Thread: Building a 4 string banjo

Continued:
7. Next I used the same big jig with an even bigger radius (1.8m or so) to create a rebate/trench for the centre part of the design:


8. Finally, following all the same steps and same techniques, the middle piece is made - and it was a very nice tight fit. Now I've got my template for the real thing:

9. Using the same locator pins, and a temporary glue joint with paper sandwiched between, the template was attached to the maple (middle piece also added after this photo was taken)

10. Routed around the outline with middle piece in place, then removed the middle piece and the steel pins and trenched out the middle (ie. at this point the template has become sacrificial as I'm routing through the middle of it):

11. Finally, use the middle piece template to create a jarrah inlay, and glue it in. The method I followed meant that the various router tracks left little guides to chisel out the waste to get sharp corners at the

Some progress shots of the neck/fingerboard:

The other fun part has been building a tone ring - this is a ring of brass (in this case) that sits between the body and the head and supposedly contributes to the tone of the instrument. Instead of buying one, I had a go at making it out of 3x13mm brass flat bar. First thing required was a ring roller - I constructed my own based on a photo I saw on the net, using cheapy wheels bought from Bunnings mounted on steel hollow bar (scrap), that were mounted into the screwholes for the jaws of my vise. It works brilliantly!


The brass is then trimmed and filed down, and butt jointed using silver brazing rod. I only have propane torches, and in doing some testing, one torch didn't provide enough heat, so I clamped up the brass and mounted it like so, allowing me to have one torch pointing up at the underside of the joint, and another torch in my hand heating the top of the joint. This worked so much better!

After some filing and sandpaper to clean up the mess, ta-da!

Very cool, I love the sound of a banjo. Would love to make one myself, just don't know how to play! Ingenious use of jigs to get all the radii you wanted. Brass work is great too. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build!


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Very interesting build. I had been thinking on building a banjo and was a bit taken aback by the cost of banjo hardware. Looks like you are on top of that too. Keep up the good work.
Regards
John

Looking goooood, keen to see how this turns out, maybe a project for down the track somewhere,

Paul

Thanks for the replies so far. Here's a small update - cutting the neck to body join. It's a rather complex operation when you think about it, as you need to put a radius on the neck end to match the radius of the body, and it's too deep a cut to use a router. I chose to work really hard to on tuning up the bandsaw and building a good jig that would allow me to swing the workpiece past the blade at the correct radius. As you can see, the neck is clamped into the top sacrificial part of the jig, which is connected to the base of the jig via a bolt, so that it can spin. After hours of fine tuning and test-cutting, I reckon it turned out pretty well! This is straight off the saw, no sanding.

Looking good. I take it this aint you'r first instrument build.
Regards
John

Hey all, long time no see!
Finished!
Since we last spoke, I routed the recess for that brass tone ring and got it fitted, carved the neck (rasps for the tricky spots and to establish the profile, spokeshaves to draw the profile along the length, then lots of sandpaper), built the bridge (scrap ebony on scrap blackwood), and bolted it all together. Used spare Epiphone Les Paul tuners, in keeping with the initial philosophy of making as much of this from scraps and leftovers as possible.
Finished with a few coats of Minwax wipe-on Poly.
The only slight hiccup was the bridge was too short, giving me buzzy strings, so rather than build a new one from scratch, I just laminated some more blackwood onto the feet to make it a bit taller - the shape is now a bit less elegant, but it gets the job done!

That looks fantastic, I want one!


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Thanks Cal - have a go! It's not too hard - you just need a big enough lathe, or a friend with a big enough lathe, and some patience for working with circles...

Hmm, I don't have a big enough lathe! I have put a bigger lathe on the list though. I have always wanted to learn banjo and guitar but have never gotten around to it. I play harmonica and have done for most of my life, need more time to practice that too. The shed has my full attention at the moment and I am sure I will have many more excuses before I get to playing banjo! [emoji53]
You have done a great job though, very envious.


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