That is exactly what I would do. If you have some extra hide laying around cut a circular piece a bit bigger than the hole and glue it to the underside of the head. I would do this while the head is tight.

Thank you. Would you use titebond or superglue? Wet the patch first?

I have taken the tension oof - should I re tighten before the repair?

I’ve used Titebond for a similar repair with good result as it’s water soluble.

Titebond works fine, so does super glue. I have one around here that has an ancient repair, probably done with white glue (Elmer's). The whole head is fragile (like old paper) but it still holds tension. It is on the schedule for replacement.

Buy some "insurance" after you get it repaired. "Insurance" = replacement head. They can pop without warning. I had an otherwise undamaged one go out with a bang and the cat jumped straight up into the air. I still laugh about that.

I would use some type of leather glue as used in shoe repair. These are designed to penetrate fibers.

What does your Brother in Law say?

Superglue was originally designed to glue skin!

Patch it if it’ll make you feel more secure. I’ve worn a small circular hole through calf skin heads on banjos I use for OT where my thumb contacts the skin by the strings near the rim. They’ve all stayed intact and sounding fine until I got around to replacing them.

I’d replace a skin head straight away if it started a linear split around the rim. That will lengthen (probably quite quickly) and reach a point where the head simply pulls apart under tension, and is unplayable even before that happens.

quote:

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Originally posted by trapdoor2

They can pop without warning. I had an otherwise undamaged one go out with a bang and the cat jumped straight up into the air. I still laugh about that.

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On the theme of popping without warning, the biggest bang I've heard was when a tailpiece suddenly exploded off a friend's banjo. He'd used a piece of leather that wasn't up to the tension to tie it on. The leather snapped without warning.

How high did your cat jump? I was sitting 5 feet away and I bet my jump ran your cat close.

I have a Renn head with a bigger hole than that on my beater banjo
It's been there for easily 40 yrs with no detectable change.
I'm not concerned about it.
Good luck
E

I prefer thin super glue because if soaks into the hide and essentially plasticizes it, helping to prevent further spreading of the hole.

quote:

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Originally posted by tonygo

What does your Brother in Law say?

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Haven't asked him yet Tony - time difference makes asking BHO a lot easier!

See you soon.

Thanks all. I have plenty of scraps of vellum, will probably superglue a patch on.

Here’s an archived discussion on BHO on the topic. Most of the knowledgeable posters concur with the consensus here that a superglued vellum patch is the way to go. In that thread, the late, great luthier Paul Hostetter also thoroughly debunks the myth that superglue was invented to use on skin.

banjohangout.org/archive/141076