I have absolutely no problems getting wild hairs, except on top my head. My latest concerns banjos, I'd really like to learn to play one but better than than, I'd like to build one. After reviewing the various ones described and shown in the book Foxfire 3 I came to many conclusions. The mountain folk were building banjos a long time ago. They built them to make music, not to all look the same. The variations shown in the book is but what I am sure is a small sample of what the banjo looked like had they interviewed more people/builders. The biggest thing that got my attention is the amount of experimenting being done. The banjos har a homey/rustic appeal and I'm sure they sounded fine. Reading the book just fired me up to have a stab at building one myself. NOT because I am a musician mind you. I couldn't carry a tune if handed to me in a bucket, I can however build things in wood. Looking around at some store bought banjos, I was impressed with fit and finish, a long cry from most of what I saw in that book. Since I had some odd bits of Cherry and Oak, I figured I would glue them up for a neck.

The above is a sandwich of Cherry surrounding a single layer of Oak. It was glued together using Titebond glue and will be left overnight before I remove the clamps. The overnight clamping is not required, I just prefer to do it this way.

Since I was using scraps and have never done this before, I actually glued up two neck blanks. Each one was done the same, just clamped a little different based on the clamps I had on hand. You can never have too many clamps!

Since I am thinking mountain/rustic style banjo, I figure I need to do at least one using a gourd for a pot. I found the gourd on Ebay and when I got it, I was pleased with it.

I scribed the gourd around its diameter with a pencil (shimmed to the height I wanted) and the gourd sitting flat on the workbench. Taking my time, I actually got a pretty good line that was consistent. I considered using a jig saw to make my cut but changed my mind and used the little saw shown. I balanced the gourd on the wood base shown as I slowly sawed my way around it, rotating it and following the line. The cut came out pretty well and I was sufficiently pleased with myself. The white splotchy thing to the right is the top of the gourd that I cut off.

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Last update : 14-08-2007 16:47

Keywords : woodworking instructions how to build a banjo instrument.

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