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/