OK, with the neck blanks all glued up a little time on layout and you can zip right along with the bandsaw to cut them out. You will zip right along IF you aren't using a dull blade. If you are like me, you will burn your way through since your blade is dull and you keep forgetting to order new ones. My home center doesn't carry my size blades so I order them, when I remember.

It almost looks like it should. Yes, you can see some of the burn from the dull bandsaw blade. Since I am more or less winging this whole thing, the neck blanks were glued up from some scraps (I did two, thinking ahead a bit optomisitically). I can't play a banjo but I figured i might like to have a couple around as spares. One will be built from a gourd, one from a cookie tin, and I might actually build a third from all wood.

Anyway, my scraps were a bit short so I will need to add a dowel to them that will make them long enough to go through the gourd or cookie tin body. Since I am simulating old times, I popped a CD of Dock Boggs in the shop boom box and got ready to make my own dowel.

The dowel blank is clamped into my Workmate and rest against a scrap of 2 x 4 that is clamped to the workmate. Using a drawknife or spokeshave to work on making dowels is a great way to experience old style woodworking and work up a sweat at the same time. It doesn't help that it is a gazillion degrees in my shop with the fan blowing. I used to have a shavehorse but took it apart to use the lumber in another project. The Workmate will do in a pinch if you keep a foot on it to keep it from moving.

The picture isn't great but you can see the dowel starting to look rounder as I draw down the edges.

You can get a better idea of how the 2 x 4 is acting as a block to help hold the dowel. I am pulling along the top edge which forces the dowel against the 2 x 4 block. All the shaving pressure causes the Workmate to want to tip so, I keep a foot on it to keep it in one place.

If you look real hard, you will see the dowel is fairly round at this point. I will do some tweaking with a four way rasp and then some sandpaper and call it finished.

The gourd has been painted inside and out with lacquer. I only used the lacquer because I had some left over and it was getting old. The neck is beginning to shape up pretty well and needs to be drilled for the dowel (closest in picture). I need to drill the neck for the dowel and glue it in place. I need to layout the gourd for the dowel, and the peghead for the pegs. I need a skin, bridge, and strings. Things are getting close, just not close enough.

A scrap of oak has been chopped up on the radial arm saw so i can have a stab at whittling some pegs. The narrow portions are the peg body area, the fat portions are for the thumb turns. This picture was taken while they were all still attached together. Safer to handle the long strip of wood rather than little pieces. They have since been cut apart and one is beginning to look round.

IF you have managed to read this far, You are hopefully getting some ideas of your own. I don't know how to play a banjo, I like the way they look. I have never built a banjo, but it didn't look that hard. If you have an interest in something, try it out. All projects begin with an idea. The worst case is you will lose some money and look foolish if it doesn't work. As long as it isn't a LOT of money, we all can stand to look foolish once in a while. Get out ther and make some chips!!!!

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Last update : 15-08-2007 19:19

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