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| Moderated by: Richard Hefner |
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| My Cookie Tin Saga - General Banjo Topics - Banjo - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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banjo brad Super Moderator 
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Ok, After much discussion and thinking about it, I am about to depart on the journey of building a cookie tin banjo. I hope to detail the experience here, and on my Prickly Pear homepage. I have acquired 3 tins, and have finally decided that I will build the Octagonal one first. I think the geometry of this tin will add a little more stability to the pot and require less internal bracing. Now I need to find some Maple for the neck. I started once to build a guitar, but that turned into a multiyear storage of parts that I finally gave to an amateur builder I know. Back in the early 80's I was taking a group class in Classical Guitar at Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley and talked with another student who had helped build a couple of guitars. Being the rash eclectic AADDer that I am, I figured it wouldn't be any problem to make my own  Well, I bought a Mahogany kit from Luthier's Merchantile International, and the Sloan book on Classical Guitar building and figured it would be a good Winter/Spring project. Starting through the Sloan book, I started making the jigs and forms I would need. This took about 2 months by the time I measured, bought the materials, measured, outlined and found a place that did bandsaw jobs by the piece. Then I built the bending form and prepared the glueing jig. Made some wooden clamps, and bought some scrapers, and fretsaw and a handplane. Actually enjoyed making the forms. Next I glued the back and front pieces together and scraped them down to approximate thicknesses. Then I had to find a metal fabrication shop to make the boiler pan to soak and soften the sides - this took a little legwork, and cost me more time. It was now getting into Spring. One warm day I finally fired up the gas grill and put the pan and sides on to heat. 5 hours later the pan was still not up to boiling (about 190f), but the gas ran out, so I decided to go ahead and bend the sides. As I tightened the waist band, there was some splintering of the wood, but nothing that I figured couldn't be sanded out. A week later, the wood was dry enough to remove from the jig. I had in the meantime started shaping the neck, had the headstock formed, glued and drilled and was ready to attach the body. Carefully I got the dovetailed sides into the neck and everything glued as per the book. Then my mistakes started to haunt me! As I was smoothing the top edge of the sides to take the top, I discovered that I had missed a crucial step - I had not cut the step-down on the neck inside the sides. This meant that the top would not sit down properly into the sides. I took a couple of weeks to get the block cut down by small woodrasp and whittling knife. Time passed (hot summer, hotter garage), work got hectic and the project sat. Then, we moved. Resigned from the Telephone Company and moved to the High Sierras and opened our own Office Supply store. The guitar sat in storage for a year until we bought a house with a garage, then sat in the garage for several more years. I kept looking at it and hoping to get to it again. Never did. Finally, when we retired for good, I gave the project to a local builder who I had agreed to have build me a custom guitar. We left Truckee and moved to the desert, and Richard (the builder) had recurring knee surgery. My custom made was put off several times due to his health, and finally we agreed that it would not be available in a timely manner, so the contract was cancelled. Any rate, I hope this project goes more smoothly. Brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
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gerard mcd Approved 
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Great post Brad. Sounds like you've got more than enough skills to do a great job. Things always go wrong in every handymany or craft project. Reference: Murphy's Law. When they go wrong on this project, just apply a little Cookie Tin Banjo appropriate cussin' (ie., Dagnabbit, this Goll'Durned, Confounded, Dad-Blame, Contrariest confabulation of ...) I'm looking forward to watching your progress! Gerard
____________________ http://www.EZFolk.com/audio/Gerard_McDermott http://www.CookieTinBanjo.com |
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Philj200 Approved 
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Courage, patience, sharp tools and a box of bandaids, my friend. We are all cheering you on.
____________________ My MP3 Section: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1143/ My Myspace area: http://myspace.com/philj200 |
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Smiffy Approved
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There's an English institution know as the Frey Bentos Pie. Generations of youngsters grew up banging around on the tins the pies came in. No-one my age grew up without coming in to contact with them. A couple of years ago I was working at the Wool Research Organisation (NZ) and one of the Boffins there was also a talented instrument maker. In common with most workaholic Boffins he was also as mad as a snake. Roger Hartshorn constantly dreamed up new slants on what to use to make his next creation. Being English he had a Frey Bentos pie tin in his workshop. He told me he was going to make something with it, and over the next few months he came in to ask cryptic questions about resonators and so on. Knowing Roger I didn't ask what he was up to. We'd all find out soon enough. The answer came on the morning he turned up with his Dobidulce. He'd used the inverted pie tin to make a resonator. The resonator hooked up, through newly-invented linkages, to the bridge. The sound is unusual. The instrument had been made for me, he said, because I was always making noises about owning a Merlin Instrument. Roger passed away, suddenly, the victim of cancer. Someone at his funeral asked whatever became of his pie tin? I told them it's at home with me, getting played and getting loved. Pictures of the Dobidulce can be seen at Smiffy's site. Hope Roger can inspire you from beyond the grave, Brad. He'd be tickled by that. I'm a bit surprised he hasn't invented a way of getting back here yet.
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banjo brad Super Moderator
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Update: Well, I got some more work done, then my computer crashed while I had the photos there. I was trying to make a webpage - lost the photos. (See the threads where I bemoan HP & Microsoft). I will make an attempt to get the completed work documented, even if just posts on my site here. As with the guitar, the neck has been sitting on the workbench gradually getting covered by miscellaneous detritus since before the first of the year.  Brad Smiffy - how about a link to your site? Last edited on Sat Feb 24th, 2007 06:45 pm by banjo brad ____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
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Smiffy Approved
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My site's under "Smiffy" in ezFolk.
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TheBloodyIrish Approved
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Good luck with your tin banjo. I am trying to make one as well, but progress is slow. I don't have as much time as I used to. Remember, if you need us, we will be here.
____________________ Currently learning: D-tuned Tin Whistle Projects: Tin-Can Banjo, Goatskin Banjo, Ugly Stick Dream Instruments: Banjo, Fiddle, Lambeg, Lap Guitar, Mountain Dulcimer |
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gerry mcgandy Approved 
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You tell as good a story as you play a song Brad. I won't hold my breath, but I'd appreciate givin' it a listen sometime.
____________________ Gerry McGandy http://mp3mart.net http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/556/ |
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| ezFolk Forums > Banjo > General Banjo Topics > My Cookie Tin Saga | |
