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Hello Guy's: I been ask to refinish a conga. I done some before but i was wondering what is a fair price. the drum need's to be sanded, maybe crack repair,Finished with oil or poly. Thank's.

I need some string, how long should it be?


Every job is different brother, extent of the work needed will depend on what to charge, eg. depth of the scratches, how badly scratched, cracked vs staves seperating, re-skinning etc etc.....

I enjoy repairing and refinishing congas for myself. For a friend I would have him buy what's needed and will help with the task at no charge. For someone else, if it needs sanding, crack or split repairs and refinishing I wouldn't do it for less than $200 US dollars. Like Abakua said, every job is different.

Dario

whatever you make at your normal job hourly rate, and add 50% for hourly cost, then material and supplys needed. or just a flat fee like what was posted $200 and if it takes you longer and supplies cost more than you have to eat that expense. Understand the expectation of the customer and your own skill limits.

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Come now, the OP asks for suggestions and Willie and others gave suggestions. That the OP asks for advice on fair market rates for repairs does not demonstrate to my satisfaction that the OP knows not what he is doing. I have repaired several of my own cracked congas. I've re-carved out poorly carved djembes. I've re-skinned my own congas at least half-a-dozen times. I've skinned several djembes and several cord drawn dumbeks. I've fabricated several drums from scratch. My work has gotten many compliments. But I've never charged for my work as most of it has been directed to my own drums. I too might be curious about fair market rates for this kind of work if I were considering a paid job. Telling us that we should stay home and let Matthew Smith handle it seems a little over-reaching to me. I've heard Mr. Smith has a waiting list. Perhaps the owner of the conga wants the work done locally. Perhaps the owner of the conga wants a friend to do the work. Perhaps the owner of the conga doesn't want to pay for shipping or can't imagine trusting a shipping company with a family heirloom. There are many variables and this website is where such variables are discussed.

Cheers,
BMac

Bongobilly wrote:Hello Guy's: I been ask to refinish a conga. I done some before but i was wondering what is a fair price. the drum need's to be sanded, maybe crack repair,Finished with oil or poly. Thank's.

The hardest part here is potentially the sanding depending on the finish. If it is an LP paint job, that is going to be a lot of work.
A normal crack repair on a seam is not too big of a job.
Finishing can be tricky depending on the finish but sounds like a clear coat of oil and poly to me so not too hard.

So based on your description of the work this is what I might charge.:
Sanding=$50-$100 dollars probably, depending on what you are sanding.
Crack=maybe $30-$50 per crack, depending on size and difficulty.
Finishing=Oil $20-$25 per coat, Poly, I've never done poly but probably similar

I'd estimate on the above costs and then mark it up from there depending on my relationship to the client.

Materials will cost as well, possibly $10 for the sandpaper, glue costs around $10 I think for the smallest bottle but it depends on what you want to use, I think a tin of Danish oil is about $15, and I know it's $15-$25 for a small can of poly. Plus your going to need some rope and/or straps for the crack and rags that you can toss for the oil.

I've restored, fixed and repaired my own drums and some friends drums. I've never really charged for labor, just material reimbursement. And I'm not taking customers either!

I think the question of how much to charge was a great question.

But, like so many great questions the only right answer is - It depends.

Hey thank's guy's: Yes i have done my own work on my drum's and they came out great.And for some of my friends for free, this person ask me because he saw my work and like it. I to had though about sending my conga out to Matt but realize that i can do it myself and put some of my skill's together. I do enjoy working on drum's and have made some custom trap set's before everybody else got the drum bug and decide that i will do repairs instead.

the way i come up with the hourly rate is, if your at work making $20.00 and hour at your normal job. and you can go it to do overtime you will be making $30.00. so with that in mind i am working on a conga project which is done on time that i can be at my normal job collecting overtime for. or just charge and hourly rate that your comfortable with because the conga project is a passion and you love to do it.