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Entries tagged as banjo building
Thursday, January 22. 2009
I thought I'd post a few pics of another project I am currently working on. This one is going to be a fret-less gourd banjo and I have just about finished up carving the neck. The neck is out of Brazilian Mahogany with Cocobolo Rosewood overlays on both the front and back of the headstock.
The gourd came from a neighbor of my brothers, he was a 98 year old man who enjoyed woodworking for many many years. I'm not 100% sure what his real name was but everyone called him "Snooks" including his daughter who lives next door. While at his shop one day chatting about a chair he was building I noticed all these gourds up in the rafters. I asked him about them and he said that they had been up there for at least 30 years, I ask if I could have one to make a banjo out of and he said take as many as you want. So I now have a small supply for projects like this.
Unfortunately, Snooks passed away a few weeks ago, before I could finish the banjo to show him. So I take on this project in his memory and hope that he would have been happy with the outcome.
Pics: "Psst, you can click on the thumbs for a larger view"
Gourd with rough neck blank:
Gourd with nearly finished neck:
My brother runs a small
greenhouse operation and has quite the green thumb, so this next year we are saving seeds from these heirloom gourds and are going to grow some more. Hopefully after 30 years or so the seeds are still viable, my brother seems to think they will be as he mutters something about archeology and finding gourd seeds in Egyptian tombs that sprouted after thousands of years. I have my fingers crossed!
Part 2:
The next step was to use the old jointer and true up the fretboard side and the headstock. Using the jointer to make sure these surfaces are dead flat and at the correct angle to each other.
Now that the top is flat and perpendicular to the sides, I run the blank through the table saw to cut the groove that will hold the truss rod. Make sure you run it through in both directions to insure that the groove is centered! Then I take the blank to my oscillating spindle sander and true up the back side of the headstock, the rest of the back is still over sized but I will take care of this later. I also draw in the fret board shape with my templates at this time to prepare for the next step.
Now I take the blanks back to the band saw and cut off the excess, being careful to stay +1/16 or so outside the lines. This gives me a rough blank that is starting to look like a neck!
Thats it for now, stay tunned for the next episode of "The Making of a Somerset"! Will neck blank #1 finally find true love? Will neck blank #5 tell the group it's big secret? Will neck blank #2 be kicked out of the shop? You'll just have to tune in next time to find out!
Monday, January 19. 2009
I thought I would document the building process I use for making the
Somerset necks with this next batch I am currently working on. I will do this as I progress over the next week or so. The process I use is a combination of experience, research and trial and error, if you are looking to build your own necks you should be able to use many of my techniques, however some are specific to doing multiple necks at a time.
Part 1
I start with a large piece of wood, for this group it is a section of a
FAS quality Hard Maple board that was 16/4s (4 inches) by 11 inches by 8 feet long which I cut down into thirds. These are rough sawn boards that have been air tried a minimum on 2 years.
I take this beast and run it through my thickness planer and jointer to square up the edges and expose the grain.
I then cut the log down to a manageable size and remove the excess depth. I usually purchase 12/4 (3 inch) stock, but the last time I went to my hardwood supplier all they had was the thicker 16/4 (4 inch) stock.
Once I can see the grain I can begin to layout how many necks I can get out of it, being careful to avoid any imperfections in the wood. I use a laser cut acrylic template I had made specifically to my design for the Somerset necks. If you are making a neck yourself, you will want to use a template. Prior to having the acrylic templates I used a print out pasted to a piece of hardboard and then cut to size, this method works just fine for one off design, but consistency is important in a production model.
Next, I run these blanks through the band saw being careful to stay 1/8 inch or so outside of my lines. This allows me a little wiggle room as I move forward.
This process leaves me with a rough blank.
If you are interested in carving your own neck and would like a blank at this stage just contact me for a price.
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