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I have recently decided to refurbish the 1970s LP bongó I purchased from Steven aka SalseroBoricua71 a while ago
because I would like to see the original mahogany wood instead of the somewhat ugly varnish: So I started sanding the shells. Everything went fine with the macho as you can see:But when I was sanding the hembra shell, it - CRACKED AND FELL APART! Exactly four pieces are what I have got now...
Now I would love to know if I should use Titebond III or Epoxy to reassemble the staves
I also wonder if glueing can be done in one go. The cracks are precisely in the staves´glue seams, as you can see.

So please, how should it be done? I don´t wanna mess up this beauty!

Here are 2 more desaster pics:Another question is if the other staves should be opened deliberately - to prevent future cracking?

Hello. It seems to me that the only thing that was holding together this hembra was that nasty layer of latex like stuff.
I bought an LP bongo similar to yours (mine is walnut) on ebay a couple of years ago with similar finish. First thing I
did was to get rid-off that top layer of nasty stuff. To me it was put on the drum to disguise problem areas, an easy way out. Is not varnish for sure. Underneath that crap I found original finish that was never stripped or sanded down. Once I stripped and sanded down everything I found problem areas. The seams between the staves were coming apart, I reglued them to best of my abilities. Mine did not fell apart like that. I am glad I restored and refinished this LP beauty, I do have another one exactly like yours in mahogany that I restored and refinished too. One thing that I do when I buy a used bongo or conga that has some years on it and has been put through the paces is that strip them down to the bare wood and I do a visual and manual structural inspection. I am quite sure you will get your beauty it back together again. Best Of Lucks!

i would clean them all up. id bet that as you start sanding the small sections they will come apart or show signs of weakness. just my opinion. I use tight bond and find it to work great. get the hose clamps and "C" clamps out youve got a great projcet to work on

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leedy2 wrote:Hi mike
I see you like to get into problems a real trouble seeker ay.

Aye sir - only that the material is making the trouble, not me

Thanks very much for the info (as constructive as always - I appreciate that very much!).

I will do as you say, as soon as my nerves have stabilized

One more question though: Should I sand the stave joints or will Titebond also hold on to the
freshly split staves?

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Alright, thanks so far!

That is not as bad as it looks. I think it would be a good idea to test the remaining joints to see if they are on the verge of breaking. Now is the time to find the weak joints, as opposed to when you are buffing the last coat and are ready to start reassembling them! Be very careful not to over tighten when you are reattaching the joining block. A few feet of sturdy rubber band (those wide strips that they use in fitness/workout classes work great), or a couple of framing clamps like this http://www.getprice.com.au/images/uploa ... 00_sml.jpg will be ideal for clamping.

Alright, I embarked on the somewhat nerve-wrecking glueing trip...
Before I applied the glue I checked the other segments and after inspection another stave came
off without even touching it and more cracks developed at other places So what I had to do was almost reassembling all staves!
This was a bit tricky, and I really could not put much pressure on the shell parts at first.
I used the post-workout rubber band indeed - thanks for the tip, Chupacabra! - to keep the staves
in position, carefully "wrapping" the band around the middle part of the staves. Then, to apply more pressure on the upper and lower shell part, I took two ropes and two sticks... Well, I got into a sweat because I thought the
staves would never fit tight, but after sanding things turned out to be OK. The joints have got bigger glue
portions than the macho, but, most important, the whole thing will not fall apart and I think after
further sanding and finishing the hembra it will be alright.
Pics will follow. Thank you for the input so far everybody!

And here is the sanded hembra shell:I could not do it any better.
Now the hembra is ready for some varnish..

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leedy2 wrote: I see slite openning let dry good if you have any openning's small slots put in them some plastic wood to close better

What is plastic wood? Some wood filler I presume. Too late: I have closed the remaining small openings that I could not get any tighter with a mixture of glue and the mahogany dust of the sanding process. As soon as this self-made filler has dried and the shell is sanded, I am about to apply the first layer of lacquer.
And hopefully the lacquer result will be as nice as with the macho shell:
As to the final finish you suggest, Cuco: I am a bit doubtful about paste wax. Is it this stuff you mean? http://www.floorcareproducts.com/wood-f ... /index.asp
Well, I have used ultra-resilient, non-gloss lacquer for floorboards on the macho (the pic is a bit misleading, the lacquer is not shiny) and I am also going to use it on the hembra, so I think I will not need to take any shine out of the finish.

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Now both shells are done:
BTW due to the flash the photograph shows both shells a tad brighter than they actually are.
I cant wait until they are all finished and I can remount the nice mule & Cuban cow combo - and play!