TxBubbaDog - Posted - 11/21/2011:  09:46:26

​I just finished building by first banjo!

​I wanted to thank everyone for helping me through the process. I could not have done it without y'all!

​Since y'all had such a big part in helping me build this banjo, I wanted to share pictures and sounds.

Construction Materials

(1) ​Texas Pecan Wood Rim and Neck (2) ​Red Oak Fingerboard (3) ​Vellum processed Calfskin Head (4) ​Stewmac medium fretwire (5) ​Stewmac Economy Banjo Tuners (6) "Nashville" style tailpiece (7) White bone nut (8) ​Texas Pecan wood bridge topped with white bone

There are more pictures on my profile for those who are interested.

As for my audio clips, I still need to learn how to play the stinking thing, but you can at least hear how it sounds.

Slide Roll

Unknown

aeroweenie - Posted - 11/21/2011:  10:11:20

Very nice work! And it sounds good too, so I'm sure you'll learn to play it!

Jonnycake White - Posted - 11/21/2011:  10:32:22

Good job Bubba! Keep practicing and playing around - sound's like you'll be a good'un.

I'm curious if you've experimented with your bridge design at all. If not, I think you ought to try a few different bridges and see how different they make your banjo sound.

xnavyguy - Posted - 11/21/2011:  10:37:53

Very, very nice job.  Definitely a great sounding machine.  You have reason to be proud.

LNP - Posted - 11/21/2011:  10:39:04

Looks and sounds great.            Larry

NCjones - Posted - 11/21/2011:  11:17:09

Nice work there.   And it sounds good also.   You have something there to be proud of.  i couldn't ever build a banjo from scratch.

fzartvaark - Posted - 11/21/2011:  13:20:55

Very nice work.  Love the sound.  And using native materials makes it even more a treasure!

Enjoy

piscesgrrl - Posted - 11/21/2011:  13:29:18

Wow, I'm hope to be able to build a banjo one day. Just beautiful!

neighbour - Posted - 11/21/2011:  13:38:55

very well done .enjoy!

uncle.fogey - Posted - 11/21/2011:  13:59:41

That's very nice - good for you!

TxBubbaDog - Posted - 11/21/2011:  15:12:51

quote:

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Originally posted by Jonnycake White

Good job Bubba! Keep practicing and playing around - sound's like you'll be a good'un.



I'm curious if you've experimented with your bridge design at all. If not, I think you ought to try a few different bridges and see how different they make your banjo sound.

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Thanks!

No I did not experiment with my bridge design. I just had some extra white bone left over from doing the nut (I ordered 2). So I just went with the bone based on my expericence with guitars because acoustic guitars typically have bone saddles to provide greater sound, volume, and sustain.

banjobarry1 - Posted - 11/21/2011:  15:13:46

Great Job !! Looks and sounds great

TxBubbaDog - Posted - 11/21/2011:  15:15:41

quote:

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Originally posted by NCjones

Nice work there.   And it sounds good also.   You have something there to be proud of.  i couldn't ever build a banjo from scratch.

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I wouldn't have been able to either if I had not had access to lots of stationary power tools, well... at least not easily.

I did this for a college cabinetry class, so I had an entire wood shop at my fingertips 

bassman - Posted - 11/21/2011:  15:24:55

Very cool, Bubba.  I checked out the build pics in your profile; can you tell us about how you made the pot?  Keep it up and continue hanging around here and you'll have some customers lining up....

-Chris

TxBubbaDog - Posted - 11/21/2011:  16:00:39

quote:

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Originally posted by bassman

Very cool, Bubba.  I checked out the build pics in your profile; can you tell us about how you made the pot?  Keep it up and continue hanging around here and you'll have some customers lining up....

-Chris

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As fun as that would be I don't have the equipment to think about selling my work, but maybe someday.

As for the pot...

Unfortunately I did not take a lot of pictures of that process, but I did take some from my phone. Here are steps I followed

First I glued together a bunch of strips of wood cut from 2 seprate pieces of Pecan wood. The un-rounded rim thickness was 1-1/8" thick. Buying wood that thick was impractical so I bought 3/4" wood and cut them in strips 1-1/8" wide. I glued enough strips to make a board 1-1/8" thick X 4" wide. I cant remember the length

I then cut the wood I made from the glued up strips into 12 trapezoids, and glued them up into a polygon. I tried to alternate and flip the blocks before gluing to provide the alternating "Checker-like" color pattern you see in the pictures. 

I clamped the 12 blocks together using bungee chords and a ratcheting tie down strap for a truck bed.

Once it was all glued up I mounted the un-rounded rim to a plate via 4 screws so I could turn it on a lathe.

The wood shop at my college did not have a lathe big enough, so we used the metal lathe.

Edited by - TxBubbaDog on 11/21/2011 16:03:47

ShawnKirkpatrick - Posted - 11/21/2011:  16:06:51

Looks good!!

Waltj - Posted - 11/21/2011:  16:09:01

Looks and sounds great!. Thanks for sharing and have fun

Walt

mike gregory - Posted - 11/21/2011:  16:24:00

Marvelous look, great sound.

Grumpy1 - Posted - 11/21/2011:  22:31:57

  Very impressive.  Looks great, sounds great.  I'd call that a winner!