Conga Crack - Wood Filler???

[Brian Kent]

I have a large conga drum that got banged up in an airline baggage compartment and has a couple of large cracks in the shell - 1/4" wide by 1/2" deep by about a foot long. It happened enough years ago that I know the wood is stable and the cracks did not detroy the sound.

I am looking for some kind of wood filler that will not loosten up and rattle around. I do not want to re-finish the conga. It has a thick reddish varnish that I would be matching. My motives are visual - as seen from ten feet away or more - and structural - keeping it stable in case it ever gets knocked around again.

Is there a wood epoxy blend or something else you might recommend?

[Jim Becker]

Brian, filler may actually alter the sound...dampening it. That said resin, such as West Systems will likely do the job to provide a filler that will stay put and it can be tinted. I suspect that the repair will still be noticeable, but not terribly so.

[John Powers]

Why I only travel with the beat up guitar. I might tape the inside of the crack then mask off adjacent areas around the crack and carefully fill with epoxy mixed with fine sawdust like from a bandsaw or hand sander with a bag. the consistency like mayo or peanut butter. When hard exacto knife and sand excess. careful use of a cabinet scraper is good on epoxy. I think this will last longer than a cosmetic filler. Its a boatbuilding method. the sawdust is better on the structural side than the microballons they have at a Marine store that you mix with epoxy and the epoxy/sawdust mixture will take a stain. The Lowes Epoxy, two 2.5 oz bottles seems to be all quick setup so only mix a little at a time as it will go off in a hurry. Wear latex gloves as this can be messy but its way easier than it sounds.

[Brian Kent]

Is this just epoxy glue that I am mixing or it a more specialized product. Since the conga is finished pretty roughly, I think an approximate color through sawdust sounds pretty good. I picked up a lot of Varathane stain samples at a woodworking show a while back so I can expeiment with the surface color.

This bonding epoxy idea instead of a wood filler seems right, since the shell will be vibrating all the time I use it.

[John Powers]

Regular Epoxy. lowes has two 4 oz bottles resin and hardner Loctite epoxy. I think its like 5 minute set up and I'd like longer but as I said keep batches small. I use it regular enough that that size is cost effective and it lasts. You mix equal parts and just add a pinch of fine sawdust as you go to get consistency you want. Prime the crack with a little straight epoxy prior to filling with sawdust mix. Table sawdust is too coarse. If you have a piece of wood close to the color you can sand up your own batch or cut on the bandsaw and harvest the dust. I'd mix a little batch, let set, sand and test stains. I think it will stay put longer than anything out of a tube; won't shrink, swell or crack.