Progress Report! |Banjo #17
Added 2018-12-06 13:53:58 +0000 UTCA friend mailed me this piece of black walnut, apparently cut down and milled by he and his father on their land in Virginia. It turned out to be a very pretty piece of wood and with a near-perfect banjo neck grain! It has been a few months since I carved a neck from black walnut and doing this one reminds me that black walnut is my all-time favorite wood--there's nothing else I'd rather work with.
Copper and Mexico reminding me to take a break (and FEED them).
I've mostly stopped using electric tools on my banjos. Here's how I cut the radius at the heel of the neck where it will seat flush against the rim of the banjo. I use the edge of the rim itself to pencil my lines on top and bottom of the neck, then I use a very sharp back saw to cut a series of slots down to the penciled line. Once that is done I carefully chisel the remaining "teeth" away and smooth the stumps down until the radius fits close against the rim.
With the heel radius cleaned out (left of photo) I then make another series of cuts up the back and then chisel these away, revealing the neck profile.
I saw two very old banjos at the 20th Annual Banjo Gathering which had this trapezoidal peg head shape. The asymmetrical tuning peg arrangement I chose is also found on many early banjos.
Comments
I usually buy "turning blanks." A 2.5" x 2.5" x 24" blank will make a good little neck. I eyeball it before drawing out my neck to see which surface is the flattest already. That helps a lot. When it comes time to smooth the fingerboard out I'll tape a sanding belt to a long, heavy carpenters level, lay that on the neck and just pull it back and forth until everything lays flat.
Clifton Hicks
2020-04-22 12:15:29 +0000 UTCVery cool and I'm really digging your build posts. Since you don't use power tools, and if you don't mind sharing, what's your method for ensuring the fingerboard is completely flat? I've decided to give building a shot, and that's one thing I can't seem to figure out.
Jaime Taylor
2020-04-21 03:23:37 +0000 UTCNeck on these tack heads is a breeze. I seat the dowel in the heel (toward the bottom of the heel is best if you have room) as straight as possible and then drill the entrance hole for it to go into. At that point I eyeball the neck angle and determine where the exit hole needs to be placed (usually slightly higher in the rim than the entrance hole). Then when it's all together the neck is slightly angled.
Clifton Hicks
2018-12-07 00:24:28 +0000 UTCVery cool to see how others do it. I really like the idea of getting the neck to pot fit figured out before doing the final shaping on the neck. I have a question - how do you and at what point do you add the neck angle?
Joe
2018-12-07 00:13:38 +0000 UTC
