jglo9407 - Posted - 08/01/2017:  16:22:29

Hi,

I am currently doing an internship at a high school which has several laser cutters, and I was hoping to laser cut some banjo building templates such as rim sections and neck and fingerboard templates - I have the Siminoff book at home, but i was hoping someone might have digital drawings available...

any other suggestions of useful things i could laser cut over the next few weeks?

cheers,

Joe

rudy - Posted - 08/01/2017:  17:24:15

Hi Joe,

I have rim segment guides that I've posted here as full size printable pdfs.  I do a lot of stuff in CAD and could send you a dxf export, but the reality is that patterns like this have limited usefulness as templates.  It's easier to simply trace them onto suitable template stock and cut the template out with a band saw.

banjohangout.org/archive/227938

All the other individual components of a banjo such as neck patterns, peghead shapes, etc. would also be more useful as patterns and not necessarily any better to fabricate with a laser, at least for how I choose to work.

I've seen some very cool peghead overlays done by laser cutting positive and negitive images in contrasting "thin wood" and assembled as marquetry.  That's probably the best use of a laser I could think of.

Edited by - rudy on 08/01/2017 17:30:56

jglo9407 - Posted - 08/01/2017:  17:51:39

Hey Rudy,

I was more thinking of cutting them out of clear acrylic for easy and sturdy re-usuable cutting templates - I get tired of tracing from flimsy paper traces!

rudy - Posted - 08/01/2017:  18:01:29

quote:

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Originally posted by jglo9407

Hey Rudy,

 I was more thinking of cutting them out of clear acrylic for easy and sturdy re-usuable cutting templates - I get tired of tracing from flimsy paper traces!

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Agreed.  My point was to cut one out of thin birch plywood or hardboard, and that can be done quicker and easier than setting up a laser to do it.

jglo9407 - Posted - 08/01/2017:  18:35:53

laser cutter is pretty quick, especially when you plan to do several templates for a few people, and the accuracy is a big bonus - I'll keep searching for some CAD files of neck templates and see what I can have a go at

cheers,

Joe

Stephen45710 - Posted - 08/01/2017:  19:18:32

I'd be interested in such templates. Good luck with it!

Helix - Posted - 08/02/2017:  05:21:45

HI Joe, I would be interested in having a two piece plate cut for tube and plate banjos. A left and a right. I have to buy a resonator with the kit to get those parts. We can't buy those anywhere right now, so that would be helpful. A pattern for that would be great.

Lexan or acrylic.

Joe is an intern, using a laser, so he wants to set the laser up, not cut something out of wood.

Several years ago, another builder was cutting mild steel flanges with a short shoulder, then a plate was used underneath, so it was a "flange and plate." Ideal for a laser or a pattern for such.
Don't know why Rickard stopped making them, maybe the scrap footprint was too heavy.

The brick rim patterns are useful IF one wants to make a simple but musically limited rim. My opinion is based on performance at the jams. They look good, but they don't punch. And for old time, the simplicity of those rims is great, but less voice is built in and requires more "set up"

When are you going to start printing parts, JOE? I want to print some gums, then they can print me some ME teeth.

Study hard, play hard. ( ))==='== :: }