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Saturday, 02 June 2018
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steam_bending_jatoba.jpg
steam_bending_jatoba.jpgSteam bending adventures in the kitchen233 viewsbwelch
boucher_banjo_bridge.jpg
boucher_banjo_bridge.jpgbridge view197 viewsBridge, nut, and pegs made out 120 year old maple floor boards from my housebwelch
boucher_banjo_front.jpg
boucher_banjo_front.jpgbanjo front207 viewsStarted in July 2008 and finished in December 2008. Now I just have to learn to play the banjo!bwelch
boucher_banjo_side.jpg
boucher_banjo_side.jpgbanjo finished 2222 viewsIn case you wondered, the chair came from Tennessee from one of my great-great- grandparents. The tool marks on it are awesome. Totally imperfect by today's standard, but obviously made by hand by a rural craftsman who had to make a living.bwelch
boucher_shoes.jpg
boucher_shoes.jpgmaking banjo shoes/brackets205 viewscut from .032" sheet brassbwelch
head_installed.jpg
head_installed.jpghead installed287 viewsNow with the head installed and all the brass hardware made, banjo is nearly completed. Without the neck attached, it makes a great drum!bwelch
pegs_shaver_reamer.jpg
pegs_shaver_reamer.jpgHome made peg shaver and cast steel tapered reamer245 viewsPeg shaver I made to go with this 19th c. "CAST STEEL" tapered reamer that was built to be used in a brace. Maple pegs I made with the shaver for my Boucher-style minstrel banjo next to an ebony violin peg I bought as a model for the appropriate size.
bwelch
hoop_neck.jpg
hoop_neck.jpgStarting to look like a banjo177 viewsHoop and neck together for the first time. Still need to clean up the hoop a bit. It just came out of the clamps. Yellow glue failed the first time, but Gorilla Glue rocks!bwelch
hoop_success.jpg
hoop_success.jpghoop bending success267 viewsHere is attempt #2, which worked great. Straight grained wood, soaking the wood before steaming, more steam, and bending straps made all the difference.bwelch
laying_out_neck.jpg
laying_out_neck.jpgLaying out the neck226 viewsI printed out a full size photograph of an original William Boucher banjo in order to create a fairly accurate reproduction. Wood is (I believe) jatoba. It was free from my BIL's burn pile (he got it from a neighbor who does custom millwork and has better offcuts than anything in my wood stockpile).bwelch
shaping_the_neck.jpg
shaping_the_neck.jpgShaping the neck276 viewsThe spokeshave is one I made with a blade from Kansas City Windsor Tool Works. bwelch
resawing_the_hoop.jpg
resawing_the_hoop.jpgResawing for the hoop334 viewsTo make the approx. 12 inch diameter hoop with a 3 inch scarf joint I needed a board 41.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1/4 inch thick. The resawing was slow but remarkably accurate, due to the self-jigging nature of a handsaw, I think (and not my technique!)bwelch
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