ken61 - Posted - 01/24/2012:  12:55:25

Here is a typical pot assembly . This rim is maple block type. It is a clear remo head.

The resonators are nearly finished and when the neck cut has been made, we will add those to each pot and all will be ready for the necks.

I should have a neck on this one soon and will be playing it. We will need a sound clip posted.

ken

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/24/2012:  15:06:20

Ken

If it sounds as good as it looks, you and all who hear it will be very impressed!  

ken61 - Posted - 01/25/2012:  05:42:12

We all hope so.

These four banjos will be on display at Woodworkers Showcase in Saratoga Springs New York on

March 31 and April 1.  At this same venue and date, Totally Turning, a woodturning symposium will be held.

nwawoodworkingshow.org&...bsp;  and      totallyturning.com.

These two events are sponsored by the woodworking club to which we all four belong---the Northeastern Woodworkers Association (NWA).

I should disclose, I am the general Chairman of this Woodworking Show.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 01/26/2012:  05:18:16

Well, my original desire was to show all I could about this process for the benefit of those who might wish to follow or at least use parts of the process.  That means I need to show the GOOD, THE BAD, and the UGLY.

Yesterday I set about to cut the neck notch in the resonator rim.  I decided where it would be located, laid out a pattern from the Stewmac plan, and noticed that the bubinga segmented rim on top of the resonator had opened up at two joints 180 degrees apart.  One right next to the notch, and one 180 degrees to the rear.

Now, joints opening in segmented forms is not unheard of, and one must assume that every segmented form will fail someday due to wood movement, but this did surprise me .  My guess is one of the layers --the back--the first ring, or the bubinga ring had a different moisture content than the others. 

BTW:  Harbor Freight has a wonderful moisture meter for about $12.  See Pic  If you get one of these, you need to use it.  I did not, just made an assumption all were of the same moisture content.  Not to smart.

Anyway, the fix was easy.  Flood the crack with thin CA glue and sand while the glue is wet.  This makes a slurry which fills the crack and makes it disappear.  Did this to both crack with success.

Anyway , In the interest of full disclosure , you should see everything that happens.

ken

Edited by - ken61 on 01/26/2012 05:20:44

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/26/2012:  06:37:41

If you never have anything need to be corrected you will never find out just how good you are.  Good recovery. 

pastor99 - Posted - 01/26/2012:  06:50:02

The more mistakes that need to be corrected that you show, the closer you'll be coming to my world ... and you're continuing to teach me some really neat things ... AND I'm a really old dog.

Thanks again!

ken61 - Posted - 01/27/2012:  13:14:08

Well, I know it is a simple thing, but some folks may never have seen binding added to a fretboard side before.  So, here we go.

The binding is FMQ B8  white .01 /black .01 / white .04  1/4 inch high and it is  .060 inch thick total.  The numbers after the colors indicate the thickness of the layers.  They all add up to .06 inches.

I cut it to just over length by about 3/4 inch.  Used Duco Cement to glue it on.  I placed lots of Masking tape on the bottom of the fretboard, then placed a good layer of cement on the edge , laid the binding on and closed the tape over the fretboard pulling tight to hold the binding down flat and tight.

The binding was oriented with the white .01 against the fretboard then black, then white .04 to the outside.

The binding is kind of centered on the fretboard since the fretboard is 3/16 inch and the binding is 1/4 inch.  So, I glued it on with some binding above the top and below the bottom of the fretboard. 

This way I can trim it off  flush top and bottom.  This is done by ""scraping"" with a razor blade from a razor knife.

I did the easy side first, the straight side of the fretboard.  The other side is curved due to the fifth tuner.  This piece of binding will be heated to soften it, formed to the curve, allowed to cool, then applied the same way.

Don't  get flames near the binding, it burns quite well and will surprise you how well.

In fact, some binding was celluloid and is no longer sold by FQM or Stewmac because it is a hasmat problem for this reason.

We actually wanted the grained binding which is the celluloid and we cannot get it.

When this is dry, I will cut it to length FIRST, then SCRAPE it.  If you don't cut it to length first, you will likely catch the end on something and pull it off ---^%*^$ &*%%   $$#@   If you see what I mean.

When you glue on the other side, be sure to orient the white .01 to the fretboard also.  It is easy to forget and have it backwards.   #@$@%  &^&@%$--

You can get Duco Cement on amazon .com.  GREENE TUBE

ken

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 01/27/2012:  15:29:12

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken61

Well, I know it is a simple thing, but some folks may never have seen binding added to a fretboard side before.  So, here we go.

 

The binding is FMQ B8  white .01 /black .01 / white .04  1/4 inch high and it is  .060 inch thick total.  The numbers after the colors indicate the thickness of the layers.  They all add up to .06 inches.

 

I cut it to just over length by about 3/4 inch.  Used Duco Cement to glue it on.  I placed lots of Masking tape on the bottom of the fretboard, then placed a good layer of cement on the edge , laid the binding on and closed the tape over the fretboard pulling tight to hold the binding down flat and tight.

The binding was oriented with the white .01 against the fretboard then black, then white .04 to the outside.

The binding is kind of centered on the fretboard since the fretboard is 3/16 inch and the binding is 1/4 inch.  So, I glued it on with some binding above the top and below the bottom of the fretboard. 

This way I can trim it off  flush top and bottom.  This is done by ""scraping"" with a razor blade from a razor knife.

I did the easy side first, the straight side of the fretboard.  The other side is curved due to the fifth tuner.  This piece of binding will be heated to soften it, formed to the curve, allowed to cool, then applied the same way.

Don't  get flames near the binding, it burns quite well and will surprise you how well.

In fact, some binding was celluloid and is no longer sold by FQM or Stewmac because it is a hasmat problem for this reason.

We actually wanted the grained binding which is the celluloid and we cannot get it.

 

When this is dry, I will cut it to length FIRST, then SCRAPE it.  If you don't cut it to length first, you will likely catch the end on something and pull it off ---^%*^$ &*%%   $$#@   If you see what I mean.

 

When you glue on the other side, be sure to orient the white .01 to the fretboard also.  It is easy to forget and have it backwards.   #@$@%  &^&@%$--

 

You can get Duco Cement on amazon .com.  GREENE TUBE

ken

 

 

---

 Ken,

 I asked FQMS where they got their's before, and it was Axiom.   Axiom has it, but they want a $25 hazmat surcharge for shipping it. Grizzly, also, shows the grained ivorid binding. 

I hope this helps!

Marvin

Edited by - BNJOMAKR on 01/27/2012 15:30:22

ken61 - Posted - 01/27/2012:  16:31:11

Thank you!  I hope your surgery went well and you are on the road to recovery!

We purchased tuners with off white knobs and wanted to compliment them with similar binding. 

Might be easier to change the knobs.  Thanks for the info.  Stay well.

ken

Edited by - ken61 on 01/27/2012 16:31:43

ken61 - Posted - 01/30/2012:  05:20:52

The Thought occurs to me there may be people who have never worked with binding and who might like to see the tools needed and what it looks like BEFORE it is scraped clean and pretty.

The first pic shows the tools,  The heat gun for heating the binding where you need to make a curve at the fifth string position, a pair of nail clippers to remove the bit of binding which extends beyond the fretboard--These work nicely because they place equal pressure on both sides of the cut .  If you try to cut off the binding which extends beyond the fretboard with a knife etc, you may tear the end from the fretboard.  A file to file the end flush to the ends of the fretboard.  File toward the fretboard not away from it or you will tear the binding from the fretboard.  Then a box cutter blade to scrape the messy glue and excess binding  away.

The second pic is of the back of the fretboard after the tape has been removed.  It loaded with excess glue dried and hard. 

The third pic is of the fretboard showing how the binding is above the top of the fretboard and needs to be scraped down flush.  This is the way it is on both sides.  It needs to be scraped doun flush with the top and bottom of the FB, and all the glue needs to be scraped off also.

Hope this helps some.

ken

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/30/2012:  06:13:35

Ken

Thanks for the photos, can we see photos of the finished "scraped clean and pretty" binding?

Dave

ken61 - Posted - 01/30/2012:  07:04:03

Dave

Clean and pretty !  Three pics--two of the top of the fretboard and one of the bottom.

Next step is to get the tension rod into the neck and glue on the fretboard, then add frets.

ken

Dave1climber - Posted - 01/30/2012:  08:26:38

Ken

Please don't think that I am being picky, but it looks like there may be "stuff" in some of the fret slots.  Could cause a problem installing frets.

Otherwise "Clean and pretty"

Dave

ken61 - Posted - 01/30/2012:  08:43:54

Dave

Picky is quite ok with me.

The white material in the fret slots is small pieces of binding just not brushed away.

HOWEVER, I was not happy with the two fretboards I received.  I had to painstakingly clean out the slots.  They were filled with fuzzy rosewood and I did not think they were cut quite right.  I am almost sorry to have used them and not returned them for replacement.

I have glued this one on the neck.  I hope I do not need to remove it as I will be quite annoyed.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 01/30/2012:  20:10:20

Ok

Here is the neck with the truss rod in the slot. The electrical nuts (orange at the truss rod threaded lugs and yellow along the length in to spots) show where a small dab of RTV has been applied.

The next pic is the neck with a piece of tape over the truss rod. Glue was applied to the surface of the neck and then the tape was removed. This tape keeps the glue (titebond I from getting into the truss rod slot. Some glue was placed on the back of the fretboard and the fretboard was glued onto the neck surface. (The tape was removed )

Lots of clamps, but the best thing I found was electrical tape (the stretchy black kind). Use the tape then the clamps.

When it dried, the tape and clamps were removed and everything was sanded.

Then the dots were placed into the binding at the 3-5 10-12,15 and 17 frtes. Two dots at the 12th fret. Check the placement here BEFORE YOU DRILL THE HOLES AND PLACE THE DOTS. It is easy to get a dot in the wrong position. I have heard of people doing this--Not me , of course! :) :)
CHECK CAREFULLY!

I will show pics of the finished fretboard and the dots later.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 01/31/2012:  17:36:30

Well, the neck has been prepared for dying!

I purchased the dyes from Stewmac red mahogany Orange and yellow. Tried them and did not care for the result.

SOOOOO! I went out on my own. First, BLACK Ink Jet Printer ink diluted with alcohol. Allow to dry, sand back a bit, then blue green ink airbrushed on.

I like it --there will likely be no other like it. --The pics tell the tale. It is not yet dry. Still some sanding to do and then a satin finish---????? not sure what.

Thought you would like to see it !

ken

aeroweenie - Posted - 01/31/2012:  18:21:18

A blue-green banjo?  I wouldn't have thought I would like it - but I do, it works!  I'll be watching to see how it looks after finishing.

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 02/01/2012:  04:21:13

When this is finished, and you're playing it, you can tell everybody, "I pick my grass a little but green!"   

ken61 - Posted - 02/01/2012:  05:11:03

I should say, going out this far is not something I recommend for your first banjo, but I wanted something different that would stand out.  I really liked the Bishline Midnight Moon, and this was the motivation to go in this direction.

I still have some sanding to do to lighten it up a bit.  The finish will usually make things stand out a bit.

Maybe it WILL play  green/bluegrass !

I will keep you posted !

ken

Dave1climber - Posted - 02/01/2012:  06:00:10

Ken

I can hardly wait to see the finished product, I am sure that it will be stunning.    

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 02/01/2012:  06:42:26

quote:

---

Originally posted by BNJOMAKR

When this is finished, and you're playing it, you can tell everybody, "I pick my grass a little but green!"   

---

 OOPS! Typo... should have been, "I pick my grass a little bit green!"  Sorry!!!  

ken61 - Posted - 02/01/2012:  08:28:37

I can almost hear the music !   It is getting close to the time of fretting .  Here is how I put frets on the fretboard.

Fret wire is purchased in 1 foot lengths.  I use "medium"  .

The pic shows the tools I use.  Pair of nippers and a file.  I also use a dremel tool with a brown 3/4 inch diameter stone wheel in it.  More about this later.

I clean out the fret slots on the fretboard.  Then I cut the fret wire about 1/4 inch long for each fret and lay each on the fretboard where it will go.  Use nippers.

Each fret must be prepared as in the second pic.  Basically the fret is a round top wite with a tang which goes down into the slot of the fretboard.  The tang has little diamond bumps on it to help hold it in the slot.  More on this later.

The binding is on the fretboard and therefore the tang must ne removed from the fretwire in the place where the fretwire passes over the binding.  Some do this differently.  Gibson, I think does it differently.

So, I use the nippers to remove the tang from one end of  each fretwire.  Then I use the wheel on the Dremel to smooth the remaining portion of the tang to right up close to the bottom of the round portion of the fretwire.

I then use the file to slope the end of the fretwire down at about 45 degrees on this one end.  This is rough, as it will be final shaped later after installation.

Now with one end done, I carefully measure how long this fret needs to be --add just a "smidge"  (smidge is a technical term for about 1/16 or little less)  and cut the remainder off with the nipper. 

Remove the tang, use the dremel, and the fret is ready to install.

I place the neck in a sturdy support(cushioned) and place the fret with the tang down into the slot, place a piece of  something straight and hard over the fret, and whack it with a hammer.  Usually one sharp hit will do it.  Maybe two.

When all frets are in, I  run thin CA glue along each edge of each fret--not much --just a little and allow it to wick along the fret side.. 

Then , I file each end to a nice smooth angle off the binding.

Ok, You should practice this on some practice fretboard before you try your newly build MASTERPIECE BANJO.

It is NOT Difficult !  Go slowly !

If you put frets on a fretboard which is not on a banjo, the fretboard will arch backwards as each fret tang widens the slot.  Not that I've done this, but I have heard of people doing this.

ken

Shawn Hoover - Posted - 02/01/2012:  08:49:05

Keep on it, Ken! I enjoy your detailed process and sense of humor about everything.

Quickstep192 - Posted - 02/01/2012:  18:16:02

Here's a blue green combo that I think is just the cat's pajamas.

ken61 - Posted - 02/02/2012:  15:23:39

Cross that bridge when you get to it !  We we got to it!  It time to make a bridge for the banjo.

Let's see, there are some things I need to say  before   I get going.  

This is a topic of great emotion and opinion and I am not trying to enter that arena. 

Some people like Standard generic bridges selling for $4.00 and some people like higher end bridges costing $25 or more dollars each.  I make 5 or 6 at a time and try them all then pick the one I like best on a given banjo.

There is much theory, much opinion, and much magic in bridge design and construction.  I do not present to know any of it.   I don't even know why I make then as they are relatively inexpensive, but I like doing it.

I like to make bridges from hard maple with as many parallel growth rings as possible running side to side (see pic).  I place an ebony or rosewood cap in the maple with the grain running parallel to the maple grain.  They have three feet.  They are of slightly different designs, but nothing out of the ordinary.

First pic is of the maple board I found and save for bridges.  I slice off a piece about 1/4 inch thick, then cut it roughly in half.  I glue the ebony or rosewood on the edge of the entire piece.  Chop it into bridge length pieces, and then  drill, scrollsaw, bandsaw, and sand to a finished form.  There is no magic here.  I sand the final form until the mass is under 3 grams.   One thing --small changes in mass do make a difference.

Sometimes if I reject a bridge as not sounding too good, I will sand it down a little and try it again.  Sometimes I like the change, sometimes not.     I have been known to burn some of my bridges!! :) :)

I burn my name as the logo which faces forward on the banjo

I mark the string spacing and use a very fine saw to make string depressions in the right places.

They work just fine or I burn them.

ken61 - Posted - 02/04/2012:  11:59:57

The ebony has been glued on to the maple and the strip has been sanded flat in a thickness sander.  The full strip is about 2 feet long.

Then it is cut to lengths slightly longer than a bridge as you can see in the pic.

A bridge profile will be traced onto the short pieces and the scrollsaw and sander will do the rest.  Maybe a dremel tool will get used also.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/05/2012:  06:43:09

Update on the finish!

Finishes are like bridges on banjos, everyone has an opinion and a certain look they tend towards.  I make no claims here , just that I finish many woodturnings with lacquer (nitrocellulose) and many with polyurethane. 

Polyurethane is a tough hard finish which can be brought to a satin or high gloss luster.   It is similar in overall look to that on many banjos even though that which is used is clearcoat or catalysed lacquer.

I spray on about five coats LIGHTLY.  Allowing these to dry , then sand 400 grit and spray on another five coats. Then sand LIGHTLY 600.  Then I spray individual coats or two checking carefully looking for the final best finish.

THEN the secret formula.  Crest MINT toothpaste in a water slurry with a paper towel.  Rinse in the sink to remove the toothpaste and dry.  Water will run off like the finish on a new car.  SMELLS minty also! :) :)

If you want SATIN finish, the the last few coats sprayed should be satin POLY.

Here are the pics:

I should say there was some airbrushing done to enhance the peghead around the edge using black !  This was done after the first five coats.

ken61 - Posted - 02/05/2012:  06:46:26

Just a few more of the resonator back.  The bubinga on the neck and on the resonator rim was sanded to make it show more of its true color and the walls of the resonator inside and outside below the bubinga rim were airbrushed with a light coat of black .

I will try to get photos of these areas up soon.

Edited by - ken61 on 02/05/2012 06:47:42

Dave1climber - Posted - 02/05/2012:  08:15:54

Ken

You don't need any inlays. they would only take away from your finishing.

ken61 - Posted - 02/05/2012:  10:26:25

Ah !  NUTS

Plastic, Corion, or BONE  !

BONE for me.

The large white rectangular piece is Corion, the smaller rectangular piece is BONE and it was twice as long before I cut it in half and made the nut you see with the rounded top.

If you never made one before, practice on Corion--you can usually find a piece or get one from a countertop place.

I don't like plastic-but it works.

A bone piece will usually cost about $6 for a piece big enough to make 2 NUTS.

You can process you own bone from the butcher, but I is a chore!  No thanks.  One of our builders is trying that.

Make sure the neck at the upper end of the fretboard is prepared carefully.  Flat on the bottom, and about 1/4 inch wide with upper side parallel to the end of the fretboard.   Take the time to do this right.

I simply sand the Bone to shape SLOWLY checking OFTEN for the correct fit.  There is no magic, just keep checking and get it right.

I glue the nut in with a TINY (really TINY) dab of duco cement .  One on the bottom each side and one against the fretboard end.  The strings hold the nut in place and very little glue is needed.  Actually you want too little glue because you want the nut to easily fall out of place with a tap of a hammer and a small wooden block without damaging the neck or fretboard.  So  TINY drop --on the end of a toothpick  3 of these one on each side bottom and one against the fretboard.

ken61 - Posted - 02/06/2012:  10:17:52

I have been thinking the same thing  ---no inlay or maybe just simple pearl dots--small ones.

Glad you mentioned this.

thanks

ken

Quickstep192 - Posted - 02/06/2012:  10:22:43

quote:

---

Originally posted by ken61

I have been thinking the same thing  ---no inlay or maybe just simple pearl dots--small ones.

 

Glad you mentioned this.

 

thanks

 

ken

---

You're killing me !!! :)

That finish job is crying out for some turquoise or paua!!!

Yeah, it doesn't NEED it, but no banjo NEEDS it.

(can ya tell I'm an inlay nut?)

ken61 - Posted - 02/06/2012:  14:08:47

Ok !  I admitt it.  I am a wood guy !  I would likely do anything not to have to cut inlay since I really have never done it before. 

I believe in the future I will bind all necks and resonators with wood not plastic.  I can do wood, not plastic and not pearl or abalone.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/06/2012:  14:15:33

OK, Here is my design for the neck inlay which I was seriously considering using.

It is a vine like deal running the full length of the fretboard.

Maybe pearl, maybe green abalone! ?????

ken

Quickstep192 - Posted - 02/06/2012:  17:37:41

Now we're talking!!!!

Ken, I'm a wood guy too. Although I love inlay and did the inlaying myself (much like marquetry), I have to confess, although I made a few, most of the shell inlay I used was from Andy DePaule. There's a lot of selection and his prices are such that I'd spend just as much hacking on shell on my own.
Unlike your vine, I only had one piece of inlay that spanned two frets and had to be slotted for the fret wire. I lost a gallon of sweat when it came time to fret that slot for fear of breaking the shell.

ken61 - Posted - 02/09/2012:  10:04:02

Here is the finished NUT of BONE

It may need adjustment of height later.

Anything taken off will be from the bottom.  It has been fitted perfectly into the prepared area at the end of the fretboard.

The other pics are of the file I use.  It is from a set of very small files from Radio Shack I believe .

The pics with the NUT give you scale.

ken

Edited by - ken61 on 02/09/2012 10:05:37

ken61 - Posted - 02/12/2012:  05:57:24

Where we four are in the process:

We meet today again to resume the process of building four banjos.
One of our members is in Florida and we all took two weeks of

All four block rims are done and the pots have been assembled to be sure things fit.
We have placed a neck on each of two pots and the maker has been able to play the pot for about 2 weeks.
The neck will move to the third pot today for use by the owner for about two weeks.

All Resonators have been glued up and one is completed. The other three are near completion and two more will likely be done today.

Only one Mine the blue green one has been dyed and had some finish put on it. Still a ways to go.

Only one neck the green one pictured above has been 95 percent completed.

Bridge material has been glued up and they will be underway today.

We have all the hardware now and my prediction of about $600 each was pretty close reasonable and pretty close.

There is a HUGE woodworking show and woodturning symposium March 31 and April 1 sponsored by our club and we intend to have these banjos on display at that Show.

Woodworkers Showcase and Totally Turning in Saratoga Springs NY is a terrific event. If you live within distance, come join us--4000 others will. I should disclose I am the general Chairman of Woodworkers Showcase and the above is a shameless advertisement. Forgive me.

Most of the pics which I have posted are of My banjo as it was the one out in front in production. This was needed as the others have never seen a banjo produced and I wanted mine to be an example of what we were going to do.

Now, because the others have produced parts of their banjos, I will surely post pics of these as well.

We are having a great time doing this project and I hope the postings have been helpful to others !

If you have even thought of doing this , I highly recommend it .

Feedback on what was helpful or not and on anything else that might be helpful is welcome for sure.
We place no egos in our banjos, so even criticism is welcome--friendly criticism, of course.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/13/2012:  04:49:32

Ok, It was a big day yesterday.  One of our members still in Fla.

First pic is of Rich filing the half hole in the tone ring.  As stated before we were NOT happy with these tone rings.  We realize they were not pre-war, but these were bent, in several places.  They came from Ant Hill Music .  I believe Dan contacted them.  Dan is in Fla, so we do not yet know their response.

Another Resonator was completed yesterday.  Curly maple and birch walls in segmented style.

Another pic of the wall segmentation.  Again these are FIRST attempts for the guys so the segmentation is quite ordinary.  You can get quite ornamental with a segmented form.

ken61 - Posted - 02/13/2012:  04:51:41

More pics of the resonator inside

The resonator wall

The resonator wall

ken61 - Posted - 02/13/2012:  04:55:05

Just some random pics of yesterday's work

Gluing ears on the neck--This neck is ready to be roughed out on the bandsaw

Using a dremel to cut the depression for access to the truss rod end.

ken61 - Posted - 02/19/2012:  16:36:02

Well, more progress today !

Here you see Peter cutting the resonator for the neck heel.

The cut was made with a coping saw and the touchup is being done with a dremel.

This resonator is now finished.

Next two pics are of Rich power sanding the resonator back

Then a pic of the Mahogany and maple back.  This resonator is now finished.

We now have four rims finished, three resonators finished and one nearly finished.

One neck is pretty much done and one is started.  We are adding an evening a week to our building schedule so as to have them ready for the show March 31 and April 1.

We have decided to forgo cutting pearl and just buy precut and inlay it ourselves as time is getting short.

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/19/2012:  16:38:14

There is much hand sanding of a resonator back

Here is a look at the jig to drill Coordinator rod holes in the rim in action.

ken61 - Posted - 02/21/2012:  05:13:38

Well, this little journey is soon coming to a close. I surly hope some of the readers learned a few things, or at least enjoyed reading the posts.

We are now discussing the inlay options. Unfortunantly , we are woodworkers and not inlay artists, so we are looking to keep things simple. I have abandoned my desire to do a vine theme on my fretboard. Rich wants a western theme, and peter wants it simple but done in ivory.
Dan is still in Florida and we are not sure of his intended direction with regard to inlay.

For the most part, it will be neck sculpting, inlay , apply the fretboard, profile the heel, add bolts, add frets, and apply the finish. (Maybe also peghead veneer) Gee, maybe this will only go on for another year with all that to do.

We have a deadline of March 30 ! It MUST be done. Anyway , I think I mentioned it before , we are adding a weeknight to our schedule to "git er Done!" :)

Everyone , except me , has decided to place a natural finish on the entire banjo.

I must say they look sharp for first time banjos !

ken

pastor99 - Posted - 02/21/2012:  07:06:26

I hope you keep posting those final steps. Thanks again.

ken61 - Posted - 02/21/2012:  11:22:38

Absolutely!  We are good to go to the end when I will post pics of the finished four banjos and the four makers!

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/22/2012:  05:23:13

Here is my rig for drilling the lag bolt holes in the heel.

You can see my drill press table swung out of the way The rig is in two parts. A base to simply raise it up and the rig to hold the neck vertical.

The rig is a base plate of plywood, a vertical backing board at 90 degrees to the base, and another piece glued on to the vertical piece which is also vertical. The straight edge of the fretboard goes along this edge so that the neck is held vertical. The neck is clamped by a neck wheel (actually a neck half wheel shown below. You make one wheel and split it and you have two neck half wheels. Groove the edge along the diameter and line them with foam and they are great in many ways when messing with banjos or even those other stringed instruments.

Anyway a clamp holds it all straight in the vertical. Sorry I did not take a pic as I was actually drilling, so this neck is stages and it already has the lag bolts installed.

Ok, I said I would tell all even the ugly. So here is some ugly!

All coordinator rods do NOT take the same lag bolts. The size of the threaded portion of the lag bolt is NOT the same on all and the thread pitch is not the same. I just ruined a set of coordinator rods by threading them onto lag screws of the wrong dimension. DUH ! It is easy to do--trust me.

Advice: Dry test the fit of the threads on the lag bolts and the coordinator rods before installing. They should thread very easily. Mine were a LITTTLE hard to thread as they stripped out the inside threads on the coordinator rods.

I have come across at least three different sizes. Check carefully and keep different sizes separated and marked for reference.

Anyway , I am sure there are other rigs out there for doing this ! This is just my idea and I may have borrowed heavily from others I have seen. A thread on making rigs for various operatiuons would be a good thing here on BHO. Everyone could show their rigs and explain them.

Sharing info is a good thing !

ken

ken61 - Posted - 02/22/2012:  05:24:00

Here is the neck half circle

ken61 - Posted - 02/23/2012:  08:11:29

Drilling for the fifth string tuner.

Of course there is a rig to hild the neck steady and to hold the fretboard at 90 degrees to the drill press table thus parallel to the drill.

You can see the rig in the pics.  Notice the two dowels in the rig.  The straight edge of the neck sets on these two dowels with the fretboard up against the rig whose face is 90 degrees to the table.  Masking tape holds the neck on the rig.  There is very little pressure.

Notice the high tech depth gauge on the drill set to 1/2 inch depth.  (masking tape.)

Notice also the rig has a groove to allow for the fifth string nut to clear.

The reamer in the picture is made from a standard reamer ground off at the correct place.

Please note --not all fifth string tuners are the same so make sure your reamer is correct for your tuner.

The frill used here was 21/64ths and the hole went down 1/2 inch.   The hole is just under the fretboard.  If you looked into the hole , you would see the bottom of the fretboard at the top of the hole.

Be sure to take the knob of the tuner and place a socket oner the stem and gently hammer it it snugly.  GENTLY.

The nut has been applied as described in previous posts. 

We meet tonite to continue the  project !

ken

Quickstep192 - Posted - 02/23/2012:  08:19:59

Ken,

I can't believe you used a twist drill so close to the neck/fretboard joint. I used a forstner bit and was sweating bullets!

I would really love it if you'd put together a photo album of all the jigs you guys have made!