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It may not look like it right now but this chunk of cedar will eventually be a set of bongos. It's been curing for a couple of years now so if it was going to get any major cracks it would have done so by now. I have a really unique idea for the hardware that will look and function really well if I can get it all together at a "reasonable" (whatever!) cost.I'll post regularly with more photos as I progress:

Another view...

I would like to find out if it is really necessary to have the bongoes bolted together through the joining block or can I just permanently attach them using glue with a recessed double mortise and tenon joint? When would I need to disassemble them to the point where I would need to separate them? As I type this I'm thinking maybe if I ever need to replace the block? But I can't see that happening. If I use this this type of joint it will never come apart unless it's cut out. Experienced advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think it's handy to be able to separate the macho
and hembra when changing skins.

Good stuff! i hope the bongos turn out well for you. But how did you hollow out that peice of cedar so perfectly round? I've been doing some drum making and I use a chainsaw, chisels and drills. But nothing ever gets that round for me.

I have access to a wood lathe where I work which I make as much use of as I can. If I ever manage to get my own wood shop with all my own tools a good lathe will be one of the first things I get! The outside diameter was pretty much as you see it in the previous pictures when I found the piece on the beach. It was a couple of feet longer though.

In case anyone was ever wondering at any point how this project was doing I'll post this update;
I gave the shells the last rites yesterday after a couple of attempts to revive them. I learned a lot of things from this project and next time around and I will use those lessons well. While turning them on the lathe to shape the inside they kept splitting, and after three repairs I had to come to the decision that I'm doing something back-asswards.
Next time I do this I'll have to think out the order of operations a bit more thoroughly before I start. And there will be a next time. As of now I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for a nice chunk of wood to come my way that I can start over with.

If there are any woodworkers out there who can enlighten me on the correct lathe, or any other operations, for turning bongo shells it would be appreciated.

I'm no lathe expert...
but looking at the milled outside of the log, the seems to be a large percentage of "sapwood"...the lighter color wood...indicative of a fast growing tree. Sapwood is generally considered the weaker / less dense portion of the lumber.
Perhaps the particular log you found just wasn't up to the task you set upon it...turning it into a thin walled hollow shell...due to its own individual strength characteristics.

If that is the case, maybe you can count it as a blessing in disguise, that the wood failed so early...you could have gotten to the hardware installation phase, where you really stress the wood, cranking down on the lugs...that truly would have been disappointing.

If I'm not mistaken cedar (yellow? Alaskan?) is a fairly lightweight wood.
I gather there are good reasons that lathe turned bongo shells are usually made of harder /denser hardwood...for the strength characteristics.

My condolences,
Try,try,try again....it's how progress is made.

~Joseph