Banjo Boys - Chapters 28 & 29

The shaped base of the neck determines the alignment of the banjo.
The recessed section accommodates the flesh hoop and tension hoop.

Clint has been up twice and I haven't taken a single picture or written a single word.  He's been working hard on his "Cherry Blossom" banjo.  It's going to be a spectacular instrument.  He finished his inlay in December and came to the shop on December 28th to cut his fret slots.  We couldn't find the miter box that we had built a year ago to cut fret slots, so we made a new one.  He finished cutting the slots and took some tools and sandpaper with him to finish shaping the neck at home.  When he got here yesterday, a lot of progress was evident:

• He had finished sanding his cherry rim (with one Honduran rosewood edge and one ebony edge) and had applied several thin coats of polymerized tung oil.  It looks incredible!
• He had drilled the holes for all his tensioning brackets,
• He had finished shaping the neck and applied tung oil to it as well,
• He had installed and almost finished his frets.

A polished spoon-hook

When Clint was here in December, I discovered that my neck had bowed due to the tightness of the frets in their fret slots.  The lateral pressure exerted by the tangs was substantial enough to cause the entire neck to develop a curve I could see if I looked down the length of the fretboard.  I removed those frets.  I also dismantled my Buick banjo to polish the spoon 

The jig used to shape the
 base of the neck

hooks where they exhibited burn marks from the brazing operation that attached the spoons to the square nuts needed to tighten the head.  

The main challenge for today was to set up the necessary jigs to shape the base of the neck where it fits against the rim.

The dowel stick blanks

We decided to start by cutting our dowel stick blanks out of the waste piece that results from cutting out the back profile of the neck.  By using this scrap piece this way, we ensure that the dowel rod has the same grain and pattern as the neck.  We set these aside and began the setup for the neck shaping.  

After about two hours of careful measuring and remeasuring, both necks are shaped.

The next step was to drill the pilot hole from the bottom of the rim through both sides of the rim and into the heel of the neck while holding the parts in perfect alignment.  We were able to complete this operation on both Clint's and my banjo.

I've ordered a new counterbore bit to enable us to cut the dowel hole in the neck and if it arrives by next weekend, we'll probably do that next.  Stay tuned...

Happy New Year!!!

Future Work...

Over the last year, I've spent quite a bit of time in Corpus Christi, Texas.  I've been working with a wonderful team of hard-working people from my company, Camber Corporation, and equally-dedicated personnel from the Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi.  The hard work has paid off, as described in this video:

I think I know where I'll be working over the next several months...

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The Quest for Perfection...

Last week I went out to Dan Shady's shop and he had my banjo out on a workbench.  We had finally acquired the square nuts that he wanted to braze to the backs of my spoon-hooks so that we could insert screws into the nuts to tighten the tension hoop, thus stretching the clear plastic head.  From this angle, the banjo looks fantastic!

Unfortunately, on the other side of the banjo, there are three empty brackets.  Dan indicated that there were differences between some of the hooks and he didn't feel right about having unlike hooks on such a beautiful instrument.  So I did what any red-blooded American banjo builder would do -- I got on eBay and found some more World War II-vintage Navy spoons.  I could only find two with the "USN" imprint, but I found two plain ones.  I'll make hooks out of all four and once they're finished I'll put the two plain spoons adjacent to the neck attachment.  Everything will be symmetrical.  Here are the new "hook-blanks."

Good Eats...

The Weber "Bullet" Smoker

A couple of weeks ago, one of my co-workers (who happens to be a competitive barbecue chef) walked by my office with two huge beef briskets sealed in plastic.  I asked if he and his dad (the other member of the cooking team) were about to enter a competition.  He informewd me that these briskets were for Christmas presents.  He and his father were going to cook them that weekend and give their friends individual packages of beautifully cooked meat.  I've been thinking of brisket ever since.

Yesterday, Mary Ann and I stopped at Star Market in Huntsville and picked up a 13.5 lb. choice brisket which has been on the smoker for about 6 hours so far today.  It has 4 or 5 more to go, but it already looks pretty darn good.

Merry Christmas to All...

From our house to yours, best wishes for a blessed Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year.  The following video from King's College captures the spirit of the season far more eloquently than I could hope to do...

Extra Special Tree...

This year, Mary Ann found some exquisite glass icicles to adorn our Christmas tree.  Combined with the pinpoint lights, I think it's one of the prettiest trees I can remember.