I don't totally understand the manufacturing process for cymbals, but I believe they heat an ingot of bronze and hammer it out that way. I believe if you just start pounding on a cymbal, it's gonna break. Also, heating it up will alter it's tonality, possibly in a negative way. I'm thinking you should try to pick up a hand-made cymbal from one of the many cymbalsmiths that make them these days. May be less fun, but I think you'd save money - and some good old As - in the end. That's just my :2Cents:, though.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Why destroy a perfectly good cymbal?

It takes an apprentice in Turkey -5 years- to learn how make a cymbal. They won't let them anywhere near a cymbal unless they have perfected their hammering techniques.

Hammering a cymbal to get a good sounding musical instrument is an art and a skill that takes long years of practice to perfect. That's why cymbals like hand hammered K's are so damn expensive in the first place. You don't just grab a hammer and start wailing away. You must know what you're doing. And that is something you can only learn from an experienced journeyman cymbal maker.

John

I admire your daring, but jumping into metallurgy as an amateur would be a disaster. There is a website by a metalsmith who remakes cymbals according to one's wishes. He works a lot w/ the thick cymbals of the 60-70's, lathing them down, hammering & reshaping them. (perhaps another member can remember his name & location on the web. I know Bermuda, & other drummers in my area have used his services)).

When I was younger I tried to hammer a cymbal with a small ball peen hammer.I'll NEVER attempt to pull that stunt again on a good cymbal.....ENOUGH SAID!

Lots of differen't hammering techniques were developed during and since the industrial revolution. Here's a little bit. I didn't watch the entire vid but there's some hammering going on a little after the 3:00 minute mark.

http://zildjian.com/Videos/product-videos

Sorry! The link doesn't go where I was watching. If you're interested it was titled Zildjian factory tour part 2.

To my knowledge, there are a handful of cymbalsmiths who take either raw blanks or production cymbals and alter them to their liking.

One, and an astounding one at that, is Matt Nolan. He also appears to have a pretty solid sense of humor as evidenced in some of his videos - example:http://youtu.be/YwQzEN7OM3E

http://www.mattnolancustomcymbals.com/

There is also Heather Stine - she only has a facebook page entitled, "37 Cymbals. Some of hers look drool-worthy!

And Matt Bettis - http://www.bettiscymbals.com/index.php

Alrighty then! I may just leave it alone after all! But thanks for all of the feedback. Maybe I'll just take a chunk out instead, haha. I can understand the points made though...why mess up a good cymbal and so on. But...I will get rivets installed!!!!

Also interested to learn about some of these modern day cymbalsmiths...

Bettis Custom Cymbals. Rarevintagecymbals.com