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Built Me a Banjo - Sorta

I've been toying with building a Civil War Era style banjo. After a dozen CBGs and other stuff, I think it's time.

I have the pot and neck wood in hand, but decided it might be smart to build this virtually first, just to make sure it all fits together. Plus, I can take measurements off the drawing and minimize screw-ups (which are more common that I'd like to admit.)

Anyway, here are my Sketchup drawings. Obviously, the neck will get tapered and thinned. Also have to engineer the dowel, but this gets me close enough to start making some sawdust.

Hoping to post more as I progress.

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Comment by Hal Robertson on November 15, 2016 at 6:33pm: Just a quick update for anyone curious. Banjo is on temporary hold - initially due to ongoing home remodelling, but also because I don't have a ring roller for the rim and flesh hoop.

I could buy the HF version, but if this turns out to be my only banjo, can't justify the expense. Alternatively, I could build one and have a design in mind. Just haven't executed yet. My fallback is to find someone who already owns one and ask them to "teach" me.

I see the pile of parts every day in the garage. Would love to get this built before Christmas. Hopefully more soon.

Comment by Jim Morris on September 15, 2016 at 11:42pm: Nice! Looks like it'll be a good one. I've used drum shells from thrift stores in the past and sometimes can find them with hardware and head intact. Never have figured out how to make my own shoes so I end up with tack heads quite often.

Comment by Hal Robertson on September 15, 2016 at 3:14pm: Thanks Jim! Here's some updates and pix.

The pot will be made from a cheap, old import 12" drum shell. Bought it a few years back for another project that never happened. Split it half (2 banjos!), peeled off the red sparkle wrap and trimmed it to a 3" depth. It's a 6-lug drum and my shoes should cover any existing holes - at least on the outside.

The plan is to build my shoes out of oak since I don't have the time, patience or tooling needed to make them from brass. Really want to make as much of this as possible myself since I already "cheated" on the pot :-) That means I'll be attempting to turn my own tuning pegs too. Drill-powered lathe build in my near future.

Not much progress today, but I did get the fret board laid out and then trimmed the 2-degree neck angle. Next will be drilling the 5th string hole and trimming/tapering the neck...followed by more head-scratching and measuring.

Comment by Jim Morris on September 15, 2016 at 7:43am: Looking good Hal. Of course I don't have a problem with banjos here since I'm guilty of making and posting a bunch of them myself. Nice bridge! How do you plan on making the pot? That's often the biggest challenge so I usually start with something already round like a salad bowl or the bamboo steamer that I posted today. I used to drill a 5/8" hole in the heel to accept a dowel but now it's easier for me to make the dowel an integral part of the glued on heel piece. I just cut the part that goes through the pot down to about 3/4" and stick it through a squared off hole into the pot. Good luck with the rest of it!

Comment by Hal Robertson on September 11, 2016 at 4:41pm: I hope everyone is ok with a banjo build here. What got me started was the Gus Canon banjo challenge. Started researching and... well, most of you know how it goes. Just can't stop. This one is handmade, aspires to pay tribute to the Civil War era and is mostly made out of crap I have in my garage. Fits with the CGB mindset, right?

Got a few things done today. Scarfed the neck joint and used my scarf jig to cut the buildup for the neck. Also got the neck width and strings laid out. Plus, I tried my hand a making a banjo bridge. Not too shabby as far as I'm concerned. More soon.