banjonz - Posted - 09/23/2022:  19:51:45

I have been looking around for alternatives to brass or steel rod/bar for flesh hoops. We are very limited here in what is available. I only know of one store locally that sells 1/" brass rod in the length I need and apart from a fret bender tool, I have no way of reforming them into circles. I have an old weatherking head mounting band minus the head. I have reduced the width by grinding it down rotationally on my bench grinder. I am going to try and install a vellum on my RK-80 using it.

lapsteel - Posted - 09/24/2022:  05:13:41

I found this thick, springy wire under a hydro power line. I have used it on several banjos with no problems.

flesh hoop

 

G Edward Porgie - Posted - 09/24/2022:  08:36:03

I have considered re-using those aluminum mounting rings. I think it would be fine, provided there are no sharp edges and no bits of the old plastic head. If this doesn't work, an old wire coat hanger could be another flesh hoop substitute.

davidppp - Posted - 09/24/2022:  08:50:04

Not Rocket Science. I thought a zillion folks would chime in. George is right: coat hanger wire works fine. I like #6 gauge bare copper wire, sold by the foot at major hardware suppliers. I'm sure #7 or #8 would do. Copper is soft. If you want to square and edge or two, a file would easily do the job. Of course, 1/8" square brass stock is elegant, but brass is now a controlled substance in the U.S., and square is rare.

The ends should meet or be very close, but there's no need for a joined joint like solder, glue, or shrink tubing. Once the head is dry and at tension, that ring isn't going anywhere.

Silver_Falls - Posted - 09/24/2022:  08:54:07

At the suggestion of someone here on BHO, I've been using 8 gauge copper wire to good effect for making flesh hoops. Widely available and inexpensive. It is easy to bend into shape by hand. I use painters tape to fix it onto the tension hoop for sizing and marking, before cutting just *slightly* long. Then filing the ends square and sizing again for final fit before joining the ends. The finished hoop should be perfectly matched to the circumference of the tension hoop, or ever so slightly larger. (If it is ever so slightly smaller, you may have many difficulties.)

I've been joining the open ends with heat shrink tubing. Some use winds of tape. Soldering the ends is certainly the best, but I found it a bit fiddly to get right.

The round copper wire is slippery compared to square brass stock. By itself, the wire doesn't give much "bite" into the skin to lock it into place. I've gotten some slippage on copper wire hoops even after the skin is fully dry and locked under tension.

So now I wind hemp thread onto the wire, a long continuous spiral of about 30-40 loops around the hoop. I use some titebond glue to saturate the thread before winding. You can view the effect on Mr. John Balch's site, hidebanjoheads.com, under the heading "ADD ON - Spiral Flesh hoop".

Dan Gellert - Posted - 09/24/2022:  12:18:55

Those aluminum hoops on plastic heads are way too big for a lot of older banjos (and a little large for some newer ones), and will only be bigger wrapped in hide. A new flesh hoop will work better and look better.