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CrackerJo - Posted - 08/30/2017: 18:46:49
I watched this vid just last night. I'm considering trying it my self with an RK travel banjo I just purchased from Elderly. I just hope I get the tension hoop lined up correctly.
jbalch - Posted - 08/31/2017: 05:18:55
My advice re: the tension hoop is: don't pull it too low to begin with. In other words, start out with a low crown.
When the head is new, the tension hoop should sit a little higher than where you want it to eventually settle.
Virtually all hides stretch more over time. So if you start out with the crown too tall, the head may eventually overstretch to the point where it bottoms out and can't be properly tightened.
See below - Hope that helps!
AndrewD - Posted - 08/31/2017: 07:32:30
quote:
Originally posted by jbalch
My advice re: the tension hoop is: don't pull it too low to begin with. In other words, start out with a low crown.
When the head is new, the tension hoop should sit a little higher than where you want it to eventually settle.
Virtually all hides stretch more over time. So if you start out with the crown too tall, the head may eventually overstretch to the point where it bottoms out and can't be properly tightened.
See below - Hope that helps!
I'll second that. I've reheaded a few banjos and it's not difficult. The only one to go wrong was where I did exactly what John suggests not to do. On a banjo with closed end nuts. It spent the next few years, until my thumb eventually wore through it, with a couple of washers on each nut.
Ken LeVan - Posted - 08/31/2017: 08:16:18
Thanks, jbalch and AndrewD
that's good advice. I need to make high crowns, and I am going to make some kind of a fixture. I will make the fixture low-medium instead of starting high.
rudy - Posted - 08/31/2017: 09:53:55
Not a terribly informative video, but anything banjo-centric is good for entertainment value. Much as I appreciate the effort, instructions to "wet, mount, and tension" a head aren't very informative for anyone looking to do this for a first time. There are some very good step by step head replacement articles on the web if you look around a bit.
I've posted the information previously, (available with a search) but Brooks Masten had a very nice procedure posted on his old website for tensioning new goat skin heads so they didn't have problems with reaction to humidity levels.
Points that I would have liked to have seen would be:
1. Preference for 1/8" brass square stock for the flesh hoop waxed round stock wouldn't be anything I'd suggest, as it encourages too much slippage and settling IMHO.
2. The need to start off with the tension band initially high so the crown will end up at the desired height after drying and tensioning the head.
3. A MUCH better trim job on that edge...
4. Checking the tension band height as the head is mounted, and confirming with measurements that the band is being pulled down uniformly as it is tensioned.
The old Goldtone calf skin pre-mount heads used to come almost flat, with instructions on how to wet them and pull them over the rim for a proper fit.
G Edward Porgie - Posted - 08/31/2017: 12:42:45
If someone asked me to recommend a video about installing a skin head, it would not be this one. Too little information about initial height, questionable advice about waxing the flesh hoop, and a really sloppy trimming job.
rudy - Posted - 08/31/2017: 13:22:36
quote:
Originally posted by G Edward Porgie
If someone asked me to recommend a video about installing a skin head, it would not be this one. Too little information about initial height, questionable advice about waxing the flesh hoop, and a really sloppy trimming job.
Agree totally, It's really for medicinal use only. 
StewMac has a huge head start on promotion; it's interesting that Richie Dotson's "How to change a skin head" video has about the same number of views after 6 YEARS!
One of the problems with a round flesh hoop is it can present problems with the skin slipping under tension. Waxing it would make the situation worse!
Edited by - rudy on 08/31/2017 13:27:42
mikehalloran - Posted - 08/31/2017: 17:49:53
I wax steel flesh hoops to retard rust and have never had a problem with slipping.
Square Vega brass flesh hoops — never.
rudy - Posted - 08/31/2017: 17:54:21
quote:
Originally posted by mikehalloran
I wax steel flesh hoops to retard rust and have never had a problem with slipping.
Square Vega brass flesh hoops — never.
Is there a reason?
mikehalloran - Posted - 09/01/2017: 06:07:18
quote:
Originally posted by rudy
quote:
Originally posted by mikehalloran
I wax steel flesh hoops to retard rust and have never had a problem with slipping.
Square Vega brass flesh hoops — never.
Is there a reason?
I've never seen one corrode except for a minor black spot or two so I feel it's redundant..
I have a couple of 10 15/16" Vega flesh hoops on a shelf that still look practically new — they can't be newer than 60 years old now that I think about it, probably 80–100 years old by now.
m_watson - Posted - 09/01/2017: 08:15:43
By the way, there are older more detailed instructions for skin head installation on the StewMac website, featuring Dan Levenson.
rudy - Posted - 09/01/2017: 10:59:36
quote:
Originally posted by m_watson
By the way, there are older more detailed instructions for skin head installation on the StewMac website, featuring Dan Levenson.
Yes, those are much better.
Dan Levenson's "Replacing A Hide Banjo Head Instructions".
Edited by - rudy on 09/01/2017 11:11:16
rudy - Posted - 09/01/2017: 11:04:40
quote:
Originally posted by mikehalloran
quote:
Originally posted by rudy
quote:
Originally posted by mikehalloran
I wax steel flesh hoops to retard rust and have never had a problem with slipping.
Square Vega brass flesh hoops — never.
Is there a reason?
I've never seen one corrode except for a minor black spot or two so I feel it's redundant..
I have a couple of 10 15/16" Vega flesh hoops on a shelf that still look practically new — they can't be newer than 60 years old now that I think about it, probably 80–100 years old by now.
Ah.
I was misinterpreting your comment to mean that you were against the square shape for some reason. Now I understand.
I've unwrapped the skin from a few old heads where the wire was so badly rusted that it would have been an exercise in futility to try and re-use it. In those cases the rust permeated the skin wrapped around the flesh hoop below the tension band and made for a very nasty looking head bead.
AndrewD - Posted - 09/01/2017: 13:49:22
On flesh hoop shape. If I was reheading an old banjo and the hoop was re-usable but ferrous and round I wouldn't bother to get or make a new square one. If the hoop was not re-usable and I was going for a new one I'd go for square brass. My modern skin-headed banjo has square brass. All of my old ones have the round steel ones they came with. No real difference in ease of use. No difference once it's on.
