I’m thinking about building a banjo. Making the Pot looks a little tricky. I’m looking for tips and tricks and hopefully a way to do it without a lathe….. Anybody?
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Replies
Thing No. 1. Can't think why anyone would wanna spoil a perfectly good piece of wood to make a banjo. ;-)
Thing No. 2. Try posting over on MIMF (Musical Instrument Maker's Forum). I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice there.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Thing 1 - Because I don't have the skills to make a guitar
Thing 2 - I wanted perspective from "regular" woodworkers.
"Thing 1 - Because I don't have the skills to make a guitar"
LOL. I'm not sure the skillset is that much lower for making a banjo. And I wuz just funnin' wit ya. I love a banjo played by a talented musician. Ever hear of Jens Kruger?
"Thing 2 - I wanted perspective from "regular" woodworkers."
Instrument making often has little to do with "regular" woodworking. I'd still check out MIMF if I were you. You also might want to think about a kit if this is your first forray into lutherie. Also, give a holler to "Sphere" over on breaktime -- he's got a bunch of instrument making experience under his belt, tho' I think it's pretty much guitar-related.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
"Can't think why anyone would wanna spoil a perfectly good piece of wood to make a banjo."
Hey! You'd better watch it, or I'm gonna come over to your house with my banjo.
And I'm not very good.
-Steve
"Hey! You'd better watch it, or I'm gonna come over to your house with my banjo."
Sounds like a Knots Jam! Kewl!
I'll flatpick, My Lovely Assistant will pull standup bass duty, and I'm pretty sure I can round up a fiddler and mando player or two to boot. ;-)
And it's OK if the banjo player's no good. Kinda like bagpipes -- nobody can tell the difference between a good player and a bad one anyway. ;-)
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
There are several ways to make the pot (stacked laminations, laminated veneer, etc.). It doesn't have to be absolutely, perfectly round, but you're right, it would be a lot easier to clean up if you had a lathe.
Also, you can buy pots in various stages of finish from Stewart-MacDonald.
-Steve
Earl Scruggs wrote an instructional book back in the 60's that featured the tablature to most of his music. He also had a historical section on the development of the banjo as a uniquely American instrument and a full chapter on banjo construction, including making the pot by bent laminations. The revised edition is available for $27 or you might find the older version at your local library.
http://www.janetdavismusic.com/recbks.html
I know about the book because I own a Gibson RB-250 made in the late 60's. Can't play, loaned it to my daughter who can!
Regards,
Ron in Ottawa (Only 2 or 3 months until Spring!!)
The one purely American instrument, invented by black slaves. The originals were very long necked and had no frets. The slaves had next to nothing for tools and the heads were just tacked on like a crude drum or Irish bodhran. Goat hide will work ;-)
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
"Goat hide will work "
Gaot hide? Heresy!
It's gotta be Grooooundhooooog!
;-)
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I have eaten "Groung Chuck" (Thats what my children used to call road kill Grounghog) But Goat tastes so much better. Goat broth and barley is great stuff.Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
"Goat hide? Heresy!"
No! Goat hide Hennessy!
I've never built one, but FW did an article on building a banjo back in 1985 (http://www.taunton.com/back-issues/fw_toc_053.asp). I couldn't find the actual article online, but your local library may have a copy of that issue.
Here is what Gene was looking for. Looks like it would be fun.
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2126
There are a number of articles on this site about building guitars as well
-Chuck
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Banjo/5stAnatomy/5stanatomy1.html
Hey QS
Take a look at this site. You will have a better feel for the vocabulary of discussion and construction if you become acquainted with the little features of the banjo. I would recommend an open back for a first project to get the geometry and basics down then move on to the resonators and volume and tone balancing challenges.
dan
Just so you know, (from a Georgia bluegrass fiddle player, yanked by her roots and transplanted to New York), open-backed banjos are for vile and offensive clawhammer style banjo "playing". Playing there is a loose interpretation of the violent thrashing on the banjo strings that clawhammer is comprised of. Please, if you're going to consider going to the trouble, expense, experience whatever else of building a banjo, build one with a back and learn to play Earl Scruggs three finger style. Much more civilized and actually worth listening to.
Wow
That's an open mind. Glad you got that off your chest. Are you related to Lester Maddox??
Good Luck
Edited 2/13/2008 9:23 pm ET by danmart
"learn to play Earl Scruggs three finger style. Much more civilized and actually worth listening to."
LOL! Actually, Uncle Earl confesses to loving clawhammer style -- but because he could never master playing it, he perfected the three finger roll style. So, for The Man hisownself, fingerstyle is only second place.
That said, as noted by Ricky Scaggs, the three finger style did make Uncle Earl rich!
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
PS: Don't it suck to be a BG-er north of the Mason-Dixon?
Dan,
I tried to go to the website you listed but it didn't work. Would you try it again and help me fine the part of Frets.com that you were referring to .http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Banjo/5stAnatomy/5stanatomy1.htmlThanks,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Dan,I tried to go to the website you listed but it didn't work. Would you try it again and help me fine the part of Frets.com that you were referring to .
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Banjo/5stAnatomy/5stanatomy1.html
Thanks,Mel
Mel I tried the address again and it worked. When you open the page you need to scroll down thru the photos and on the lower right side there are numbers in blue for the continueing pages. Its a little different.
If the page doesn't open for you google anatomy of a banjo. Its pretty straight forward stuff if you are communicating with someone about features. Sometimes the local names for parts might not make sense to another picker perhaps on the west coast. I'm afraid to use clawhammer again instead of frailing. Got a tomahawk from a fiddler. But that's just an example.
dan
Dan,
Thanks for testing the website again. I just tried it again and it worked. Nice site.I have a Gibson RB250 that I bought back in 1975. It is a thing of beauty. Good thing I bought it back then. I couldn't afford it now. The idea of building one is intruiging. I looked up the article on making a wood banjo with a wood front might be a fun adventure. MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I have made three banjos, including the pots. They were made from 1/8" maple, steam bent and glued up in an internal form.The form was made from stacked layers of plywood, and the glue was Weldwood Plastic Resin glue. After the glue had set up, I turned them to size in a lathe.
They turned out well, but I think you can buy better ones.If you're making your first banjo, I would recommend that you buy one instead of making one. There are several sources, try a Google search for "music shells".
Good luck with it if you decide to do it! Musical instrument making is one of the most satisfying things I've done.
Rick W
I read or saw somewhere that a banjo maker used old brake drums as a bending form. His finished banjos sure looked purty
Ed
Roger Siminoff refers to that technique in his book, Constructing a 5-String Banjo. He says to use an 11" drum, and have it machined slightly oversized so that you can trim the pot to size after gluing it up.
It seems to me that it would be difficult to remove the finished part from the mold.
-Steve
In the Siminoff book, he tells you to drill holes in the bottom of the drum at several locations so you can punch the finished rim out of the drum. Since I have no idea where to get a brake drum that's just the right size, it seems a whole lot easier to make a form from plywood that can come apart to release the banjo pot.
Edited 2/14/2008 5:13 pm ET by Quickstep
The problem is that unlike a normal mold, a brake drum doesn't have any draft (taper), so you're pretty much guaranteed to munge the piece as you try to pry it loose.
-Steve
Yes, I think you're absolutely right about it getting damaged on the way out. The other thing he says in the book is to make it oversize so you can turn it to final size on a lathe. Since I don't have a lathe, I'm hoping to find a way to eliminate that step if at all possible.
Q, the last of the full size ford station wagons ended in '92. Both the Mercury Marquis and ford crown vic had REAR drums of 11". Get a good auto shop to give one a slight draft as they cut the drum for you.
I would really just buy a really quality pot with a brass top ring from stu-mac as it is soooo important to the tone . The rest of a banjo is basicly a bolt together instrument. Oh. you do need a resonator to get that great sound and don't buy cheap hardware. If you build that wood top thing you have a "folk banjo" and you will be makin excuses for it for six months--hang it on the wall and never look at it again. Paddy
Paddy,
I probably should buy a pre-made pot, but I've convinced myself that in order to really say I made the banjo, I have to make the pot myself.
Are you going to have to slaughter a goat, too?
-Steve
Steve and all
On thinking about the brake drum form , I believe it was on one of the DIY TV programs about Hand Made Music He did not seem to have any trouble with removal. Maybe it can be found in their archives on their website.
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