The Shop > Wood & Stuff
Banjo Build
S. Heslop:
Amazing what a bit of sanding can do. It's to size now with about .6mm taper end to end, and that's good enough for me. Those visible gaps are filled with glue unfortunately, so I don't think I can fill them. But they'll probably be alot less noticeable once all the hardware is attached. I could also place the worst ones where the neck joins.
Started turning the inside, but I didn't feel wholly comfortable doing this. Had a couple of minor gouges before deciding that I was risking making more problems for myself (if not my safety). I then fiddled with router bits for a while, replacing the bearing on one with a bigger bearing. Although the bearing I replaced it with was too big, and I figured it'd probably make more sense to just turn a sort of washer to fit over the existing bearings.
I need to think a bit about what i'm going to do next though. Fancy banjos have tone rings installed, which come in all kinds of ridiculous styles, the simplest being a bit of brass wire or rectangular section set into the top. I think the idea with the tone ring is to have the skin resting on a hard surface so it absorbs less energy. The idea with the apple wood surface is that it's a fairly hard wood and might work by itself, but i'd want to shape it into an inward taper.
If I do go for bare wood I should be able to shape it with a selection of router bits rather than on the lathe. Although i've noticed that the apple wood is awkward to cut so I'll have to test a spare bit (hope i've got a spare bit!) before I risk ruining the rim.
S. Heslop:
Routed the taper with this conical bit. Also did a fairly large roundover, larger than i'd have liked but it's the bit I had and the cone didn't reach far enough in.
Sanded.
Separated.
Flush trimmed the remaining bits inside. Always surprises me how accurate this bit is since it came in a cheap set.
Trust a camera and harsh lightingn to show up all the blemishes.
Gotta finish up the bottom since it's still got paper stuck to it. I forget what the max depth on my drum sander is but hopefully i'll be able to just send it through that. Although there's not alot of contact area with the conveyor with the fairly hard apple, so it might be better to just glue a bunch of sandpaper to a board and rub it against that for a while.
I think i'll save drilling holes in the thing till i've made the hardware to attach to it. I know how i'm gonna make the hooks and nuts since I made 50 of them in the past for this absolutely ridiculous (but pretty) rim.
But the L shoe brackets seem like they might be tricky without a mill. I had the idea in the past that i'd try lost wax casting them but since i've yet to successfully cast aluminium i'm not gonna try brass.
I might just have to spend a day making them the hard way with files. I'm gonna aim for about 24 hooks and nuts around the rim so that's not a huge amount for a one-off.
S. Heslop:
Oh I tend to forget that I have a die grinder now. Found some carbide burrs at a boot sale last year and a 'laminate trimmer' I bought turned out to just be a die grinder with a plunge base. That'll probably make life easier.
Another thing I might be able to do is make most of the shape and drill the holes into a long bar, then cut sections off and tidy them up with a file. With it in a long bar I could also possibly rough the concave material out by putting a burr in the router table and making alot of passes.
The problem is is that I don't find the idea of sitting down for a day and doing it the obvious way particularly exciting. I'd rather spend weeks like I did with the rim in trying to find a 'clever' solution that will most likely backfire.
vtsteam:
Hey, it's looking like the bottom of a banjo!!! :thumbup: :clap: :beer:
S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: vtsteam on May 21, 2015, 05:52:08 PM ---Hey, it's looking like the bottom of a banjo!!! :thumbup: :clap: :beer:
--- End quote ---
Thanks. And not a moment too soon.
I really hope the rest of it doesn't take me over three months.
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