"Just smash your piano, and invoke the glory-beaming banjo!"
- Mark Twain, 1865
A handmade reproduction of an 1800's "Minstrel Banjo" you can make
with household hand and power tools. This is not really a step by step
website but more of an inspirational one. There are many designs of old
minstrel banjos, and there are many ways of fashioning the wood. I used
modern everyday tools, stain, and tung oil finish. In the end, I wanted
a good sounding, good looking, and good playing fretless minstrel banjo.
This is how I did it...
THE WOOD
The wood for this particular banjo comes from an old piano I had. It's old, dry, and hard.
It's maple with a real straight grain. Luckily, the thickness of this board is exactly the
width of my plan for my rim - 2 1/2 inches.
THE RIM
I cut three long thin pieces from the board. They were slightly thicker than 1/8 inch. I ran them over
my sander a few times to even out the thin and thick areas plus the blade marks that my table saw had left.
I soaked these 3 pieces in the bathtub for a few hours. I had an old 11 inch banjo rim that I planned on using
for a mould. I guessed that my new banjo rim would be a little less than 12 inches in diameter. I clamped one end
of the first wet piece of maple to the old banjo rim and began to iron (with an iron) the wood around the old rim.
This works nice but you must splash water on the wood as you go. I kept it wet, hot, and tight on the rim. I glued up
all 3 pieces after letting them dry thoroughly. In the picture, you can see tape on the old rim - to keep the 2 rims
from becoming glued to each other.
THE OGEES
Using my table saw and sabre saw, I roughcut the neck. Files and sandpaper and a ton of
elbow grease produced this neck. It is only slightly (1") longer than the neck of a typical
bluegrass banjo. This picture shows the back of the, however wierd, completed neck. The two
rounded 'bumps' are called ogees. The ogee nearest the peghead will recieve the 5th string peg soon.
THE PEGHEAD
The design of this peghead comes from art from the 1800's. This tilts back slightly, enough to put a good angle
on the strings as they pass over the nut. Any more angle would look too modern, I feel. Quite a few hours were
required with sandpaper and a rat tail file to shape this design. To me this is the most important visual part ofof this banjo, at first glance hopefully it will look old or at least like a good reproduction.
THE NECK'S DOWEL STICK
Before the dowel stick was glued into the neck, I fit the heel of the neck to the rim. The part of the dowel
that is glued into the neck was reduced to about 1/2".
THE FIT
I made the dowelstick to extend a little over 1 inch beyond the tail end of the rim. Old minstrel banjos had
different degrees of length depending on the maker. Two holes were made in the rim. The dowel, once inserted and
glued into the end of the neck, now passes through the rim through the holes. It's a snug fit.
THE FINGERBOARD
The rosewood fingerboard was cut about 1/4" oversized. After it is glued on, it will be an easy clean-up
with a Dremel tool. The piece of rosewood in the "Scoop" of the neck is seperate and pre-bent.
ALL ROSEWOOD ATTACHED
The edges of the rosewood fingerboard and back took about half a day to sand flush and make it look nice.
I used just about all the hand tools I could find. A sanding block, the Dremel tool, different files, chisels,
and some tricky belt sanding. The heel had to be semi re-fit to the rim because of the fingerboard extending
over the end of the neck. It fits like a glove now, though!
STAIN
I applied 2 coats of Minwax Golden Oak stain. I like the look of light colored
wood contrasting against dark. The 'top' of the fingerboard does not get stained.
It gets no finish at all. While I was waiting for the stain to dry, I cut out the...
TAILPIECE, NUT, & BRIDGE
The tailpiece is sort of a squashed violin tailpiece design from what I've seen
on the old minstrel banjos. The strings will run through holes yet to be drilled in
this ebony and it will be held to the protruding dowel stick in minstrel banjo fashion,
with a piece of wire. The nut is a strange design. The minstrel banjo nuts usually extend
beyond the width of the neck. This one will too. Ebony, bone, or ivory were used originally.
This is an old time looking bridge. Using the drill, a very sharp chisel, and sandpaper, I made this from the
maple. The old bridges did not have the ebony insert on top that you see nowdays. This bridge is a little tall
on purpose. Once the banjo is strung up, I'll cut the top down on this bridge until it's just right.
FINISH & PEGS
After looking at the golden oak stain job, I decided to go a little further
and make this banjo look old. The new gleaming look just didn't look right to me.
I added some little bits of other color stains, plus some ebony dust, some ash from
a bonfire from the night before and tung oil here and there. It was tough, but I
distressed the wood in places by filing, bumping, banging, poking, and even dragging
the banjo around on cement. It looks great!!! I made the pegs from a chunk of ebony
and they fit great. Some woodburned designs that look kinda 19th century were burned into
the rim before the tung oil was applied.
"ALL WOOD"
Here is a photo of the banjo so far. Everything here is wood - maple, ebony, and rosewood.
The top of the rim where the head will set was shaped to a semi sharp outside edge.
Two screws go through the rim to the neck heel. The "scoop" is long and deep, I really enjoy
playing over the neck. Some "Double thumbing" techniques require the scoop, plus it's a
great plunky sound. The pegs had both the anti-slip and anti-stick "Peg dope" applied and
worked into the little gaps between peg and shaft by turning the pegs both ways several times.
So far, so good. It feels good and I like the look. Now on to....
THE HOOP
The hoop is made from a piece of metal from the hardware store.
It is 1/8" thick and 1/2" tall. I cut it to length after overlapping
the ends by 2" then I peened them together. I sanded and filed on it
for about an hour until it started looking nice and shiny, but nothing on
this banjo is supposed to be nice and shiny so I stopped before it looked
too nice! I like the way it looks nasty where it's peened here in the photo.
It looks old and weathered. The Remo Fiberskyn head fits nicely around the
wood rim and under the metal hoop.
And Finally..
COMPLETED
August 10, 2005
DETAILS..
Banjos Made In 2007
10" Tack Head and 12" Sweeney Style
For closeup pictures of the Sweeney Banjo CLICK HERE
