andyboyman - Posted - 03/01/2011:  06:25:06

Hello

I have a tackhead minstrel style banjo that I built a few years back and I'm really getting tired of the thing being unplayable when the humidity is high because there is no way to tighten up the head. I was wondering what I could do to make the head tension adjustable. The pot is an irregular size since I built it so a standard hoop will not likely fit on it. It is also not perfectly round. I was thinking of possibly making some sort of tension hoop, but I'm not sure what to make it out of. I do have a bunch of tension hooks lying around, but I'm just not sure on the hoop part.

fuzzyacg - Posted - 03/01/2011:  07:47:48

You could bend and solder your own tension hoop out of any kind of metal. Copper or soft brass would be easiest. Just shape it to fit your rim. Or if you know the dia take it to any fabrication shop and they can roll it into any diameter. What size is it? I have a piece of 1/8x1/2" steel that's bent to 10" dia and overlaps but isn't welded. You can make the flesh hoop the same way with bare copper wire. Just wrap it around your rim and then solder the ends together. You don't even need to solder if your not able.

Jonnycake White - Posted - 03/01/2011:  09:11:15

Hoops are easy, hooks are easy, it's the brackets (AKA lugs or shoes) that are the hard part. Do you have those? There are ways to make these if you have some metal working tools and skills. Rudy (Randy Cordle) recently posted a discussion on making shoes from brass bar stock. Another alternative would be to bend then from thick sheet brass in the manner of the Boucher banjos. James Hartel has some clear pictures on his website of this type of bracket: minstrelbanjo.com/

Also check out the banjo sightings database banjodatabase.org/Browse3d.asp

Edited by - Jonnycake White on 03/01/2011 09:17:35

mike gregory - Posted - 03/01/2011:  10:04:06

If you're not ashamed to have it look "different", you can improvise shoes out of small screw eyes (left pic), or eyebolts, or, for something slightly more expensive, grounding lugs from the electrical aisle(right pic).
in both of these pics, the tension hoop is just plain old aluminum stock from the hardware store.
I bent it around a plywood circle, and drilled through the overlap while it was still on the plywood.
A temporary twist of wire through the hole, test that it fits the rim, and THEN cut off the excess. Much easier that way.
Then a single aluminum rivet, from the inside so it's smoother in there, less chance of snagging the head.
Before pounding down the rivet, maybe a dab of epoxy. Whammity slam, all done, and set it aside to dry.

These were drum heads, but if you're going with re-using your tack head, the "flesh hoop" that the tension hoop pulls down on, can be any kind of heavy wire. Check the closet for a hefty coat hanger.

Salad Bowl, Plan B

Bike spokes for bracket hooks.

mike gregory - Posted - 03/01/2011:  10:12:34

Grounding lugs.
Kinda look like bracket shoes, don't they????
Just toss those little setscrews.

rudy - Posted - 03/01/2011:  11:20:32

andyboyman,
Here's an internal tensioner that I made up to use on a skin head frame drum. Just bend a simple loop of aluminum to fit fairly close to the ID of your banjo rim. Eight or ten of these should do nicely. They are easy to make and the nut within the notch on the block means you don't even have to tap anything. I made them from whatever I had lying around, so allen setscrews could be used so there would be no protruding screw below the bracket.

Edited by - rudy on 03/01/2011 11:22:29

mojo_monk - Posted - 03/01/2011:  11:21:05

What about something like this?:


-Sean

mojo_monk - Posted - 03/01/2011:  11:21:40

Wow. Great minds think alike, I guess


-Sean

steve j. - Posted - 03/01/2011:  12:35:16

If you want to try something else first ,, let me suggest this , worked for me.
Dry your skin head , strings off w/ a hairdryer, too much can shrink it & pull it out of the tacks though,, when its dry, immediately rub a large amount of mink oil paste{you can get it at walmart} shoe protector.
rub it in good, and leave the excess on skin til the next day.
wipe off excess, I did this and now my skin head seems to not soak up moisture, I suppose the pores are full, and there is no place for moisture. YMMV, but you may want to try this easy way first before tensioning. It works on the gulf coast & our humidity is unreal
Steve

andyboyman - Posted - 03/01/2011:  14:19:34

Thanks Everybody! I think I'm going to try Steve J's suggestion before doing anything too radical. I like the internal tensioning idea, so that might be my second choice. I will let you all know what works out. The humidity in central MO is also pretty unreal.

John Herrington - Posted - 03/11/2011:  12:59:54

Great suggestions...one other though...if humidity is the problem (and it is) why not move to wonderful Wyoming and never have to worry about it! ;) Plenty of room, hot dry summers, cold dry winters...Bring your banjo and we'll play "Bile them cabbage down," or whatever turns you own.

Old John on the Big Horn

rcmoore - Posted - 03/11/2011:  19:56:55

John, I hope that invite includes me. I live in Louisiana & if you have an extra bedroom, look for me in early July. You will only have to put with me until September. I've spent a few winters up in your part of the country, and I must tell you that I will have to move back to Louisiana and put up with the humidity through the winter. My thumb and index finger quit working when the temperature drops below 40 degrees.
Bob Moore