refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

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refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:22 pm

I acquired these congas, that were sitting around a school ,doing nothing so I just had to get them home and trey to make them sing.here are the pictures so far on what I have done.One of them was botched togeather with a fiberglass insert that luckily came out in one but all the staves came out in 12 different bits.Gluing them togeather has been fun using the fiberglass inner as a former ,to place all the bits on to get the right angle
the glue is titebond 3 and lots of masking tape and ropes to hold everything togeather
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:24 pm

picture 2
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:26 pm

picture 3
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:35 pm

4. If any one has an idea how to finish it off i would love to know.there was some boat varnish which i have removed that made them look like bad furniture.is there some kind of oil that i could use to keep the colour as it is and not shiny?Thanks in advance :D
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby RitmoBoricua » Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:05 am

If you apply an oil like linseed boiled or danish oil the hue or tone
of the wood will most likely change a little bit in the other hand this
oils will pop the wood figure. Now if you like it just like that I buy me
some satin laquer(spray can) and go to town with it. Oils including oil
stains do not give you any wood protection since they penetrate the
wood. Finishes like lacquer, varnish or shellac will protect the wood
since they create a layer/s on top of the wood. You can apply oil first
to pop the wood figure and/or change the tone of the wood let them
dry and then apply a finish or top coat. I hope this helps.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby OLSONGO » Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:20 am

Tungsten oil or wax...most other oils stick to clothes .
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:28 pm

Thanks guys for your comments.I am worried that oil will darken the wood and they will still come up with that old 70s furniture look.if I satin laquer them will that darken the wood a little? I have sanded them both now to grade 120 and someone said I should raise the grain with water or meths first and then put a sanding primer before coating .I think I will probably go for the laquer as they will need some protection from knocks.The wood is all a bit delicate so I will search out some thin skins to keep the pressure down on the shells.show some more pictures when i do the next stage.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby RitmoBoricua » Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:15 am

I do not think the lacquer could darken the finish.
Now something to consider is that gloss is always
harder than say satin, so a glossy finish will give
you better protection against dings and scratches.
That's probably the reason why car finishes or
the clear top coat are always glossy.Also there
is waterbased polyurethane that will not change
the tone of the wood. I hope this helps.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby OLSONGO » Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:48 am

Oils will bring out the grain of the wood , which is the beauty of oiling the wood. Some polyurathanes have a tendecy to yellow and by doing so...change the color of the wood in time. A semi or matt laquer is perhaps your best bet. Both being wet mediums will darken the wood and the wood will also darken within time..it's just the natural thing.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Sat Oct 13, 2012 7:03 am

Thank you both of you for your comments.I think these drums are a bit delicate to take out gigging so the durability aspect I can shelve .I am after the most natural look so the oil method might suffice. Am I right in thinking that if I oil I can still poly with matt and water based polyurethane so as not to darken the wood further?I am not clear the difference between a laquer and a varnish. Today I am doing sanding on the largest of the 2 drums
sure is tiring by hand but good To see it all changing little by little.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby bongosnotbombs » Sat Oct 13, 2012 4:29 pm

Looks like a great project, good luck with it!

I have Danish Oil finish on my vintage Valjes. It looks very nice and keeps the original color of the wood. It's also very easy to apply. Danish oil does protects the wood from water and it hardens when it dries. The oil get absorbed into the wood itself and is not a surface application. Danish oil does not offer the same protection as urethane and lacquers. Those products are surface applications and are visible on the drum. So it's a trade off, the natural look of oil, which is not really noticeable, or the better protection of urethane or lacquer which is visible to the eye. Here in California oil is enough and my drums have endured hours and hours of outdoor play, in sun, fog and by the beach with an oil finish.

I'm currently refinishing a marching bass drum from the 1950's. I applied an oil finish to the mahogany shell and a polyurethane finish to the maple rims as they are more prone to bumps and knocks. However, polyurethane is still just a finish and can get scratched and dented. Just look at all the LPs that are scratched and dented.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby RitmoBoricua » Sat Oct 13, 2012 8:50 pm

bongosnotbombs wrote:However, polyurethane is still just a finish and can get scratched and dented. Just look at all the LPs that are scratched and dented.


That's the idea let top/finish coat take the punishment and protect the wood as much as possible.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:53 pm

those valje's look very cool, I have decided to danish them have now sanded down to 240 grade sandpaper and am ready to smother them in oil. pictures are before I gave them a proper sanding.i have to fix the bearing edge on one of them as it was a little bit mashed.i think i will get some epoxy to give a smooth even surface.
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby salzfaas » Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:02 pm

another photo or 2! the last one is where I have sanded the tumba to 240 but I need to rub it down with wite spirit as it is looking a bit red!
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Re: refurbishing old mahogany congas from the 70's

Postby RitmoBoricua » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:20 pm

What happened to the metal bands? Looks like at one point the drums had
metal bands.
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