Banjo #14
Added 2018-07-12 17:13:35 +0000 UTCI used my usual materials: red oak for the pot; black walnut for the neck, nut and bridge; submerged cherry for tuning pegs and tailpiece; unbleached goat hide from gourd banjo and fiddle maker Jeff Menzies. Finished with walnut dye and a hand-rubbed mixture of hemp oil and beeswax. Photos (and dye) by Robyn Latham.
The octagonal layout and heart-shaped sound hole are characteristic of early folk instruments out of Kentucky and Ohio.
Comments
Nice work! How do you make the dye`?
Anton Myrin
2018-07-17 16:47:40 +0000 UTCFirst thing is to hand rub several coats of flax oil and or hemp oil into the wood. I let it dry over night and then hand rub in more oil the next day. Do this at least three days. Then I melt hemp or flax oil in a small pot with a good amount of beeswax, mix well and let cool. You want a block of finishing wax that is solid but softer than pure beeswax. Take a piece of that and hand rub that over your stain and oil coats for another day or two to build up your finish. The only parts that I apply pure beeswax to are the tuning peg shafts--they need beeswax or rosin to work properly. I wouldn't use any chemical stain or the hardware store "boiled linseed oil."
Clifton Hicks
2018-07-16 02:33:32 +0000 UTCDo you put any kind of clear coat or oil on your banjos after you use the black walnut stain? Or is that just the stain?
Patrick Campbell
2018-07-16 01:06:59 +0000 UTCI love the rustic character of these.
Banjo Jane
2018-07-13 17:33:33 +0000 UTCBest one so far! Nice job, Clifton.
Jim Turner
2018-07-13 02:02:08 +0000 UTCThanks. I was worried about it myself. The heart looked pretty clumsy to me, hence I put in those extra carvings to make it seem more at home. Cleaned up nicely!
Clifton Hicks
2018-07-13 01:57:52 +0000 UTCLookin' sharp!
Justin Hoffmann
2018-07-13 01:37:53 +0000 UTCTurned out really really nice!
Alan
2018-07-13 01:29:22 +0000 UTCI hope to one day be able to make them look this good! At first I wasn’t sure about the heart cutout, but after seeing the finished product it’s probably one of my favorite things about it. Keep em coming!
Patrick Campbell
2018-07-13 00:05:40 +0000 UTCIt's got some real character to it. Love the odd peghead design!
Bobby Banks
2018-07-12 17:55:44 +0000 UTC
