, the sound has completely changed and can't be brought back, you'd have to melt the cymbals down and start over!

 

[Knucklebuster]

Well guys, I took the whole lot of them to the metal recycling center and got a crisp, new Benjamin Franklin in exchange. It was liberating to let go of them and the memory of the loss, at least the constant visual reminder. The $100 went on the fuel tank of my other passion, my 1965 Ford F100 truck. On another note, anyone interested in a box of charred 14" hoops? Luckily she escaped the fire unscathed.