Koffe_96 - Posted - 08/20/2015:  14:28:17

Hello!

I have been doin a little project on building a homemade banjo and i have a few questions i hope

can be answered by some of the more knowledge folks :)

I'm not planning to have any metal parts really, and the concept is simulair to this mans banjo:

youtube.com/watch?v=DooXthmdITY

​With that said a very simple setup.

The thing though I'm a bit concerned about is the attatchment/stretching of the skin on the head.

What i have understood you are suppose to do is soak the skin in some water for about 30mins and then

you should be able to attatch it.

Do you folks have any tips on how to make it "stretched" enough to get a good sound and also a good way to attatch it?

What i first thought about is to use some kind of small nails and attatch it way around, any thoughts about that?

Any input would truely be appreciated so i dont do something stupid :)

Fathand - Posted - 08/20/2015:  15:17:09

Upholstery tacks into a wooden or gourd rim. Sorry, they are metal but so are nails. Look up old fashioned drums that use a wooden tension hoop tied down with rope of some sort.

bartmcneil - Posted - 08/20/2015:  15:29:02

I suspect you can do it without metal parts. A tack head would be the easiest solution and you could substitute small wooden dowels for the tacks to hold the skin. They can be shaped so that they have a head on the tack for appearance sake and holding power. While still damp you attatch the skin to the pot and the shrinking of the skin will tighten the skin dramatically and that is all you need. You might want to use a cloth of some sort between the wooden tacks and skin. I spread hide glue under where the skin meets the wooden pot for extra holding power... When dry you could probably remove the wood tacks and it would still hold but the tacks and the ribbon of colored cloth can be a decorative feature if you desire.

What you are going for is essentially a tack head without metal tacks.

You will likely have to pierce the skin with a metal tool and drill the hole for the wooden tack. But what you describe is quite doable.

Koffe_96 - Posted - 08/20/2015:  15:44:01

Thanks for the replys!

The metal part aint really written in stone and I've no problems really to include that such
as nails and such.

Mainly i just want to use what i can find at home to be said so i dont have to order anything.

Yeah i assume a tack head would do the job.
What came first in my mind after reading the replies you thought about making a wooden rim and put nails all around
and try to tighten the skin and then just put the nails in.

Might though maybe a harder task then what i imagen.

zerobanjo - Posted - 08/20/2015:  15:53:07

dickblick.com/products/richeso...QodrAgHmA

rudy - Posted - 08/20/2015:  16:05:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by Koffe_96

Hello!

I have been doin a little project on building a homemade banjo and i have a few questions i hope

can be answered by some of the more knowledge folks :)

 I'm not planning to have any metal parts really, and the concept is simulair to this mans banjo:

youtube.com/watch?v=DooXthmdITY

​With that said a very simple setup.

The thing though I'm a bit concerned about is the attatchment/stretching of the skin on the head.

What i have understood you are suppose to do is soak the skin in some water for about 30mins and then

you should be able to attatch it.

 Do you folks have any tips on how to make it "stretched" enough to get a good sound and also a good way to attatch it?

What i first thought about is to use some kind of small nails and attatch it way around, any thoughts about that?

 Any input would truely be appreciated so i dont do something stupid :)

---

You don't have to "stretch" the skin.  When you pull the slack out of a wet skin and glue/tack it to the rim it will tighten itself as it dries.  In many cases it's actually more of a problem to learn the correct amount of "slack" to incorporate to prevent the skin from becoming TOO tight as it dries and shrinks.

bartmcneil - Posted - 08/20/2015:  16:24:13

The skin is still wet while installing. Standing water is removed with a towel but it is still soaking when attached to the pot. You really only need to make sure the skin is even and without wrinkles but tugging on the skin hard isn't necessary. Let the shrinking do the stretching. Trim the excess skin with a single edged razor blade. People will instruct you to wait a day or so before playing but i did it after a couple of hours when the skin felt dry with no problem. It should be fun and will likely sound fine.



You might want to wait until you are sure it is tight enough before trimming excess skin off the edge. but the ones I have done didn't need re-stretching of the skin.... It shrinks quite a bit. You will be surprised.

Upholstery tacks come in a variety of styles and are perfect for a decorative row of tacks around the skin head.

Edited by - bartmcneil on 08/20/2015 16:30:04

cbcarlisle - Posted - 08/21/2015:  12:37:57

I have seen old mountain banjos with wooden pins. After everything is glued and has dried you can trim the pins flat if desired.

mike gregory - Posted - 08/22/2015:  10:39:08

You can TIE it on.

But, I do like the idea of little wooden pegs.

Golf tees would either be really cool, or really stupid, depending on the attitude of whomever observes the finished work of art.