by 11am » Wed Jun 19, 2013 2:07 am
I have 3 old CP Tubs that i bought new 6-7 years ago that were advertised as Siam Oak, they are now identified as Rubberwood! They have been well recorded and are as good as the day I bought them, sound, no cracks what so ever, although they do double duty as end tables, naturally. my Main tubs are LP Palisades that I purchased new in 1970, and have made it to a fair amount of recordings, concerts, and filmscores and still do, luckily.. I started apprenticing on restoration work from the area masters at age 12, and still make a reasonable living at it at 60, so it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I use all kinds of techniques to strip wood, and restore finishes. I have no idea if the drum's finish was removed with methylene chloride or heat, or just sanded dry. ( Which i would never recommend on a conga, or anything of value as you pointed out)) If the wood is indeed a hardwood,( and from your account it is not), I would have no issue with starting with an 80 grit initially, but that said, I'm expert on this process and could discern after one touch if it was too aggressive. Skill level and experience do play a big role, that is a given. From the information that I am receiving from people who have handled the wood, it is a step above balsa, but i tend to think it's a little hardier than that, when I examine my own drums made of it. It's pretty dense and heavy, pretty much the weight of oak? Is it that weak and soft? Maybe so! I will venture a guess that it's not that bad, and can sand well in most instances. I would agree that most of these shells are finished with a tinted epoxy topcoat and not stained at all. Ritmo pointed that out, and he has restored some. Most often one will step sand wood with progressively finer grits, I sometimes go up to 2000, depending, and I'm sure you do as well.( I'll do that when I'm making custom pool cues for example.) I think that his restoration project will do well with you advice, although those fine grits to soon might choke up pretty quick on a plasticized finish? Again, he posted a pic and he seems to be pretty much stripped and ready for finish sanding. Here is where your grit selection would produce a nice ground to work from. Also, your comment about the woods ability to take a stain might weigh in as well. It is better to err on the side of caution, so, if 80 grit scares one off, start with whatever one can handle confidently and carry on from there, according to the physical properties of the material. Your input is well taken and appreciated. Check back in as his project progresses