Building a Mountain Banjo: Rough-cutting the Neck

This is a continuation of my series of posts documenting my construction of a mountain banjo.  Earlier posts include Building a Mountain Banjo: The Pot and Building a Mountain Banjo: Marking the Neck.

      I actually did this way back in May, before I moved to Auburn, but I am just now getting a chance to write about.  Compared to marking the neck, rough-cutting the neck was a quick process.  The final shaping will be a different story (especially since I don't currently own a draw-knife, block plane, or rasp).
      Like most wood projects, this step could be done entirely with hand tools, but I used a more modern approach.  I really respect the traditionalists who do everything the old-fashioned way, but I want to get this banjo done before the fall hiking season.  So, I used a chop saw and a bandsaw.  If needed, you can go without the chop saw, but it does mike nice, clean, straight cuts.  I used the chop saw to cut the excess material off my neck blank, that is, I cut my neck blank to length.  Next, I used the chop saw to make the angled cut that created the top of the headstock.  See the picture below for clarification.

A side view of my neck blank.  First, I cut on the mark that said "end".  It marked the end of my neck blank.  Next I used the chop saw to cut off the triangular piece that says "cut 2".

      A bandsaw is probably the best tool for the next part.  I was fortunate enough to use Mr. Syzdek's bandsaw.  His wife and son had just finished making him a nice workbench with a nice polyurethane finish.  It was great to have a nice work surface.  I put my blank down on the saw sideways (i.e., what will later be the fingerboard was in a plane parallel to the saw blade) and used the saw to cut the profile of the banjo neck.  With a bandsaw, it is best to cut just outside your mark and then later on you can sand the excess material off.

The profile cut was pretty easy with the bandsaw.  Note the practice pieces above.  Mr. Syzdek suggested I practice on a few scraps of wood.

      Even though the excess material would later be discarded, I held onto to help shape the top profile of the neck and the headstock.  I matched the excess material with my neck blank and taped the two pieces together with masking tape.  That gave me a flat surface opposite to cut on so I could go ahead and shape the top (fingerboard) profile of the neck.  If this sounds confusing, just look at the photos and it should make sense.

The two pieces taped together.  Also some awesome shoes that I got from John D. who in turn got them from his Dad.

A look at the fingerboard side of the blank.  Taping the excess material to the opposite side gave me a flat surface to work with.

      After taping up the blank, I cut the top profile with the bandsaw.  Unlike the side profile, this step required two cuts.  I took extra care where the neck transitions from 5 strings to 4 strings.  Just like the first cut, it was pretty simple.


       That pretty much completes the rough shaping of the neck.  I still have to rough shape the headstock, but I haven't decided what shape I want.  A true Stanley Hicks mountain banjo would probably just have simple curves, but I want to make this banjo my own.  Next I need to use a draw-knife or something to round out the blank.  Then I will use a rasp, file, and sandpaper, in that order, to finish shaping the neck.  The only problems are I don't own a draw-knife or a rasp, and I accidentally left my neck at my parent's place in Florida.  Thus, it will be some time before I can get back to work on my banjo.  It's okay though, I have other things to keep me occupied such as school, making running sandals, and maybe attempting to build a bamboo bicycle.  As always, I'll keep you posted.