My El Piernas Bongo

[caballoballo]

Vinniel, congratulations, That is a set that will last a long time. Did El Piernas send you a small jar with some good smelling cream to lubricate the skins ? It is also good for the hands , just rub it into the skin and you are ready to go. Whenever you recieve the ones you order form Mathew Smith compare them , sound , construction, quality, ect. El Piernas does not have anything to envy, are cheaper and made for the working Bongocero.

[vinnieL]

Yes he did. He also sent me a huge clave the beater looks like a baseball bat!

[Psych1]

I have an El Piernas, less than 5 years old, that is starting to separate at the staves on both drums.. I don't know about all the others but on mine the thick staves have a top to bottom groove cut in them and a different wood is used to help connect the staves. I assume that is a design to prevent separations but I believe it is what is causing the separations.

[caballoballo]

I have an El Piernas, less than 5 years old, that is starting to separate at the staves on both drums.. I don't know about all the others but on mine the thick staves have a top to bottom groove cut in them and a different wood is used to help connect the staves. I assume that is a design to prevent separations but I believe it is what is causing the separations.

Could be bad luck be, I have a very old one and thus far there is on sign of trouble. That one is like wine, the older the better. I know the type of staves you are talking about & both of the ones that have been on e-bay lately have cracks. What about the place where you store them ? Humidity, heat,cold , too drastic changes in temperature affect a lot.

Get yourself some wood glue and do some repair, there are alot of good examples on how to here in the forum.

[Psych1]

Yes, I have learned a lot from this board on how to repair. One of these days I'll dedicate time just to crack fixing - lot of drums lot of cracks. Its true that my location has every type of weather - from extreme cold to extreme heat, sometimes wet and sometimes dry. But some of the old wooden drums are not affected while other are. With the El Piernas I'm pretty sure the 2 different woods at the stave joints are each reacting differently to the weather changes.

[Tonio]

hmm, those are called buscuits ( like the cookie) in woodworking terms. That is a woodworkers trick of old school to make a rigid binding. Today adhesives are much improved.
I'd say the lack a of a good adhesive(glue) is the issue compounded by your temperature/humidity level changes.

T

[caballoballo]

Psych1, should not be too much of a problem to fix those cracks ,I think the glue will sip very easy and with the application of a torniquete you should be ready to go in no time. Adding also some metals plates where the bolts that hold the center block is a must to keep the wood from cracking .

[Psych1]

OK - time to fix them up. Thanks for all the tips. I think I'm going to follow Mike and do a whole redo. There are about 8 small cracks, none go all the way through because of the biskits. Also, the bands are loose - they are just useless decoration and they rattle - may just get rid of them. And, the heads are 5 years old and I'd like to get rid of some washers. So -----

[caballoballo]

Alright Psych way to go. The whole redo should make it look like new. Apply some varnish or paint to the inside of the shells, that will also provive more strength . Since you are going to replaces the skins, the Hembra should be at least 1/8" in thickness, the macho 1/16", do not mount the skin too far down, about 1/4" should be right. That way you do not have to use many washers plus it will last longer. Good luck on you project. SOO caballo

[OLSONGO]

Psych , look into some hose clamps, the large ones, the ones used in the plumbing industry, you may already have some.. they are abouts $2 a pop at home depot...they work great. I have used the old school rope tech. but some rope stretches or at times in the middle of the night break . my 2 slaps.
Olsongo