I have been working on another mini banjo the past few weeks, in my spare time. I haven't taken a lot of pictures, but here is what I have completed, as it looks tonight. I threw it together just to see how everything is fitting so far. The tension hoop was made by cutting a narrow piece from a 1/4" thick brass flat bar stock. I then rolled it and silver soldered the two end joints. It was then sanded and filed to it's present condition.  I have yet to notch it for the hooks. The flange was sawn from brass plate, drilled, and filled. As with previous banjos, standard hooks and nuts, and the bracket shoe bolts, were shorted with a hack saw to fit the mini banjo's size. The rim is made from steel pipe, turned on a metal lathe. The holes for the bracket shoes were drilled in the rim  with the ShopSmith.

MZ-001

MZ-002

 I'd like to know about your bearing edge (shape/angle/tone ring ? )    Is that a skin head?.   Keep us posted. 

THAT is spectacular looking! Cannot wait to see the finish....or possibly more updates along the way?

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Originally posted by tdennis

 I'd like to know about your bearing edge (shape/angle/tone ring ? )    Is that a skin head?.   Keep us posted. 

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The top edge of the rim/ring is rounded on the outside edge and beveled inward at about 45 degrees. The head on it is an old Dixie uke banjo plastic head. This one is only used for assembly purposes. A "gooder" one will be used on the finished product.

Thanks

Marvin 

I got the notches cut in the tension hoop for the bracket hooks. I used a Dremel tool to cut them. I remounted the hoop to check the fit. I had planned to work on the mini tomorrow (Saturday) but hurricane Irene is headed our way and I must spend all day at work. I hope that Irene is more friendly that she looks!

MZ-003

MZ-004

Well, I survived Irene with very little damage, but my neighbors were not so blessed. Many trees down on houses in my neighborhood. I was without power for 3 days. That slowed up banjo building! We went to the Labor Day weekend flea market      in Hillsville, Va. for the weekend. Today, I got a little work done on the banjo. I cut down the tailpiece, re-drilled it, and engraved it. Other modifications are made to the Waverly tailpiece. Picture MZ-009 is a side shot of the tailpiece before modifications are made. As you can see, the mounting bolt does not align in a straight line with the mounting bracket. Also, the maximum adjustable angle of the tailpiece is about 90 degrees. First, I removed the bolt and filed the side of the bolt head flush with the bolt shaft. This allows the bolt to have straight alignment when reinstalled. Next, I cut a notch in the back of the tailpiece to allow clearance for the bolt head. Now the tailpiece can be adjusted for more than 90 degrees. Picture MZ-013 is the finished modified Waverly.  Between the power outage and the flea market, I got the armrest sawed out and silver-soldered together. Today, I started the engraving, but didn't finish before I quit for the day.

MZ-005	MZ-006	MZ-007	MZ-008
MZ-009	MZ-010	MZ-011	MZ-012
MZ-013	MZ-014	MZ-015	MZ-016

Marvin, Nice work! I can't believe what you can do with a Dremel, you could have been a dentist.

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Originally posted by bordertownbrown

Marvin, Nice work! I can't believe what you can do with a Dremel, you could have been a dentist.

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 Thanks, Richard, but I think drilling teeth every day would be boring!

I found a few hours today to finish the armrest engraving.

MZ-017

I love the armrest Marvin. That banjo is a product of a talented builder.

-johnd

Aw shaw, John... tain't nuthin' anybody else can do ,if they just try!

I have started building the neck. A piece of curly maple is cut in-two length wise, sanded,  and glued up with mahogany and holly veneers between the two book-matched pieces. Once dry, the clamps are removed and the excess veneer is trimmed and the block is sanded true. The peghead neck angle is cut and sanded, and then mahogany and holly wood veneers glued to the top peghead surface. After the clamps are removed, the edge of the veneers at peghead/neck joint is sanded to match the same angle. Then matching veneers are glued to the neck top surface. Once dry, the clamps are removed and the end of the veneers are sanded to the same angle. 

MZ-018	MZ-019	MZ-020	MZ-021
MZ-022	MZ-023

BNJOMAKR ,

Keep them coming.  You have no idea how valuable these posts are to wannabe newbie banjo builders like me.  I learn a lot from your posts and from these discussions.

Thanks

Ian

I have made a little progress on the new mini in the past week. I have also been refinishing the resonator on the mini banjo that I built for Larry Barnes. The lacquer finish cracked after almost a year. Any- who, here is pictures of the progress that has been made on the new mini!

The fingerboard was profiled. A small hole was drilled in the center of the first fret, and the last fret. Two small brads are inserted in these so that the fingerboard will not wander when it is glued to the neck blank. The fingerboard is then glued to the blank. The overlay for the peghead is glued using the same process. Four holes are drilled, one at each corner, and brads inserted to keep the overlay from wandering during gluing/clamping.

I made the tailpiece bracket from a bracket shoe. It was shortened, and filed, so that it would work properly when inverted and mounted. The holes for the arm rest were drilled and tapped, and then the arm rest was mounted with 4-40 screws.

MZ-024	MZ-025	MZ-026	MZ-027
MZ-028	MZ-029	MZ-030

Marvin
Your craftsmanship is absolutely beautiful. I copied your neck cutting jig using a bosch colt router and think it will work fine. Have practiced on a pine neck and will do another before cutting good neck. I really do enjoy your posts and cant believe how much info is on this site.
Bill

Yet another masterpiece in the works!  Amazing engraving with a Dremel, but I'm curious.  A Dremel is like a mini router.  Why not traditional chase engraving, or the modern version done with a hand held like an NGraver?  You obviously have the necessary skills and talent to do it, and the shading and nuances should/would be better, not?

William, how about posting a picture of your heel cutting jig. I've had several inquiries about how I built mine, and I'm sure other people would like to see how you built yours. It would make a good BHO topic! 

Mike, I've never had any hand engravers, except for a couple of pearl hand engravers that I bought from Stew Mac several years ago. I can't afford one of those powered engravers that you mentioned. I have looked them up before on the internet. I use the Dremel because that is what I am used to using. I have looked up engraving schools before, but I don't have the time or means to take off from my job. Maybe someday... ! 

Marvin
Took pictures but can't download on to site. Im trying to get help. Using a mac powerbook.
Bill

More work completed in the past few days...

I engraved the flange and the tension hoop. I glued my photo-copied patterns to the tension hoop. I used a brad point drill bit in the drill press to "engrave" the pattern onto the hoop. I then used a hand engraving tool to finish the engraving on the flange and hoop. BTW, this took many hours! There are aprox. 670 engraving "marks" in the flange and tension hoop, and it took three to four gouges with the tool to get the depth that I wanted. My finger joints and wrists hurt!

I skipped some steps in taking pictures of the neck, but here is a picture of the neck blank as it is tonight. 

MZ-031	MZ-032	MZ-033	MZ-034
MZ-035	MZ-036	MZ-037

Edited by - BNJOMAKR on 10/01/2011 17:56:37

Beautiful work!

Nice work!  I never would have thought that a drill press can be effectively used as an engraving tool.

I have been busy with other things, but have gotten a little progress made. I shaped up the neck and installed the neck binding. I have the heel cap glued and is drying as I type. See the pictures below!

MZ-038	MZ-039	MZ-040	MZ-041
MZ-042	MZ-043	MZ-044	MZ-045

I have the heel cap trimmed and shaped as seen in the first picture below. I'm thinking about carving the heel like the drawing in the second picture, if I don't change my mind!

MZ-046

MZ-047

 The heel was a bit long, so I shortened it a 1/4'' with a coping saw and reshaped it. I redrew a similar design and carved it with a dremel tool. It will get further sanding at a later date.

MZ-048

Edited by - BNJOMAKR on 10/16/2011 12:50:58

Sweet! My dremel won't do that no matter how hard I try. 

Wow I am also amazed at the craftmanship on this banjo. I recently went to india and puchased a mandolin banjo but am a banjoman by heart so I decided to re-string it like a banjo to keep practicing up while i traveled. I really enjoy the sound and portability and still use it when i am on the go and dont have enough room for a full size banjo. I used the mandolin because I found that when I was shopping for a small banjo the shops usually had vintage mandolin banjos for around 100 bucks because there is not much of a market for them even though there are vintage and beautiful. My mandolin banjos are weyman and sons and from the early 1900s they both have rings of wood with a metal cover which makes it heavy and gives it that special twang and tinny sound I want in my banjos. I am excited to see the finished product....

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Originally posted by bluegrassmoker

 I am excited to see the finished product....

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 Do a search in this forum for BNJOMAKR and check out the threads on some other mini banjos Mr. Walker has built. It's fascinating reading with great pictures. You'll be amazed by these beautiful little banjos. And they sound amazing also.

Thanks for all the comments! I hope to get to work some more Saturday morning. I'm going to see the Little Roy and Lizzy Show tomorrow night, and have to play in a church on Saturday night, and another church Sunday morning, and attend my niece's baby dedication at another church... WHEW!!!!