Using some maple trimmed off the original lumber when squaring it up, I cut two pieces for ears. These will widen the peghead enough for the pattern I chose.
Peghead ears
The ears are approximately the same thickness as the peghead. The front surface of the peghead has already been prepared for having the decorative veneer glued on, so when I attach the ears, I’ll try to make them as even as I can with that surface. I’ll trim material from the back of the peghead after the veneer is glued on to reach the final thickness. I believe the tuning pegs are designed to work with a certain peghead thickness, so I’ll need to find out what that is.
Gluing on the ears
After the glue set, I removed the clamps and did some light sanding, trying to keep the front of the peghead flat.
Ears glued on
In the picture above you can see saw marks on the ears. My saw fence had loosened up and the blade cut into the pieces. I checked my peghead design and was able to still use these because the marks are outside the design.
Some of the next things to do are: cut frets in the fret board, glue on the peghead veneer, start shaping the neck, cut a radius in the neck where it attaches to the rim, drill a hole for the dowel stick, and attach the fret board. I have to take a good long look at both my books and think about this for a while, because I think the instructions are not quite clear on the items above. Not clear to me anyway. Some of the operations above will have a real impact on how the banjo plays and how it sounds, so I need to try to get it right. I also need to order some of the hardware needed, and a fret saw as well. I have some items in my shopping cart at Stewart-MacDonald.
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