building my own congas - help!

[OLSONGO]

Mike , think about this.... where you want the stave to bend , I have seen some congas are scored with a band saw and then you soak the wood in water till the wood can be bent easily, remember the bend is not that severe,; then you place the hoops around all of the gathered staves, as they dry they will keep the shape.... from there on is glue and sanding or shaping on a lathe.

Paz Olsongo

[jmdriscoll]

Paz, yeah the band saw grooving on the inside trick would make it easier to bend, but I'm not sure that I want to go that route. I'm still looking around and finding good stuff about steam bending and building home steamers and jigs and stuff like that. There are a lot of furniture builders out there who work with hardwoods and have a need for steam bending, so I'm finding some good info on the process. I may still end up doing the bending myself. The wood bending company sent me back a rough ballpark quote on (65pcs.) 2-1/4"Wide x 30"Long x 3/4"Thick slats of fully dried red oak bent to an 82" radius for $700. He also said that if I send prints up there that they will do any type of bend for the same price. "Seems like my Matadors have more of a radius bend, but builders such as Isla, put more of their bend in the upper middle of the drum and giving it a more defined belly." Anyway, I'm just rambling now..I better get off of here.. "too much personal time behind a computer screen rots my brain and makes for an unproductive day"

Mike

[CongaTick]

http://www.allwoodwork.com/article....ood.htm

[CongaTick]

...and...
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/woodworking/wood-bend/

[jmdriscoll]

Those are some nice pages there CongaTick. I figure that I will need about 10 pieces of wood to determine best steam time, figure and account for spring back rate for when it comes out of the jig etc... I'll have to calculate how much it would cost to just buy the wood myself and compare to the woodbenders quote. See if it's worth the effort to bend it myself. Jigging up only 3 or so at a time could take a while to do 3 drums worth. But then again, the larger drums might need slightly different sized staves and/or more of them. Possibly a slightly different curve as well. Need to draw up some prints to figure out the details. Heck, I need to figure out what drums I am going to model them after and get some measurements!!

MD

[tactikal]

re: Using cut staves.

Isla Percussion use them and there seems to be nothing but praise for their drums (on here and elsewhere). Apparently they are less likely to crack (due to impact or temperature/humidity) as they aren't kept under stress.
From an auditory perspective I can't imagine that having the wood under stress would have an audible effect either.

I have a recycled/salvaged timber merchant near my house, so I thought about getting a slab and using cut-staves to make a drum - but some slabs are upward of $400 - but using board widths of the same wood is a hell of a lot cheaper.

To figure out the angles;
Divide 360 by how many staves then divide by 2 (to get the angle for each side of the stave)
ie: 20 staves = 9degree cuts

Also, you can get hardware made fairly cheaply... talk to a tig-welders and panel/sheetmetal fabricators. They can make whatever you want out of stainless steel (hoops, brackets, etc)

The simplest bracket design I saw was a small block of stainless steel (with a hole machined through it for the rod) welded onto a plate of stainless steel.

They'd probably cost you less than $10 a piece.
(I just noticed that Isla Percussion have this simple bracket-design too.. have a look on their website).

Let us know how you go, if you decide to make em.

[jmdriscoll]

tactikal, will do. The metal fab stuff I can do myself cause I used to be a metal fab guy who would MIG, TIG and stick weld aluminum, stainless, cold rolls etc... I do want to get a shop to waterjet out some cool looking lug brackets though per whatever design I come up with.

I found the same thing with purchasing slabs to cut the staves out of. A whole lot of $$ by the time you get enough wood to make 3 drums. I would still like to explore the options with that method though. I think that using the cut curve method would allow for you to calculate tighter tolerances and figure out every aspect of the drum through geometric formulas and equations etc.. from the tapers above and below the belly of the drum, to the bevels on the sides of each stave. All of these things can be figured out on paper and drawn to scale before buying the first pieceof wood... ultimately leaving a puzzle of pieces to just assemble with very little "working of the wood" once all of your parts are cut. Same pretty much would go for the steam bending method... only when it comes time for assembly and glueing there will probably be some edge planing, re-beveling, and manhandling going on to get all of the wood to fit perfectly in the jig.

If I do follow through with this idea and complete the project, I'll be sure to take pictures and post explanations and/or questions as the process happens. From what I have found so far though, I really do think that I will do this. I've built crazier stuff in the past. My biggest fear though is investing a fair amount of time and money into something like this, and they turn out sounding like crap. I really don't think that will happen though, cause the wood will be dried hardwood, the design will be modeled after existing drums and the skins will be mule.

MD



Edited By jmdriscoll on 1189524639

[OLSONGO]

Mike, but you know that after all.... we can calculate, talk and theorize ; but its not till the project is in progress, that what needs to happen, will happen.

Paz Olsongo

[jmdriscoll]

Olsongo, you do have a valid point... to a degree. Unfortunantly, I have jumped into many projects in the past only to realize half way through on step 28 that I should have accounted for something else on step 2 to prepare for what is coming at step 30. In other words, I have learned most of what I know about life through mistakes. No doubt, mistakes will be made in this project and will have to be dealt with on the fly. My aim is to minimize these mistakes before they happen so that the job goes more or less as planned. So I am trying to get as many ideas as I can and do as much research as I can before even lifting a pencil to start a drawing. The wonderful thing about todays networks and the particularly, "the Internet", is that it facilitates collaborative thinking among many people. But I hear what your sayin though and can agree.... there is no shortage of people in this world that like to talk about what they want to do, but never actually do it.

Mike

[OLSONGO]

Mike, if you want to save some money on the lumber, check around with some of the cabinet makers in your area, as they may have some good sizable scrap collecting dust.
And I think they would be more than glad to get rid of it for very little.

Paz Olsongo.

[Tonio]

Good thought Olsongo.
For another thoght how about getting some cheap wood to check your cutting angles for a prototype test. Not sure if wood properties would have a difference in carved staves?
I'm sure you wil probably need to go throughh a few prototypes to check and refine the process?

Good info about iron/stainelss steel. I'm looking for a LP size skin hoop, but why order something that may take a month to get special order, when a local guy can do it.

T

[tactikal]

...cause the wood will be dried hardwood, the design will be modeled after existing drums and the skins will be mule.

Sounds fantastic already! :laugh:

[jmdriscoll]

Here's an interesting link. Scroll about half way down the page and check out the BARE CONGA SHELLS for sale. Anybody know anything about this company Rhythm Traders and these conga shells that they sell?

http://www.latinrhythmtraders.com/html/supplies.html

Mike

[Tonio]

Hey Mike. call Bryan, he's the main repair guy. The shells are only for pick up, no shipping.
I had forgotten about them selling kits.. The hoop is only $8 !!!

T

[OLSONGO]

Mike, not bad at all, hardware is a bit high; but if you have the cash why not.
And on the pick up of the shell, if you stablish a UPS account, they will pick it up for you. Just tell them to pack it well anyways.

Paz Olsongo