Tag Archives: pupil banjo

Robert Ody Turning His Banjo's Rim

Robert Ody’s Banjo

Robert was one of my pupils at Royal High.  He built most of this banjo in a single week, in May / June 2012, when the school’s usual teaching timetable was suspended and pupils were offered a selection of alternative activities.  Robert was in year S2.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, but Robert did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from a tropical hardwood and a walnut finger board.  The peg head veneer is also walnut.

Robert Ody's Banjo

Robert Ody’s Banjo

Calf skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate its natural colour variations, then stretched over a brass tone ring and fixed to the rim with furniture tacks. The brass tone ring was formed in school from 6mm round bar, bent using a ring roller. Its ends were soldered together at the brazing hearth.  You can see from the photo above that the tone ring wasn’t completely circular.  All the same, the instrument sounded fine.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using cast aluminium brackets (cast in-house) and hardwood wedges. Steel strings were fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the finished banjo, along with construction images, are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157629971233977/

.

Felix Allan's Banjo

Felix Allan’s Banjo

Felix was one of my pupils at Royal High.  He built this banjo in a single week, in May / June 2012, when the school’s usual teaching timetable was suspended and pupils were offered a selection of alternative activities.  Felix was in year S2.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, but Felix did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from a tropical hardwood and a walnut finger board.  The peg head veneers are purple heart.

Calf skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate its natural colour variations, then stretched over a brass tone ring and fixed to the rim with furniture tacks. The brass tone ring was formed in school from 6mm round bar, bent using a ring roller. Its ends were soldered together at the brazing hearth.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using cast aluminium brackets (cast in-house) and hardwood wedges. Steel strings were fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the finished banjo, along with construction images, are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157629927322527/

Juliette Goddard's Banjo

Juliette Goddard’s Banjo

juliette was one of my pupils at Royal High.  She built this banjo in a single week, in May / June 2012, when the school’s usual teaching timetable was suspended and pupils were offered a selection of alternative activities.  Juliette was in year S2.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, but Juliette did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from elm; there isn’t a separate finger board.  The peg head veneers are burr elm.

Calf skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate the natural colour variations, then stretched over a brass tone ring and fixed to the rim with furniture tacks. The brass tone ring was formed in school from 6mm round bar, bent using a ring roller. Its ends were soldered together at the brazing hearth.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using cast aluminium brackets (cast in-house) and hardwood wedges. Steel strings were fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the banjo are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157630033284569/

.

Stefan McGee's Banjo

Stefan McGee’s Banjo

Stefan was one of my pupils at Royal High.  He built this banjo in a single week, in May / June 2012, when the school’s usual teaching timetable was suspended and pupils were offered a selection of alternative activities.  Stefan was in year S2.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand components at the band saw, but Stefan did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from two different tropical hardwood; there isn’t a separate finger board.  The peg head veneer is oak.

Calf skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate the natural colour variations, then stretched over a brass tone ring and fixed to the rim with furniture tacks. The brass tone ring was formed in school from 6mm round bar, bent using a ring roller. Its ends were soldered together at the brazing hearth.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using cast aluminium brackets (cast in-house) and hardwood wedges. Nylon (Nylgut) strings were  fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the banjo are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157629606765300/

.

iain_lowther_banjo_6040b

Iain Lowther’s Banjo

Iain was one of my pupils at Royal High.  He built this banjo in a single week, in May / June 2012, when the school’s usual teaching timetable was suspended and pupils were offered a selection of alternative activities.  Iain was in year S3.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, but Iain did almost all the rest.

The rim (pot) was turned on the wood lathe from twenty-four hardwood segments of a tropical hardwood. The neck was formed from elm; there isn’t a separate finger board.  The peg head veneers are burr elm.

Goat skin was soaked in coffee, to accentuate the natural colour variations, then stretched over a brass tone ring and fixed to the rim with furniture tacks. The brass tone ring was formed in school from 6mm round bar, bent using a ring roller. Its ends were soldered together at the brazing hearth.

Guitar fret wire has been used instead of banjo wire, as it’s easier to press in place than banjo fret wire. The neck was fixed to the rim using cast aluminium brackets (cast in-house) and hardwood wedges. Nylon (Nylgut) strings were fitted.

The instrument stand is made from 4mm birch plywood.  Its components are a friction fit, and easily dismantle for transportation in an instrument bag. Bicycle rubber inner tube has been glued to the plywood, to prevent the banjo being marked by the stand.

High Resolution photos of the banjo are available at Royal HIgh CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157630034387183/

.

jay_stoddart_banjo_8803b

Jay Stoddart’s Banjo

Jay was one of my pupils at Royal High School.  This instrument was his ‘course project’ for the Practical Craft Skills (PCS) course.  He completed it in February 2013.

The project was prior verified for use on the PCS course in 2012 but unfortunately, as thing stand, SQA will not allow it to be used for the the new Practical Woodworking course: a very odd decision and an opportunity missed.  Teenagers are passionate about their music and many would opt to build a guitar (or at least a banjo that plays like a guitar) – rather than the three projects currently available – given the opportunity.

The square rim / pot was evolved to satisfy Practical Craft Skills course requirements to incorporate housing joints in the model.

The neck of Jay’s banjo is built from laminated layers of pine, with a purple heart fingerboard.  The peg head veneers are purple heart and ash. The turned resonator spacers and the tail piece are also purple heart.  Unlike most of the banjos featured on this site, Jay’s doesn’t have a brass tone ring.  Instead, the calf skin is stretched over the pine rim / pot.

High resolution photos of Jay’s banjo are available at Royal High CDT’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157632117559887/

Andrew Graham's Banjitar

Andrew Graham’s Banjitar

A banjitar is a six string banjo, tuned like a guitar.  If you can play a guitar, you can play banjitar.  Taylor Swift plays a banjitar (though not a square one).

Andrew was one of my pupils at Royal High School.  This instrument was his ‘course project’ for the Practical Craft Skills (PCS) course.  He completed it at the end of April 2013.

The project was prior verified for use on the PCS course in 2012 but unfortunately, as thing stand, SQA will not allow it to be used for the the new Practical Woodworking course: a very odd decision and an opportunity missed.  Teenagers are passionate about their music and many would opt to build a guitar (or at least a banjo that plays like a guitar) – rather than the three projects currently available – given the opportunity.

The square rim / pot was evolved to satisfy Practical Craft Skills course requirements to incorporate housing joints in the model.

High resolution photos of Andrew’s banjitar are available at Royal High CDT’s Flickr account:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157631884681518/

Evie Hunter's Banjitar

Evie Hunter’s Banjitar

A banjitar is a six string banjo, tuned like a guitar.  If you can play a guitar, you can play banjitar.  Taylor Swift plays a banjitar (though not a square one).

Evie was one of my pupils at Royal High School.  This instrument was her ‘course project’ for the Practical Craft Skills (PCS) course.  She completed it at the end of April 2013 and it plays really well: see the embedded video recording below where Royal High School pupil Ross Cockburn puts it through its paces.

The project was prior verified for use on the PCS course in 2012 but unfortunately, as thing stand, SQA will not allow it to be used for the the new Practical Woodworking course: a very odd decision and an opportunity missed.  Teenagers are passionate about their music and many would opt to build a guitar (or at least a banjo that plays like a guitar) – rather than the three projects currently available – given the opportunity.

The square rim / pot was evolved to satisfy Practical Craft Skills course requirements to incorporate housing joints in the model.

High resolution photos of Evie’s banjitar are available at Royal High’s Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157633389913827/

Mark Notman's Banjo

Marc Notman’s Banjo

Marc was one of my pupils at Royal High.  While in sixth year he worked on this banjo as part of the ’16 Plus’ initiative. Between November 2011 and March 2012, he spent an hour working on it, one afternoon a week.  He got about half way through the build before leaving school.  More than a year later, when he hadn’t popped in to the department to finish it, I completed it. That was in April 2013.  I now have the banjo at home and it’s one of my favourites to play.

The neck is a tropical hardwood with an oak finger board with poplar dots.  The peg head also has an oak veneer and has routed slots.

The rim is block built, from twenty-four segments glued together and turned at the wood lathe.  It is almost entirely oak.  A brass tone ring, rolled and soldered at school, sits below the stretched calf skin.  The skin is held in place with furniture tacks: a tack head arrangement.

Aluminium brackets, cast at school, combine with hardwood wedges to hold the neck to the rim.

High resolution versions of the photos are available at our Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157633419995973/