Ash congas

[Bongobilly]

Hi Congalou: What i ment was can you tell me how to fiberglass the conga. What steps did you use to do it. After you put the expoxy on conga. Hoe many coats did you do? You sand it and then polish it?

[congalou]

Hi Bongo,

Has I said, personnaly, I used SICOMIN epoxy resin and 100g/m2 fiberglass 3 layers. After, I polish it and put PU varnish.

More Precise :

You put the resin with a brush,
You put the layers of fiberglass, all the tissue have to drink the resin,
You remove the air bubble with a special tool,
Let it dry,
Sand it (long work...),
Put the PU varnish,
It's done !

Take gas mask and gloves, it's very important...

[Bongobilly]

Thank's Congalou: So if my conga already has epoxy on it( Gon Bops) and i want to refinish cause it has lots of scratches on it all i have to do is redo the epoxy on it and finish it with pu varnish?

[Joseph]

So if my conga already has epoxy on it( Gon Bops) and i want to refinish cause it has lots of scratches on it all i have to do is redo the epoxy on it and finish it with pu varnish?

Hi Billy,
FWIW
I've refinished 2 Gon Bops shells with the fiberglass coating.
From my experience I've noted that the shells are sheathed in fiberglass cloth set in Polyester resin, NOT epoxy resin.
On top of that polyester resin / glass matrix (on both shells) was an old, very yellowed coat of varnish.
"Yellowing" over time is a common complaint about older era varnishes.
Sanding off that yellowed coating brightened up the look of the wood considerably.
From the picture, your shells have that "yellowed" look.

What remains after varnish removal is the resin glass matrix,which can be sanded smooth, though don't sand into the glass cloth, unless you want to sand it off.
I wet sanded that resin coating, as the wood is already sealed by the resin coat.
In my case, I then used lacquer on top of the resin (5-6 coats), then paste wax, buffed to hand rubbed look.

If the resin / glass matrix is in good shape: no dings, fractures that crack the glass fibers that are set in the resin, then there is no compelling reason to use epoxy (or polyester).

Putting a coating of clear unreinforced epoxy over the existing resin / cloth matrix will not make the shell any stronger, although it will add a tough coating to the surface, which will still have to be top coated.
OTOH
If you wanted to strip the whole shell down to bare wood (lotta itchy sanding involved, wear your moon suit!), and start from scratch, then epoxy resin / glass cloth matrix, would be an excellent way to go.

Not necessarily related to drum refinishing. This Website has a lot of info on epoxy use.
$00.02

CongaLou,
Great job on the finish of the shells.
3 layers of cloth set in epoxy and that heavy duty hardware make for one seriously armored conga.

[congalou]

Hello Joseph and thank you !

Polyester and not epoxy on Gonbops... That's what I was thinking. I had one to restore long time ago. This one were yellowing and "greening" behind the skin. I don't know why "greening".

For stratify the wood, Epoxy is really better and solid. The Sicomin resin I used is espacially for stratify the wood, very good SR 5550.

G.

[Bongobilly]

Thank's alot for the info. Al thought these are not the congas i plan on refinishing ( There are some dings that cracked the fiberglass) At least now what i will have to do. Im going to check into the coopers around the area for shell making. Congalou's conga look's great!

[congalou]

Hey !

A friend fall in love with this quinto before I took a vidéo... It sound super, pleasure to play... I will make another !!

G.

[Rumba Rumbero]

Beautifull quinto , did you sell it, i love the skin you put on it?
is it steam shaped staves, or cut to shape?

[congalou]

Hi !

Yes I have sell it, and it's steam shapes staves.

G.

[skinslapper]

Wow, Verry nice conga's
Would like to hear them !!!

[congalou]

Hi Skinslapper,

You can hear them on this vidéo in studio : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgZRhRawLYw

G.

[skinslapper]

Hallo Congalou
Nice sound man !!! Exelent conga's !!!
Thanx for posting the vid.
Seen them both !

[GuruPimpi]

To me they sound supreme vintage! Great work Congalou!