All wood banjolele projects

I fell in love with the balalaika After I saw a concert where there was an orchestra of balalaikas. Maybe 100 total members in sizes from piccolo all the way to double bass size. I was a child then, living with my mothers family in Germany when dad went to Viet Nam. And now 53 years later I finally have one of my very own.

:)
 
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It's taking me some time to get these done but here is where I am so far. The parts are not attached yet.... This was just a dry fitting to see what they look like so far.



A lot of hand sanding ahead..... Next pic will show first coat of finish.
 
It's taking me some time to get these done but here is where I am so far. The parts are not attached yet.... This was just a dry fitting to see what they look like so far.



A lot of hand sanding ahead..... Next pic will show first coat of finish.
Like that buffalo head nickle in the center.
BTW you have a shot of the doweling under the hood? Just curious
 
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Yeah Buffalo Nickel is my unofficial brand for the wood carvings and musical instruments I create in my work shop. I place one or more nickels in or on every project. The reason for the Buffalo Nickel is that they remind me of a time when I was a kid and my dad would come home from work and give my brother and I a nickel. That was big money for a 5 year old in the early 1960s. I even have gold with white borders water slide decals that will go on each headstock. See them in the pic below.

20180531_093253[7354].jpg

Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the backbone but basically I drilled a hole through the rim and the two inside end blocks then I stuck the dowel in the hole through to the end and glued it in place before adding the top and bottom pieces. I also drilled a hole in the neck to mount it to the body on the exposed end of the dowel. I also drilled separate holes on the neck block, rim, and neck to glue in a short dowel to help support the neck and to keep it from twisting during the glue up. I hope this answers your question. I have not glued the necks on yet so I will take a pic that shows this setup tomorrow.
 
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Yeah Buffalo Nickel is my unofficial brand for the wood carvings and musical instruments I create in my work shop. I place one or more nickels in or on every project. The reason for the Buffalo Nickel is that they remind me of a time when I was a kid and my dad would come home from work and give my brother and I a nickel. That was big money for a 5 year old in the early 1960s. I even have gold with white borders water slide decals that will go on each headstock. See them in the pic below.

View attachment 121102

Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the backbone but basically I drilled a hole through the rim and the two inside end blocks then I stuck the dowel in the hole through to the end and glued it in place before adding the top and bottom pieces. I also drilled a hole in the neck to mount it to the body on the exposed end of the dowel. I also drilled separate holes on the neck block, rim, and neck to glue in a short dowel to help support the neck and to keep it from twisting during the glue up. I hope this answers your question. I have not glued the necks on yet so I will take a pic that shows this setup tomorrow.

I saw the picture on P. 3 and I see holes at top and bottom at neck and tail. Are there two dowels, or is one set of holes for something else? The hardest thing is getting that neck angle right.
 
The one dowel runs through from tail to neck and sticks out of the neck end of the body by one inch. I was also going to do the same with the other dowel but decided against it as too much over kill for support. So the other dowel just peeks out of the neck end by one inch. On the butt end I only drilled through the block and not the rim. The drilling was pretty straight forward. I made a home made drill press for the neck drilling. I took 2 2x4s and clamped them on my work bench to work as a rail I then clamped my hand drill to one end of the rails and slid the neck to the drill bit then I turned the neck over and did the same again. I also did the same with a 2x2x2 block of wood (which I cut in half and rounded the corners to fit the curve of the rim) and the rim which made all the holes match and the necks slide on as if they were custom fit from a factory. the necks will go on nice and straight and solid. No angle problems here.
 
Here is a hint to my next project. I'm going to call it a tenor reso-banjo-lele.



Recommendation…… If you try using a hand drum as I have, use one with the tacks around the rim holding the skin on. The ones with cloth binding have about 100 tiny staples holding the skin on and pulling them is a pain. Also 200 or so tiny holes rather than maybe 30. The drums with tacks are made of solid wood and are much stronger than the other which is very flimsy plywood.
 
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Yep that is why I'll use a smaller scale fretboard. This was just a mock up to show the general concept. I measured and a 15" scale fretboard will put the bridge closer to the middle of the aluminum resonator. Close enough at least to take advantage of the metallic resonator sound. But then again I have never built a resonator instrument without steel strings before..... I guess if it doesn't work I can always go to light steel strings.
 
The necks and fingerboards are glued tight...… Doing the inlay on the headstocks and adding the walnut heel caps in the am. Then some light sanding then gluing on the bridge and I will be ready for the first coat of finish. I'm starting to get excited. My first ukulele matching soprano & concert camp uke builds. The shape of the bodies remind me of my old Boy Scout canteen LOL Maybe I'll make a gig bag that looks like the old canteen carrier too LOL



I bet they will love that at the bluegrass jams. :)
 
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The necks and fingerboards are glued tight...… Doing the inlay on the headstocks and adding the walnut heel caps in the am. Then some light sanding then gluing on the bridge and I will be ready for the first coat of finish. I'm starting to get excited. My first ukulele matching soprano & concert camp uke builds. The shape of the bodies remind me of my old Boy Scout canteen LOL Maybe I'll make a gig bag that looks like the old canteen carrier too LOL



I bet they will love that at the bluegrass jams. :)

Ha! I remember my brother having one of those! I'm loving the stuff you're coming up with
 
I like the concept and the look of them, I'm just not sure how they will sound. I suspect more ukulele than banjo.
 
I did the rubber band string test and tap tests on the tops and I agree they will probably sound more like ukes than banjos (Not a bad sound for my first attempt at building ukes of any kind I think). But on the tests I conducted, the concert uke definitely puts out a lot more and much deeper sound than the soprano. That was not an unexpected result. But the amount of difference is way more than what was expected. None the less..... I think they will sound just fine for our use.

The fretboards, headstock emblems, are all on as are the heel covers. I will glue on the bridge and nut tonight then tomorrow starts the finishing process. Yay!
 
I did the rubber band string test and tap tests on the tops and I agree they will probably sound more like ukes than banjos (Not a bad sound for my first attempt at building ukes of any kind I think). But on the tests I conducted, the concert uke definitely puts out a lot more and much deeper sound than the soprano. That was not an unexpected result. But the amount of difference is way more than what was expected. None the less..... I think they will sound just fine for our use.

The fretboards, headstock emblems, are all on as are the heel covers. I will glue on the bridge and nut tonight then tomorrow starts the finishing process. Yay!

They look great and I am sure will sound fine. Good job!
 
I did the rubber band string test and tap tests on the tops and I agree they will probably sound more like ukes than banjos (Not a bad sound for my first attempt at building ukes of any kind I think). But on the tests I conducted, the concert uke definitely puts out a lot more and much deeper sound than the soprano. That was not an unexpected result. But the amount of difference is way more than what was expected. None the less..... I think they will sound just fine for our use.

The fretboards, headstock emblems, are all on as are the heel covers. I will glue on the bridge and nut tonight then tomorrow starts the finishing process. Yay!

In case you're interested, there's an interesting current thread on the banjo hangout forum (specifically the building, setup, and repair subforum) from a pro banjo maker who just made some of what he calls "banjo lutes." Same general idea, but with some different design decisions. And I think there was another thread there a month or two ago where someone built a banjo more like yours, with a round body and a solid wood top.

Thanks for posting your build thread. Now I want to try building one. :)
 
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Thank you Dennis & Uke0alot.

Here are the final pics before the finish. I think they came out nicely.



 
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