rot-n-dobe - Posted - 11/10/2014:  19:46:52

i had planned to try a steam bent rim of ebony (full size), while building the equipment, i decided to try to duplicate a fairbanks banjolele i recently aquired. i had a piece of walnut left over from another project and decided to go with that. i bought a 7" diameter pot @ good will for 2 bucks, took the haandle off and cut four pie sections out of the bottom to make room for clamps ut keep the structural integrity. i then cut a piece of aluminum for backing. with the help of a friend and his wonderful band saw i drew a neck on the walnut and the cut strips up to the neck drawing. the strips were about 3/32" thick and 26" long.i steamed the wood in the kitchen with a tea kettle, bent it around the pot and clamped it.i repeated this 5 times (the number of strips i got) and then glued them all up. i added a persimmon stripe and an ebony cap. the following pic is the end result.

more as the project developes.

banjolele rim

beegee - Posted - 11/10/2014:  19:49:14

Nice!

Pine Cone - Posted - 11/10/2014:  19:59:35

Looks very successful!  Congrats! 

If I am understanding your post you intend to use the remaining piece of the board you made the pot from into the neck.  I am a huge fan of walnut banjos.  If the neck turns out as nice as the rim you will have a very nice banjolele.

rot-n-dobe - Posted - 11/10/2014:  22:20:54

scott, you are correct. the neck and dowel stick will be from the same piece of wood. i intend to make this a fancy one. most of the banjolele's i see are very simple.

shane_lxi - Posted - 11/11/2014:  00:25:41

Very nice!

mike gregory - Posted - 11/11/2014:  05:51:14

How about a picture of the modified aluminum  cooking pot?

Tim13 - Posted - 11/11/2014:  11:21:52

That looks great.  I too would love to see the pot.

Tim

rot-n-dobe - Posted - 11/11/2014:  18:26:26

ok guys, here is the cooking pot. in the first pic you see the pot, nothing special but it is thick enough to support the wood and clamps. you can also see the aluminum backing strip rolled up inside the pot. the second pic has the rim on the pot.