Didgeridoo first aid: how to repair cracks and fractures in your didgeridoo
Just about all cracks in a didgeridoo can be repaired, and once repaired a didgeridoo rarely cracks again. A hairline fracture is fixed with superglue and fine-grit sandpaper. A larger crack is filled with a paste of sawdust and PVA wood glue.
G'day you mob! Hopin' you're all having a whale of a time out there.
Today we want to talk to you about physical issues we might face with our didgeridoos along the way. Environmental changes, cracks, hairline fractures, melting wax, electrical tape, and what can we do about it!
Let's examine a few scenarios and what we can do if they occur:
We have seen and heard stories of hairline fractures occurring on small tough $99 didgeridoos, as well as high performance $2000 mega boontahs! A surprising number of serious touring artists proudly display their favourite didge, used intensely for 15 years, and held together with bands of electrical tape (from all corners of the globe!)
The moral is: yes, cracks can sometimes occur. Sometimes completely out of the blue. But what can you do about it if it happens to you?
Can a cracked didgeridoo be fixed?
Yes! Maybe!
Repairing cracked didgeridoos is simple and effective.
Recently a young man visited us with tears in his eyes, he told us that the didgeridoo bag his Aunty made for him broke and the didgeridoo hit the floor. Upon impact, the top 1/3 of his didgeridoo split in half.
Following these steps you should quickly and easily be able to get your didgeridoo back playing as good as ever.
How do I fix a hairline fracture?
A hairline fracture of around 1-2mm width would be the most common occurrence if anything. This is very easily fixed with a piece of fine-grit sandpaper and a tube of Superglue.
Technique
Apply the superglue across the length of the fracture. Then straight away begin to sand across the split with the sandpaper. The wood dust will merge with the drying glue and in less than one minute's time you will have a filled gap that is super dooper strong, and ready to roll! I have applied this technique to didges of my own and am satisfied.
Note, of course, that if the split has occurred over artwork then this will need to be touched up with appropriate paints, perhaps in an ochre colour base to match the natural tones of Australian colour.
How do I repair a larger crack?
Another common technique that is very useful for slightly larger splits is to make a paste out of sawdust & PVA wood glue. A thick paste, then applied across the crack and left to dry before sanding it back to a solid and smooth state. Paint or finish as normal.
The GOOD news is that cracks are generally very simple to fix. Whatever the cause, here is one easy to follow way of fixing didgeridoo cracks.
Here is what to do
- If you notice a crack appearing…. Stop playing. Assess whether it is just a surface crack or if air is leaking out through it. You can check if air is leaking by blocking the bell end of the didgeridoo with your hand or a towel or cushion or anything that will stop airflow. Then seal your mouth on the mouthpiece and blow into your didgeridoo. Now lightly run your open palmed hands around the instrument from top to bottom to feel for airflow from any leak. You will soon feel with your hands or the pressure in your cheeks if you have a leak or not. Once you find or see the cracks, make note of their position for repair.
- Don't play your didgeridoo for at least a day or time enough to allow the timber to completely dry inside and out. Or just the outside if you only have a surface crack.
- If possible lightly sand the exposed surfaces, then ensure all surfaces are dust, moisture and oil free.
- Using a non-toxic, water resistant glue, fill the crack completely on the outside. A two-part epoxy glue works very well as a filler it sets fast, hard and is completely water resistant. Water based PVA glues mixed with sawdust offer a great filler and a slightly flexible one, should you have any concern that your crack may move again. If you are after a "don't mess with me" solution, using a light surfboard grade fibreglass and epoxy resin you can strap up a crack that will outlast the didgeridoo itself!
- For best results mix your glue with some sawdust or colour oxide to complement or clash as you desire. Sawdust also helps thicken the texture if you need to fill larger cracks.
- Before the glue dries, wipe off any excess. Or you can paint your glue into any design you wish and sprinkle very fine sanding wood dust onto the glue for artistic results.
- Attempt to run a bead of glue along the crack on the inside of the didgeridoo.
- Allow the glue to dry for the recommended time. Lightly sand if required.
- If you wish to touch up any affected artwork or surface finishes now's the time.
- Your didgeridoo is now ready to sing again!
We hope this information helps you. These simple methods have worked for many people.
Will beeswax do the job?
If you are serious about your didgeridoo journey, forget about it. Beeswax is a soft substance, and with climatic conditions can melt away, or vibrate its way out of the crack. It can shrink and dry and should only be used as a temporary measure if any. An outdated technique.
PLEASE NOTE: We recommend not filling any cracks with beeswax. This will make a later repair much harder. Only fill with beeswax in an emergency! (like mid concert with no back up didgeridoo in sight and 2000 paying fans watching)
Beeswax belongs on the mouthpiece. See how to replace a beeswax didgeridoo mouthpiece.
Are there any other fillers?
Strong and flexible is the key for didge repair, hence the sawdust/wood glue combination being king amongst repair methods. Still, two other suggestions we have to offer are:
- Layers of Epoxy Resin (useful for those MAKING their own didgeridoo and are heading towards the sealing stage of their production) can be liberally applied to the crack and the instrument at large to seal it from the elements externally and internally!
- Balga resin. The grasstree (Xanthorrhoea sp.) has an amazing resin that exudes from the plant after a bushfire. This resin has been used since time immemorial in Australia as a fixative for sharp stone heads to wooden handles and many other purposes. It is an amazing substance with a brilliant and earthy scent, and the colour of deep magenta glass. This would also do nicely as a gap filler for didgeridoos, and you may wish to include grit from sand, wood, or ground termite tunnels.
How do I stop a crack from getting longer?
Drilling and plugging with a small wooden dowel is also a technique we have seen some didgeridoo makers use to prevent a crack from lengthening. This would be done at the end(s) of the fracture.
The drill and patch method for traditional instruments is in How to stop my yidaki cracking.
Does a crack at the top matter more than one at the bottom?
A crack occurring within say, the top third of your didgeridoo equates to a dramatic loss in backpressure and therefore playability, and needs to be dealt with immediately.
If a crack occurs toward the bell-end of your instrument (most likely caused from impact, or perhaps playing on the hot sand of a beach) the pressure will not be affected so much, but it is still best to address the crack, lest it increase in size over time with the vibration of playing.
Will it ever be the same again?
Most definitely. There are some who feel that once a didge has cracked it has 'released the pressure' so to speak, and should remain strong, if not STRONGER than it was before.
The great news is just about all cracks are very repairable and in 99 percent of cases repaired didgeridoos sound exactly the same before and after repair. The other great news is that once a didgeridoo has moved and is repaired they rarely ever do any more moving or cracking. Sometimes they are under a bit of stress from their new shape after being made, so they just have to get comfortable and then they are right for the long haul!
Even $3000 plus didgeridoos crack, it is really no big deal, sure it's a shock, possibly even a disappointment, but that is what happens with living materials. If this prospect puts you off Eucalyptus or timber didgeridoos then maybe a plastic, hemp or slide didgeridoo is more for you.
Why do didgeridoos crack?
It is common knowledge that didgeridoos can crack as they adjust to climatic and ambient air conditions. This is especially possible when unsealed didgeridoos are played in unusually hot or cold, wet or dry conditions.
For one reason or another it is not uncommon for didgeridoos to develop occasional minor surface or larger cracks. Climatic conditions, termite grooves and timber knots can also leave weaknesses that may result in cracks.
First let's start out with some basics about wood in general:
It breathes. It contracts & expands. It resonates.
It is this organic nature of wood that we all know and love, and though its warmth is what makes it desirable as a material for instrument craft, wood can also be at risk to a few elements that can create damage…. Hopefully nothing we can't take care of however!
Hairline fractures: why do they occur?
Given that a didgeridoo is a tree hollowed out in the bush by termites while it is alive, the drying process for the harvested timber is unique. Unlike a solid log, the tree has to dry with an already exposed core.
Most didgeridoo makers go to considerable length to ensure the drying period is slowed down by 'capping the ends' of the log (often with PVA glue and sawdust, or the termite tunnel grit that falls away after felling and cleaning the tree) and other techniques such as periodically wetting the logs to further lengthen drying time, log burial, river burial, and storage out of the elements.
Rapid drying of a termite-hollowed log would certainly result in a split as the inner and outer layer of the wood dries at different speeds. Drying period for modern didgeridoos of repute should be a minimum of 6 months time before any woodwork is done. The longer the better!
Still, after drying, working, finishing and sealing the didgeridoo there are still factors that put it to the test. The didgeridoo may be exported to a country with very different conditions to its origin, AND the fact that it will be played powerfully with mucho gusto by its new owner is worth consideration. The powerful vibrations and pressure within the didgeridoo are strong things indeed.
What shaping and playing do to the timber
I just love working with wood. I love the smell of the different timbers as you cut and sand. I love crafting, shaping and finding the didgeridoo inside every log. I love listening to and working with the grain as I shape, sand and carve. I love finishing the inside and outside to highlight the unique grain and features, so special, beautiful and different in every log.
Yet with every draw of the blade and every stroke of sandpaper, every chip of the chisel, weakens the original integrity and overall strength of the log. The termites have already removed the softer pithy centre and more. Termites often eat to within millimetres of the outside of a log, for lengths of two inches to 5 feet. It is impossible to predict the strength of the remaining timber beyond those deep termite grooves.
Timber is created from living cells. As with all of God's living creation, water is a huge part of the living and growing process. Because of this living cellular construction, even when dried out, timber is very prone to expanding and contracting with ambient changes in temperature, moisture and humidity. It is quite common for timber furniture of a few months or even one hundred years old to just crack for no apparent reason. Yet the reason is simple, changes in temperature and moisture content in the wood.
So imagine a timber didgeridoo. The strength of the outer log removed during shaping, often additional removal of timber from the inside to brighten and tune the sound. Then hot moist air being breathed into it for extended periods of time. This hot moist air can expand the wood cells inside the didgeridoo. Meanwhile the outside may be in a dry hot or cool environment causing the outside of the didgeridoo to shrink. The result can be cracking.
Sometimes just surface or superficial cracks appear on the outer surface of the instruments as the outside adjusts to the new environment, more often than not the timber is that settled and strong that it just never moves at all, no cracking.
Does sealing a didgeridoo stop it cracking?
In the old traditional days a number of didgeridoos were collected for any one ceremony. The didgeridoo players would often spit mouthfuls of water down the inside of the instrument to make the wood cells expand and stretch, causing the inside surface to tighten up and harden. This gives the instrument a crisper, cleaner playing sound. Often though the expanding tightness of the inside and the contracting drying of the inside would cause these didgeridoos to crack. So the players would just grab another one and keep going. The cracked sticks would find their way to the fireplace that night!
Due to the fact that most of us do not have a termite infested Eucalyptus forest in our back yard, we generally cannot afford the same luxury of throwing away didgeridoos and getting another one! So makers today will seal the inside and the outside of the instruments one way or another. Sealing the inside gives the same tight hard property, which was achieved by spitting water through in the old ways.
The seal stops moisture from soaking into the wood therefore preventing many of the cracking problems otherwise associated with expanding wet timber. The seal on the outside offers the same protection for the exterior of the didgeridoo.
Seals vary from nearly boiling beeswax and oils through sanding sealer to polyurethanes, varnishes, marine finishes and epoxy resins. Although the beeswax and oils sound environmentally appealing, they also have a limited lifespan and need regular maintenance for the rest of the didgeridoo's life. Timber finishing is an art and my experience is that most didgeridoo players want to play, not take up training in timber finishing.
The traditional Yidaki from Arnhem Land are often unfinished on the inside and finished with modern acrylic paint on the outside. At Didgeridoo Breath we never change anything about these didgeridoos and their finish. We recommend that you keep playing to about a 15 minute daily limit to reduce the chances of the instrument cracking.
All other didgeridoos at Didgeridoo Breath are sealed inside and out in one way or another. If your instrument is oiled we display this information clearly. The end result is about one in two hundred didgeridoos will crack either superficially or enough so air will leak. Once air leaks the sound quality of your didgeridoo will be significantly reduced to possibly the point of being unplayable!
The percentage of didgeridoos that crack is low and repairing them is easy!
Hopefully you have heard this all before from everybody who sells didgeridoos.
Great! All well and good, but how can I avoid cracks?
Although sometimes despite every effort they may occur, the best thing you can do for your didgeridoo is to keep it in an insulated padded weatherproof bag when travelling or not playing it. This certainly cuts down any elemental risk.
Our bag maker 'SNAKESKINS UPHOLSTERY' are kings amongst quality, and are happy to custom design a bag to fit any didgeridoo in the world. Drop us a line with your dimensions should you feel the need, and we will see it done. Alternatively, we stock several standard sized bags available for purchase here:
For traditional yidaki, didges on the more raw side, or didgeridoos that are unsealed on the inside, it can be beneficial to 'ease into it' in the early days of play. Allow the instrument to be slowly accustomed to intense vibration and the presence of saliva by limiting play to 15 minutes or so per session for the first couple of weeks after receiving your new instrument. It is not necessary, but hey… it can't hurt right?
Raw cored didgeridoos may also enjoy a coating of oil on the inside once a year to keep things groovy. Orange oil, boiled linseed oil, Tung oil, and Danish oil are favourites. Cap the ends of your didge with plastic wrap and elastic bands and tip the oil around inside until coated before draining it out and leaving to dry.
Avoid extreme climate changes such as taking your didgeridoo into the woods at night and having a great ol' play, then wandering home and leaving it near the warm fireplace, or playing down the beach with friends in the sun all day only to use it as a paddle for your kayak whilst you oar your way home, bushman style.
There is more on everyday care in How to take care of your didgeridoo, and on new yidaki in How to stop my yidaki cracking.
Still have a question?
Maybe you know of different successful techniques that we haven't published here. Please let us know in as much detail as possible so we can share them with others. Or if you have any questions we haven't answered please contact us.
So, we hope you find this information useful. The team here at Didgeridoo Breath are always here to help with any specific questions you may have along your didgeridoo journey, big or small. Let's keep the banter going, and keep our community strong as we bring the world's most ancient instrument into the spotlight.
Keep your vibrations strong, and keep the fires burning you beautiful people.
Lotsa love from the coast of WA.
Benni Böötz, of the Didgeridoo Breath Mob