Tag Archives: 16 plus

Andrew Tyler's Banjo

Andrew Tyler’s Banjo

Andrew was one of my pupils at Royal High.  He built this banjo from November 2011 to May 2012, working for around an hour and a half after school each week.  He did it is as a portfolio piece, not related to a particular course.  Andrew was in year S6.

I marked out and rough cut the neck and instrument stand at the band saw, but Andrew 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.  Andrew opted to stain the neck and tail piece.  This added several hours of work to the project. The timber was wet and allowed to dry several times, sanding down each time.  Several coats of black stain were applied, then several coats of varnish on top.

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/72157629992589967/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157628065793709/

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Laura Davidson's Banjo

Laura Davidson’s Banjo

Laura was one of my pupils at Royal High.  She built this banjo from November 2011 to May 2012, working for around an hour and a half after school each week.  She did it as a portfolio piece, not related to a particular course.  Laura was in year S6.

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

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

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/72157631087675564/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157628065793709/

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Stuart Clark's Banjo

Stuart Clark’s Banjo

Stuart 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 two thirds of the way through the build before leaving school.  Months later, when he hadn’t popped in to the department to finish it, I completed it. That was in 2013.  I now have the banjo at home and it’s one of my favourites to play.

The neck is a tropical hardwood with a contrasting tropical hardwood peg head veneer.  The rim is block built, from twenty-four segments glued together and turned at the wood lathe.  It is mostly made from ash and walnut.  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.

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 versions of the photos are available at Royal High’s Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdtlog/sets/72157633115744027/