Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/05/2016:  05:22:48

I use this neck-reset jig to set the neck angle according to how high I want the bridge to be.  The jig is made of multiple laminations of wood with the laminations perpendicular to the fingerboard surface.  The jig is planed true, and the laminations should keep it true.  Here's my recipe:

1.  I remove the dowel, clean the dowel end & socket.  

2.  I clamp the neck to the jig with the nut just off the end of the jig.  This keeps all frets level with the jig surface.  I make sure that the nut and the heel end of the fingerboard are centered on the jig.

3.  I re-check the fit of the dowel into the socket and make sure that the wedge is going to fit properly (see #7 below).  Then I pour enough hot hide glue into the socket so that some will run out when the dowel is inserted.  

4.  I apply hot glue to the round end of the dowel.

5.  I insert the dowel into the socket and slide the pot onto the dowel.

6.  Leaving about 1/4" of the dowel showing outside the pot (so that I can make sure the end of the dowel is fully inserted into the socket), I loosely clamp the pot onto the jig, making sure the pot is centered on the jig.

7.  I loosen the clamp at the tailpiece end of the jig so that I can insert my calibrated wedge between the pot and the jig.  The wedge is calibrated in 1/8" increments.  The wedge determines the height of the bridge, thus determining the angle of the neck res-set.  This means that you don't have to try to set the neck at a specific angle.

8.  I hang the banjo & jig so that the neck points down.  This ensures that the glue will stay in the socket and not run out.  I let the glue set for a couple of days.

mutantmoose - Posted - 07/05/2016:  07:46:15

I'm missing something. Is there a point at which you adjust the fit of the heel to the rim ? 

Mark Ralston - Posted - 07/05/2016:  07:58:12

Mark -  in step 3, when I check how the wedge is going to work, I check the fit of the heel to the pot.  I generally don't tweak the heel unless the fit is poor.  Most of the banjos I work on are not top-end instruments........ a top-end instrument would call for more care and this neck reset method might not be appropriate.