Cymbal Making - Turning (lathing)

Turning (lathing)

During the 20th century, the mechanical lathe underwent major improvements eventually leading to the automated cymbal lathe

Secondly, the closer tolerances have led to far more use of unturned and partly unturned cymbals. The turning which was once essential to form the shape of the cymbal can now be varied to produce new sounds, especially at the top end of the range.

One pioneering example was the Meinl Raker splash, whose top surface has a single spiral cut by a single pass of a very coarse tool. Another is the Zildjian Earth Ride, whose top surface is not turned at all, but very sparingly hammered. Many manufacturers now produce cymbals with one or both surfaces unturned, or with bands of dark unturned metal. Modern coarse turning patterns allow unturned metal and hammering-marks to show through between the tracks of the lathe tool.

Some lower market cymbals are not turned at all and are produced by pressing rather than turning. The effect on the sound is similar to turning, because the parts of the metal that have been most deformed are most hardened. However the effect that can be produced in this way is very limited.

In the extreme it is even possible to produce a cymbal that appears to have been turned then hammered, by a single operation of a press starting with a flat metal sheet. The result is a round cymbal, with a thickened bell, tapered bow, turning marks and hammering marks.

Away from this extreme, the line between hammering and pressing can blur. Some excellent student cymbals have a final hammering pattern produced by a single blow of a press, after genuine turning. The effect on the metal of this pressing operation is very similar to the effect of machine hammering, and the results are very consistent.