In November, 2013 I decided to try my hand at building a banjo. I didn’t have any prior instrument building experience, but I have worked with wood for many years. On November 2, 2013, my friend Ben Keyes gave a solo album release concert. I know it was Ben’s playing that got me to thinking about banjos. Take a look at the entries below to follow along with my several-month long project.
Holes for Tension Brackets
The brackets and hooks that provide the tension to pull down the tension hoop and tighten the head, are a distinctive part of the look of a banjo. Some banjos have a lot of brackets, but I prefer the look of fewer. I decided on a total of 14, which is about the...
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Neck Brace and End Bolt
The dowel stick passes through the rim and is attached at the side opposite the neck with the end bolt. The neck brace is attached to the dowel stick inside the rim at the neck end. When tightened, the neck brace brings the neck into firm contact with the rim. The...
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Cut for Tension Hoop
The tension hoop slips over the rim and is pulled down about 1/2in onto it. I chiseled the area of the neck where it meets the rim to provide the needed clearance. I'll need to cut a bit more away from the bottom of the slot to provide room for the part of the head...
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Attaching Neck to Rim
The neck is not fastened permanently to the rim with glue, but is held in place with some hardware and a piece called the dowel stick. The dowel stick is really just an extension of the neck that passes through the rim. The dowel stick is tenoned into the neck and...
read moreFinishing Peghead Inlay
While I think about the next steps of making the dowel stick and shaping the neck, I decided to finish the inlay on the peghead. I finished cutting the mother of pearl, and filed some of the edges smooth. The ebony on the peghead needs to be cut to accept the mother...
read moreSeparating Rim from Lathe Plate
Once I was finished with shaping the rim and sanding it smooth, it was time to separate it from the plywood backing it was glued to. The rim blank was about 3in deep and I decided that the finished rim should be 2 1/2in deep, based on how the rim, the heel of the...
read moreTurning the Rim
I somehow managed to not take any pictures of my rim blank before moving on to the next step, but here is a photo of one from the web: The blank needs to be mounted on the lathe so it can be turned. I decided the easiest way for me was to glue the blank to a circle...
read moreGluing the Rim Strips Together
Once the rims strips were bent into shape and dry, they needed to be glued together to build the rim blank. The rim blank is then turned on a lathe to make it perfectly round and the correct size. I made a form for gluing up the strips shown here: The form is made...
read moreSteam Bending the Rim Strips
The rim is made from 3 pieces of maple, each about 1/4in thick and 3in wide. Each piece needs to be steam bent to form a circle about 12in in diameter. I used an electric water heater element as a heat source to create the steam. I fashioned a little boiler using...
read morePeghead Inlay
I started work on some mother of pearl inlay for the peghead. Later, I will cut some inlay for spots along the fretboard. I designed the peghead inlay on my computer and printed it out, then glued that to a piece of mother of pearl. The inlay is cut with a saw...
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