The Shop > Wood & Stuff
Banjo Build
vtsteam:
Simon, just letting you know I'm continuing along with you here and reading every post. Not much to say as you're doing things I wouldn't do :), but I have a feeling you're going to be successful in the end, after whatever trials and tribulations occur. And I expect to learn as much as you do in the process! Be careful, stay safe -- other than that, it's all learning.
awemawson:
Simon, yes just like Steve I'm following and silently encouraging you. What wall thickness are you aiming for? I imagine it'll get rather wobbly if too thin.
S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: awemawson on May 20, 2015, 10:47:31 AM ---Simon, yes just like Steve I'm following and silently encouraging you. What wall thickness are you aiming for? I imagine it'll get rather wobbly if too thin.
--- End quote ---
I'm going for around about 20mm, but ideally it'll be as thick as possible.
From what I understand, most of the force (from the strings) in a banjo is taken by the coordinating rod(s) that go through the rim. So you can get away with it being fairly flimsy.
I made that caliper extender. It's kind of goofy.
It would've been more rigid with the 'rods' running in line with the blades rather than perpendicular to them, but it's useable as is. I just didn't think to do it that way till after. Seems repeatable to about .1 of a mm at least and that's good enough for wood. Also with the rods not being in line it's not really reading millimeters but it doesn't really matter since I just want to get the sides parallel.
Here's the wooden thing I was trying to use before.
Also I appreciate people posting but don't feel you have to!
awemawson:
I know zilch about banjo's, but I always imagined that the 'drum' was laminated up from thin veneers making in effect a custom plywood 'short tube'.
Now other string instruments that I have examined have deliberately thin walls ('cellos, violins and violas) so to me 20 mm seems extremely heavy - but then as I say I know zilch about banjos !
S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: awemawson on May 20, 2015, 01:50:58 PM ---I know zilch about banjo's, but I always imagined that the 'drum' was laminated up from thin veneers making in effect a custom plywood 'short tube'.
Now other string instruments that I have examined have deliberately thin walls ('cellos, violins and violas) so to me 20 mm seems extremely heavy - but then as I say I know zilch about banjos !
--- End quote ---
Most banjos are made that way but some are made from block rims like this. I don't think there's anything wrong with building them the other way, but I didn't have a drum sander at the time to easily make the veneers.
Violins and guitars do have fairly thin wood with bracing to strengthen it, because the vibrations from the strings are transmitted to those surfaces to make the sound (I guess the bigger surface just moves more air). Boy i'm having a hard time wording this elegantly. But in a banjo the skin head vibrates to move the air.
Guitars always amaze me with how they can stand the force of the steel strings considering how thin all the wood is.
Actually the main reason I wanted to build a banjo this way was because I thought it'd be nice to make some fancy patterns out of wood for the sides. The frame thing in this drawing was for a zither style banjo I was trying to make, although I thought i'd best make a regular old banjo before trying anything fancy.
If you look up segmented turning you can find all kinds of fancy patterns used mostly for vases and bowls. It requires some pretty accurate cuts and alot of work fitting it though, and with my crap tablesaw it'd be difficult to achieve. I couldn't even cut a six sided thing without large gaps.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version