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Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 2:38 pm
by Seneferu
Can someone tell me what type of wood was used for the Latin Percussion Galaxy drum back in the nineties? I know the original Galaxies were fiberglass. I have a quinto that cracked in two places. Seneferu

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:19 pm
by Chtimulato
Hello.
Do you mean the Giovanni Galaxy model ? If it's this one, it should be ash but...

Could you please post some pictures, from outside and inside ?

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:11 pm
by Psych1
Pretty sure there were some galaxys before the Gios. I believe that the first ones were white oak. Then ash. All the Gios were ash.

It is a good question for Martin Cohen. You can find him on FBook or at Congahead.

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:39 pm
by Seneferu
Thank you. I did just that. Waiting for response.

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 10:23 pm
by jorge
We would be interested in what Martin Cohen says, although even if he can tell you the type of wood, I don't think that will affect your choice of glue to use for the repair. I have had good experience fixing cracked wood conga and bongo shells of a variety of woods (oak, cherry, ash, mahogany, majagua but not yet rubberwood/Siam oak) using Titebond glue. I prefer the original Titebond, which is harder, less flexible and less likely to "creep" under shear force than Titebond II and III. Titebond II and III offer better water resistance at the expense of being more flexible and sometimes allowing the 2 sides of the repaired crack to slide very slightly when the force from the tightened lugs pulls out on one stave relative to the next one. This is usually much less than 1 mm but you may be able to feel or see the edge.
I used to use epoxy but Jay Bereck who made Skin on Skin drums told me many years ago he liked the wood glues better than epoxy and I switched. None of the few repairs I did over 30 years ago with epoxy have re-cracked, but this was only a few cracks on 2 congas and 1 bongo so the numbers are too small to say with confidence that epoxy will withstand the test of time. The mahogany bongo did crack again in different places but the repaired crack lines did not re-crack.
Titebond would probably work well for any of the different woods, ash, rubberwood, multi-ply, oak that may have been used in early Galaxy drums, I am not aware of differences among these woods that would change your choice of glue. I know there have been some professional woodworkers on this forum in the past who have a lot more woodworking experience than I, so try searching old discussions, but I don't remember any disagreements with using Titebond.

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 1:48 pm
by Chtimulato
I also read only good comments about Titebond, here and on various Facebook pages about congas etc.
What I also read is : the higher the number, the quicker the drying. Titebond 2 dries quicker than Titebond 1, and Titebond 3 even quicker. So following Jorge's advice should allow you to take more time to adjust the crack and not to have to hurry.

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 2:05 pm
by Juaort
Ive had success with Gorilla Wood Glue. It was highly recommended by wood shop owner I visit when in North Carolina. I’ve used it to repair cracks on my LP Palisades Bongos as well a set of 80’s LP Classic Congas and the glue worked great.

Re: Kind of wood for old Lp Galaxy

PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:48 am
by Seneferu
I did used wood glue that seems to be working pretty well up to this point. Thanks for your response and advice.