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mojo_monk - Posted - 11/11/2009: 04:16:12
Where can a guy score some? I've made a few out of ebony and would like to try my hand at using bone as well. All I've been able to find is bone nut blanks - which would work perfectly if I played a very tiny banjo 
Any leads - and tips on special hand tools needed for shaping - would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Sean
http://www.dearoldillinois.com
Adventures in Haitian banjo building:
http://seanbarth79.webs.com
Sultans of Claw - Posted - 11/11/2009: 05:25:34
Most any pet supply store will have sterilized, bleached cow bone.
Lee Callicutt
banjobilly32 - Posted - 11/11/2009: 05:32:20
Buy a nice big soup bone, then make a big kettle of home made soup, take the bone afterward and clean it up. Get out your hack saw and cut out a piece to the size of your anticipated tailpiece and finish it to your liking.
I've made many nut's from store bought bones and they turn out very well. The bonus is I enjoy the soup too!
I've also cut bone with a fine band saw blade. Belt sanders are great for shaping it. Sandpaper works well for final finishing. Wear your safety glasses and handle with care!
rudy - Posted - 11/11/2009: 05:32:38
Sean,
You can go to most butcher shops and pick yourself out some nice large cow femur bones. You can find ones with very large flat sections that would work perfectly for tail piece making.
That's the easy part. Next comes a little pre-cutting and cleaning (Got a dog? That saves a little time... ) The bones are next soaked in solvent to de-grease them. It takes a few changes of the solvent before they are ready. I believe what I used in the past was Naptha in a sealed container, but I don't remember precisely. Someone else should jump in here with that knowledge.
After cleaning comes shaping. I use a small benchtop belt sander. You ABSOLUTELY must wear GOOD respiratory protection when sanding bone. It's a messy job, but worth the effort.
Here is the link to a very nice article written by Sean Barry for Banjo-L and hosted by Zepp that has the bone preparation instructions contained in it:
http://www.zeppmusic.com/banjo/nuts.htm
Disclaimer: The following is my signature and NOT part of this post!!!
Visit my website for assorted banjo construction information:
http://www.bluestemstrings.com/page...onTips1.html
Edited by - rudy on 11/11/2009 05:49:42
beegee - Posted - 11/11/2009: 08:01:10
quote:
Originally posted by banjobilly32
Wear your safety glasses and handle with care!
Wear a respirator too. Bone stinks when you grind it. I bought some camel bone and it must not have been boiled. When i was sanding it with my Dremel, it was exuding some stinky, slimy oil. __________________________ "It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing." - Seneca
Tele65 - Posted - 11/11/2009: 08:08:25
To shape the nuts and bone blanks in general I have bought a set of files and a small vise from StewMac.com. They should be ok for your needs as well.
Fabio
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Come on cow, come a cow cow yippee ay yey!
rudy - Posted - 11/11/2009: 10:00:54
quote:
Now, I'm wondering why you bought camel bone.
I'm waiting for Mike to add a pic of a "two hump" banjo neck... Great link there, Brian. That's basically the same info presented by Sean on Zepp's site, but with a lot more detail. Disclaimer: The following is my signature and NOT part of this post!!! Visit my website for assorted banjo construction information: http://www.bluestemstrings.com/page...onTips1.html
Edited by - rudy on 11/11/2009 10:05:08
mike gregory - Posted - 11/11/2009: 10:54:58
RE: Camels
The two main varieties are the Bactrian and the Dromedary.
To tell which type you have purchased is VERY difficult.
First, you must erect a cinder-block wall, 3 meters high and ten meters long, in an east to west direction. Paint it white.
Then, you must purchase a police-issue whiste, and a wide-tipped black permanent marker..
The next step is rather time consuming, but indispensable. You must teach the camel to stand on its back feet whenever you blow the whistle.
Once the training is complete, wait for a sunny day.
Walk the camel over to the sunny side of the wall, stand it facing to YOUR left, and blow the whistle.
Once the camel is standing on its hind legs, trace the shadow of its back on the wall.
Allow the camel to return to the more comfortable all-fours posture, and lead it away from the wall.
Draw a straight line across the open end of the tracing of the shadow.
Now, look closely at the resemblance of the tracing and the line, to any letters of the English alphabet.
If it looks like the letter D, it is a Dromedary.
If it looks like the letter B, it is a it is a Bactrian.
IF the camel is, in fact, a Bactrian, use the appropriate tools and pans, and proceed to make soup from the camel.
When dinner is over, you may use the bones for a two-humped banjo tailpiece.
CAUTION: Follow this procedure exactly. Do NOT rely on the advice of the animal seller. They might try to sell you a Bacterium, which, while spelled in a highly similar fashion, is too small to make a tailpiece that will hold up under the tension of five strings.
Zepp, Dotson, Helix and others, you may post this information on the How To section of your websites.
We are all in this together, sharing what we know, for the furtherance of that most beautiful and delightful of instruments, the Banjo.
=):{ )
Mike Gregory, Banjo Maker Infraordinaire
When I say my instruments are as good as anything Gibson or Martin ever made,
I mean MEL Gibson and DEAN Martin!
My banjos can be seen on my own website
http://littlebanjos.lunare.net
See me & my SQUARED EEL banjo on the Y'all tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97EfvhFgRBY
mike gregory - Posted - 11/11/2009: 18:26:33
UPDATE:
If you have a small camel, one entire Bactrian may be too much soup, and the family may grow weary of the same thing for dinner, day after day.
In that case, just make soup out of the legs, and freeze-dry the remaining camel, which then may be used as casual furniture in the TV room.
mojo_monk - Posted - 11/12/2009: 04:39:52
Wow. Thanks for the suggestions, all.
I'm always amazed at the strange directions the threads in the Banjo Building, Setup, and Repair forum seem to move. Always a pleasure and usually ridiculous...
Sean
http://www.dearoldillinois.com
Adventures in Haitian banjo building:
http://seanbarth79.webs.com
fynger - Posted - 11/12/2009: 05:30:52
sheesh i realy want a camel and a wall now to try that one Mike....Tho here in U.K. the hardest bit to get from your description is the 'sunny day'.
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Have you hugged your Banjo today ?
mike gregory - Posted - 11/12/2009: 07:46:22
Thank you, Fynger.
On my one and only trip to the UK (August 1999), I saw a lot of fascinating sights.
London!
Cardiff Castle,
the original York, (MUCH nicer than the "New" York, over here, IMHO)
the Edinburgh Military Tattoo,
a stone henhouse, still in use, and older than my entire Nation,
Beer almost thick enough to eat with a FORK,
A bus with an attic!
McDonald's where one-quarter of a pound of food costs more than a pound of money,
et bleedin' cetera,
but, I don't recall seeing even one camel-bone tailpiece.
Now I begin to understand why.
beegee - Posted - 11/12/2009: 09:00:33
Camel bone is supposed to be harder(more dense?less porous?) than cow bone. It has an interesting mottled appearance.
__________________________
"It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing." -Seneca
mike gregory - Posted - 11/12/2009: 09:13:43
Darker some places, and lighterin others?
Like a mottled airplane?
beegee - Posted - 11/12/2009: 10:00:52
__________________________
"It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing." -Seneca
Ol Lefty - Posted - 11/12/2009: 14:25:09
Camel bone knife scales provide easy to cut down pieces for nuts and saddle-like cuts for tailpieces or bridge caps. Mammoth ivory is also a good material as is deer antler. Heck, even micarta has a stenchwhen sanding etc.
"Don't pick it; it'll never heal"--with apologies, that always makes me grin.......... "I'm not crazy, I'm colorful." Struther Martin, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
steve davis - Posted - 11/12/2009: 16:37:52
I'm going to top some maple with oyster shell for a nut.
A buddy of mine shucks oysters for restaurants and parties.
He's known as "Buck-A-Shuck" and generates thousands of shells in a season.
Most of the shells don't appear to be thick enough for a solid shell
nut so I thought of trying a shell cap on wood.
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