This is the time to get all the rough stuff off. All of the file and saw marks must go. Take your work out into the sunshine and have a good long close look at all of its surfaces. Look inside the rim, and everywhere else that a scuff mightContinue Reading

Interchangeable burrs for crowning different sizes of fret wire.

I could go on and on about fretwork, it too deserves more space than I have dedicated to it here. I’ll just touch on the basics. Fret wire comes either in a coil or in long straight pieces. The coil is okay for softer wire but when it comes toContinue Reading

It is a good to glue the dowel stick to the neck before doing the fret work. After the frets are on the surface of the fingerboard will no longer be flat, making it more difficult to clamp the neck to a jig for possible modifications. Joining the dowel stickContinue Reading

Drilling the shoe bolt holes. Note the use of a backing block to prevent tear out.

The layout of the shoe bolt holes will depend on the type of tension hoop you have chosen to use. For the notched tension hoop you will have to make the shoe bolt holes match the pre-existing hook spacing on the tension hoop. If you have chosen to use aContinue Reading

Cutting the Banjo Rim's Dowel Stick Hole. Measure carefully.

The location of the rim dowel stick hole is interdependent with the location of the neck dowel stick hole. A lot of things come into consideration here, like the height of the tone ring, and the depth of the rim. Also, the neck should cover the place where the outermostContinue Reading

Banjo Rim Lathe Work. For safety and success get a live demonstration of how to use a lathe from an experienced wood worker.

The rim is mounted to a wooden plate that is attached to a hub that chucks into the lathe. The rim is mounted to the plate with screws. It needs to be mounted evenly so that it will come out as round as possible. There is some danger of cuttingContinue Reading

If you wish to accent the rim cap, it should match the fingerboard. In the case you don’t plan to accent it, it could match the neck. The rim cap covers the laminations that would otherwise be visible on the backside of the rim. The cap is usually made fromContinue Reading

Banjo rim forming. Banjo rim form with clamping cauls.

Forming the banjo rim requires the use of the rim clamping form. The inside dimension of the form matches the outside dimension of the rim. The form I use is made in two pieces so that the rim can pop right out. Mac’s rim form uses a latch and aContinue Reading

Soaking strips in the tub for bending.

Bending wood seems a little mysterious at first, but gets easier to believe after having done it for oneself. There are several ways to bend wood: boiling, steaming, and ammonia treatment. Boiling is the way that I have done it with the most success and least gear. An old pieceContinue Reading