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what wood is less likely to warp and crack, Canoe or Cherry.

Thank you so much for your answers to come!

Your question is a bit like 'how long is a piece of string'?

Depends on the treatment and care given to the instrument. Leaving the drum over tight/tuned for lengthy periods will be adverse to the life of the drum, varying weather conditions in your area, exposure to humidity etc, craftsmanship on the construction and build of the drum, many factors come into play.

All woods are prone to warping and cracking, even plywood made with cross grains. Remember wood is a live material, just because it went through various prosseces and doesn't have leaves on it, doesn't mean it stops going through the changes . What do you think those aluminum straps and heavy coats of polyurethane around most congas is for?

paz
Olsongo

Like OLSONGO says, wood is wood and through the years something is bound to happen. What ABAKUA also says is true, you have to give your congas the proper care. Always detune after playing, constantly lubricate lugs and sideplates to make tunning easier. Treat skins every 6 months with an emulsion of some kind, I use Palm Oil (Manteca De Corojo). Keep your congas covered and prevent rubbing one against the other when playing. With proper conga care and periodic maintenance, a high quality drum will outlive any human.
From my experience, having had many kinds of wood congas, I find mahogany to be the best wood less likely to crack or split. I can not stress the importance of proper drum maintenance, this is vital.

Moforibale al tambo'.

Dario

nickpilarski wrote:what wood is less likely to warp and crack, Canoe or Cherry.

Thank you so much for your answers to come!

A key thing here is construction method and craftsmanship.

Also figuring into the answer might be whether a stave is steam bent or cut to shape. Some woods, such as true mahogany, are not suitable for steam bending (according to Matthew Smith), as they just won't flex enough without having issues. The common understanding is that staves that are steam bent will forever be trying to flex back to their original shape and this will cause stress to build up over time leading to cracks. But what about the construction method and craftsmanship? My 30-year-old steam bent oak Valjes have not a single crack and they've seen some rugged use. So it's not that simple. Common sense says that a stave that's cut to shape won't have that internal stress that might lead to later movement, but I'm not enough of a wood expert to speak to all the variables here.

Of course, you must specifically be talking about your upcoming Isla order. I don't know how their two main wood options, canoewood (aka, yellow poplar) and cherry, differ in terms of stability, either generally speaking or specifically with their drums with these woods.

James

Canoe,
My islas are yellow poplar . they are solid as a rock , I leave de tuned and lube well, no problems after 8 months of owning played daily .

http://windsorplywood.com/nam_hardwoods ... oplar.html

marco

The other school of thought on bending or carving the staves is that by bending you retain the
continuous grain of the wood throughout the stave, creating a stronger stave, whereas by carving
the stave the wood grain is interrupted by the cut along the inside and outside and only continuous in
a smaller section in the interior of the stave, and that a carved stave is weaker because of it.

Personally I don't really see one method being better or worse, there are enough great drums out there made
by both methods that have stood the test of time, so I think they are both equally valid.

I myself had the choice of cherry or canoe wood from Mario for a requinto, and I chose cherry. It is a very beautiful wood.

To the original poster.... the only conga maker I know that offers both canoe and cherry is Isla Percussions. Are you looking at the Isla's?

If so, then I don't think you need to worry about cracking any more than on any other conga. Isla does not bend their staves, but rather carves each one out of a single block of wood. So the stresses of a bent stave aren't there. The staves are also pretty thick, as I recall. Like maybe an inch thick (Manny, isn't this so?). So the only thing that I might see cracking on an Isla could be the staves separating from each other, which could happen with any conga. I think you're probably safe with Isla congas, but anything can happen with any drum over time.

Whopbamboom wrote:the only thing that I might see cracking on an Isla could be the staves separating from each other

Ive seen crowns with cracks in them.

Whopbamboom wrote:...The staves are also pretty thick, as I recall. Like maybe an inch thick (Manny, isn't this so?).

Whopbamboom,

I know the Isla staves are thicker than bent staves, but I don't know exactly how thick they are. Sorry.

However, I do remember Mario telling me that they can be made thicker than others' precisely because he cuts them rather than (steam) bends them.

ABAKUA wrote:...Ive seen crowns with cracks in them.

Not with the new wider crowns, I hope. I, personally, don't have a problem with either cracked crowns or staves with any of my 3 Islas.

From the pics and vids Ive seen, they look and sound fantastic. (within folkloric settings)

ABAKUA wrote:...Ive seen crowns with cracks in them.

....cracks on Islas Botha!
Where are the pictures you claim a crack?

I have no problems with crown crack, nor will i have in the future.
No problems with the satves, they are the most solid drums i have played. I have played some of the best current costum congas out there.

I know someone that didnt even own Islas, stipulated a bunch of issues with Islas, the guy didnt even own a Isla drum in his life.
And i said ...Well lets see some pictures of cracks on the crowns, and sideplates some guys claim.

No one posted a picture!

Everybody that owns an Isla Percussion, knows that the staves, each piece is very solid and thick, and that the hardware is very solid also, and any mention of cracks sounds ridicoulus to the one who owns Isla's.

The ones that own Isla's know that they are some of the Beefiest strong tambores....

(Fellas that own Isla's, am i sayin the true!??????? about them being some of th strongest ya'll have touched)

And the hardware really strong also, even the lugs...you need a bigger wrench to tune them then most of the 1/2 wrench nut bolts.

I cant see an ISLA cracking by manufacture deffect, but perhaps by missused...i dont see the crowns or sideplates cracking unless someone would grab a saw, or a machine to crack the drum.

Im not bad mouthing Isla, Im a big fan of their sound and appearance. Let that be clear first.

I have been sent pics (by a member on here) who experienced an Isla crown/rim crack along the circumfrence of the ring. It did not split apart but there was a large crack in the hardware. The owner did not wish to come forward publicly and did not want to share the pic, he sorted the matter privately.
I have no reason to lie. Yes the rim cracked, and it is not the first one Ive seen (in photo only) that had a crack in it. Bear in mind, this was with the original hardware design being used etc.
Again, I am a big fan of Isla sound, craftmanship and overall look. I would love to own a set for rumba and other afrocuban folkloric applications.