Router table

There hasn't been any banjo work lately, but I have been tinkering in the shop and having a lot of fun drawing future shop improvements in SketchUp.

Here we have some boards glued under my workbench so it's actually usable for clamping stuff, a knife handle being glued up, and my new router table.

The router table is based off Rudy's over at Bluestem Strings. I made the insert from 3/8" Garolite. The next to last photo shows the setup for pattern routing the bit hole to match the stock base. The top is laminated from 1" melamine-covered particle board and 1/2" plywood. I routed out the hole and glued and screwed maple cleats to hold the insert. Tee nuts embedded in the plywood grab threaded rods that extend through channels routed in 2x10 legs and through the bottom. Nuts and washers are counterbored in the bottom. Some light sanding and a couple coats of shellac and boiled linseed oil slapped on finished the job. It's sturdy and it works. All it needs is a proper fence with a dust port.

Next

The holiday weekend afforded some time to start on a new neck. This one is walnut scarf joint construction.

Final photos of the build

This wraps up the construction and finishing phase of the project. Now on to a lifetime of tinkering with it!

Credit: Monica Hoover (Working indoors with late November natural light and no tripod. I think they're great.)
 

P.S. My builder buddies are saying nice things over on the Banjo Hangout.

Ship it

Done and done. I'll try to get a final set of photos and a sound clip up soon.

(So close to) DONE

Last night I rubbed out the finish with P600, P800, and 0000 steel wool and paste wax and got the banjo back together again. It was only a couple months torn down, but it felt like I hadn't played in forever!

I love the satin look.

I had one very big surprise during assembly. The head had shrunk beyond belief, which meant I still can't use my nice set of Rickard brass hooks and nuts. So for now it's assembled with the extra long steel hooks. I think the fix is going to be a new head with a higher crown. Then I can assemble again with the hardware it was designed for, and then it will be really done.

But as of this moment the hard work is all done, and I am completely thrilled with how it came out. Here's a set of phone pics. We'll make some better ones with a real camera once the head/hardware issue is sorted out.

Oh, and somehow it sounds better than ever, too. I'm not sure why. Maybe the tailpiece is more solidly connected due to one change I made with its bolt mounting bracket.

Finishing the hardware

Earlier this week I wrapped up shaping and polishing all the brass hardware.

It all started with this remote setup in the hotel on a work trip as I rounded all the bracket edges with the sanding drum and started hand sanding with P220:

All parts sanded to P600:

By the way, the tailpiece is a Fielding, the only commercial part shown here. It was starting to patinate from use, so I put it through the process here to make it look the same as the rest of my stuff.

All parts polished with Tripoli compound. The first picture shows before and after:

After a good dunking in brass darkening solution:

Scuffed up with a gray abrasive pad to even out some dark patches in the color (this actually took off most of the color altogether):

Rubbed with 0000 steel wool and paste wax and assembled on the banjo:

The finish is on

Here are a few pics in the process of paying for not sanding well after the first coats and a final pic with the finish on. The fretboard is polished and everything is hanging to cure while I polish hardware.