Most of us are familiar with the etching showing another soldier playing the fiddle but I like this one by the same artist showing what was probably the only tool that was used.
I enjoyed that Titch! I use a bit more than a pocket knife usually, but I have got it to about 90% hand tools on many of my builds. Now I feel like there's a fun challenge in the air! Congrats on the prize!
Pretty cool although I think claiming to use "just a pocket knife" is a stretch. He used not one but 2 multi tools and various other tools like steel rulers and files. Also store bought tuning machines (a wise move but still kind of cheating imo) I do love the idea of making a head out of a plastic bottle, that is a very handy tip. I don't know if I'll ever get around to it but making a playable instrument with only found, reclaimed items and a "traditional" pocket folder knife as your only tool would be very much in line with the roots of these instruments.( Extra points for building it by candle light!) I think that at the very least would give one a higher appreciation for our modern conveniences and may awaken craftsman skills we were not aware of.
Tough crowd.The knife I bought was a dud - I got a better cheaper one from Kmart later that would have cut the "multitools" to one, I could have used the awl unsharpened, or used the sandpaper to sharpen it too.
Perhaps next time I just estimate where the frets should go using harmonics and my ear. 12th fret half way 5th fret quarter way and 7th fret a third of the way. After that the rest should be a doddle to do by eye an ear.
surprised you didn't take me to task over using a smart phone.
TN Twang > Titch the ClownFebruary 22, 2015 at 11:50am
Yep. Attaining "purity" is harder than it looks--and everybody's idea of propriety varies.
I'd already abandoned the idea of using my Victorinox "Swiss Army" knife because it wouldn't be fair and, besides, it won't hold a good woodworking edge (too much chrome in the blades).
I've got a 2-blade Case penknife (a gift--free to me) that I can sharpen with a sharpening stone that I found on the ground near my home. I'll miss the awl, but I believe I can make a 1/4"-ish hole for wooden tuning pins using the smaller blade if I'm patient enough and the wood is soft enough.
Putting on frets without glue had me stumped, but there's a Music Education group in Australia that makes fretboards by wrapping a single piece of thick twine round and round the neck. That might work, but then I'll have to (steal/borrow/appropriate/find) a good bit of weed-whacker twine for both frets and strings.
Measuring the frets should be possible using Pythagorean/Euclidian methods. That's why "The Rule of 18ths" is so important. It uses math that's been around for over 2000 years--instead of logarithms, which are much more recent.
Please notice that all of this is just brave talk. I've done no actual construction. It appears that any real attempt at this would be U-G-L-Y, but I'm only looking to get it to work once before I throw it all in the stove for heat.
There's a video on here somewhere of a feller making banjo heads out of "Type 1" plastic found in soda bottles. He staples them down, covers them with a retaining ring, and then tightens them with a hair dryer. I gotta' try it real soon now.
Recommend outdoors or with excellent ventilation since nobody knows what fumes the plastic may give off.
Yup, it's pete1 plastic from 2 liter soda bottles and sometimes I just staple it down. I've found larger pieces that sheet cakes from the grocery come in and hope to make a full size banjo with one of those soon. Roy Durrence has suggested scuffing the plastic with sand paper to give a more opaque look.
Replies
Most of us are familiar with the etching showing another soldier playing the fiddle but I like this one by the same artist showing what was probably the only tool that was used.
I enjoyed that Titch! I use a bit more than a pocket knife usually, but I have got it to about 90% hand tools on many of my builds. Now I feel like there's a fun challenge in the air! Congrats on the prize!
Woohoo! I got a prize!
http://www.instructables.com/contest/diyaudio2015/
Ya' made us proud!!
Pretty cool although I think claiming to use "just a pocket knife" is a stretch. He used not one but 2 multi tools and various other tools like steel rulers and files. Also store bought tuning machines (a wise move but still kind of cheating imo) I do love the idea of making a head out of a plastic bottle, that is a very handy tip. I don't know if I'll ever get around to it but making a playable instrument with only found, reclaimed items and a "traditional" pocket folder knife as your only tool would be very much in line with the roots of these instruments.( Extra points for building it by candle light!) I think that at the very least would give one a higher appreciation for our modern conveniences and may awaken craftsman skills we were not aware of.
Cheezes
Tough crowd.The knife I bought was a dud - I got a better cheaper one from Kmart later that would have cut the "multitools" to one, I could have used the awl unsharpened, or used the sandpaper to sharpen it too.
Perhaps next time I just estimate where the frets should go using harmonics and my ear. 12th fret half way 5th fret quarter way and 7th fret a third of the way. After that the rest should be a doddle to do by eye an ear.
surprised you didn't take me to task over using a smart phone.
Yep. Attaining "purity" is harder than it looks--and everybody's idea of propriety varies.
I'd already abandoned the idea of using my Victorinox "Swiss Army" knife because it wouldn't be fair and, besides, it won't hold a good woodworking edge (too much chrome in the blades).
I've got a 2-blade Case penknife (a gift--free to me) that I can sharpen with a sharpening stone that I found on the ground near my home. I'll miss the awl, but I believe I can make a 1/4"-ish hole for wooden tuning pins using the smaller blade if I'm patient enough and the wood is soft enough.
Putting on frets without glue had me stumped, but there's a Music Education group in Australia that makes fretboards by wrapping a single piece of thick twine round and round the neck. That might work, but then I'll have to (steal/borrow/appropriate/find) a good bit of weed-whacker twine for both frets and strings.
Measuring the frets should be possible using Pythagorean/Euclidian methods. That's why "The Rule of 18ths" is so important. It uses math that's been around for over 2000 years--instead of logarithms, which are much more recent.
Please notice that all of this is just brave talk. I've done no actual construction. It appears that any real attempt at this would be U-G-L-Y, but I'm only looking to get it to work once before I throw it all in the stove for heat.
There's a video on here somewhere of a feller making banjo heads out of "Type 1" plastic found in soda bottles. He staples them down, covers them with a retaining ring, and then tightens them with a hair dryer. I gotta' try it real soon now.
Recommend outdoors or with excellent ventilation since nobody knows what fumes the plastic may give off.
Yup, it's pete1 plastic from 2 liter soda bottles and sometimes I just staple it down. I've found larger pieces that sheet cakes from the grocery come in and hope to make a full size banjo with one of those soon. Roy Durrence has suggested scuffing the plastic with sand paper to give a more opaque look.
Jim Morris has done a few heat shrunk soda bottle banjos though I thought he just used tacks like I do.
The terminology is different but I think the PET we have is the same as the Type 1 bottles you have.
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