by Zeno » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:15 pm
Quote (JohnnyConga @ Feb. 20 2006,04:17)
I believe it's an original "Vergara" Cuban conga...."JC" Johnny Conga...
Wow!
So that is what an original "Vergara" looks like? I wonder how the damaged one I found ended up in Sebastopol California? Most unusual.
I notice that Ray's drum has some little bushings just above the tightening nuts. I do this too in order to give more available threads. I usually make these out of small diameter pipe from which I cut 1/2"-3/4" bushings, then drill the inside out a bit more to fit easily over the threads of the tuning lug. This allows you to get the hardware lower and out of the way of your hands and still have some threads for tuning up.
It is going to require a bit of work to get the one I have back together, but I have worked on ones that were much worse, and now I am really inspired. This drum has hoops that are made of stainless steel banding, and the wood staves are some kind of hardwood like oak. The staves just under 1/2" thick, thus are not as thick as would be found on an old GonBop or Valje say. It has a pretty solid "alma" made out of steel flatstock. You can see from the photo that Ray's drum has the same stainless band hoops (a couple are painted over). Ray's old drum has identical hardware to the drum I found.
The one I am restoring has a couple of hoops missing, and it turns out not to be practical to replace with that original stainless banding, which I have not really been able to obtain in that format which is 1" wide. Instead I have obtained some regular steel sheeting.
The technique for making replacement (tapered) hoops is the following:
You make a paper cone (or partial cone) and tape it together. Place the paper cone over the area of the drum needing the hoop and trace a line on the paper around the drum at that point. After unravelling and cutting the tracing, you will have a strip in the form of a "smile" 1" wide. You trim the paper "smile" to what will be the final length of the hoop and then transfer this pattern to the steel sheet and mark with a "Sharpie" black pen. I was just able to cut this steel with the curved tracing marked on it with my straight tin snips which were just sharpened. After cutting I take to a grinder and sander to clean up the edges. Now you have a steel strip in the form of a "smile" and then you determine the precise size by forming it around the drum. Mark it, and then rivet together using traditional cooper techniques, it is also hard to find these old steel rivets!. This will result in an actual functional hoop, not just a cosmetic hoop like the original bands on the "Vergara". This will allow me to use the hoop to tighten down the drum when I re-glue the staves, just as a hoop is used in tradtional cooperage for tightening the drums staves which are not glued. There is a special tool for pounding down on these hoops while tightening the barrel. This being a glued/staved drum, it ultimately will not need these functional steel hoops, but it doesn't hurt. I have done this to old Gon-bops which are always falling apart with their cosmetic aluminum hoops serving no real function. Real (steel) hoops will help hold the drum togerther over time in case the glue dries out and starts to fail.
This drum has the majority of the staves needing re-gluing. The professional Jorgensen band clamps work well to cinch the drum shell together when re-gluing. White or Yellow carpenter glue works fine. This band clamp has wide canvas bands which do not slip down the taper of the drum when you tighten . Most other band clamps need to be stapled to the drum because they tend to slip down the taper of the drum as you tighten.
Because I will be mixing a couple of regular steel hoops with the original stainless band hoops, I have decided to paint all the hoops with a nice metallic lacquer in order to have them look matched. Believe me I did try to find a source for that 1" stainless banding to replicate the original but it is something not easily obtained anymore. This drum must be at least as old as the one that Ray Barretto has in that photograph. I am assuming that if that is a Cuban Vergara, it was made BC in Cuba.
The hoops will need to be primed first then painted with metallic lacquer. The original chrome plated crown and other chrome hardware still looks good and I will simply clean it up and polish it. The shell which was originally painted black, will be repainted with a nice metallic black lacquer. (I just happen to have access to a bunch of left over vintage automtive lacquers).
I actually have access to a whole range of lacquer colors, but somehow I find myself usually making a rather conservative color choices (good taste?). Decisions decisions! I could paint the hoops and the shell the same color, or I can paint them contrasting colors. I have a couple of nice flat greens and a nice brick red, a metallic yellow, a bunch of metallic light blues and off-greens, some golden and bronze metallics, basically a bunch of auto colors. Any suggestions?
Red drum with green hoops? Golden metallic with red hoops? Green shell with gold metallic hoops?
Probably will be metallic charocol black shell with metallic silver bluish hoops.
When finished I will post some photos.
Zeno
Edited By Zeno on 1140462321