Scrapyard Banjo
warning: this instrument does not play like a normal banjo. You must pluck the strings and it will sound like a percussion instrument.
It is not high quality. It was done for an Art project.
Here are the supplies.
A sheet of plywood
A shammy
2 1 inch screws
5 half inch screws
Gorilla glue
A 10 and a half inch aluminum pie tin
A pack of XL nickel wound guitar strings
A door hinge
Tools you will need
Clamps
A electric screwdriver
A pair of pliers
A band saw
A screwdriver
Building the Neck
Draw a 1 3/4 in line on the plywood. Measure 2 feet perpendicular to the line. And draw a 1 1/8 in line. Draw lines connecting the corresponding points.
Repeat 3 times
Draw a line parallel to the short end by 2 inches on one piece.
Draw a 4inch line perpendicular to the small end that goes away from the 1 3/4 side. Make that the center of a 4inch line. Trace the points.
Cut by the line closest to the 1 3/4 in side. Cut the outline of the shapes but on the short one cut from the 2inch zone around the 4inch head.
Press all the glue together with gorilla glue by sandwiching the short piece and the head. Leave overnight.
Press the door hinge to the underside of the head on the far side from the big end of the neck.
Screw a 1 inch screw from the side the hinge is attached through the thin head to stick out the other side 1/4 of an inch.
Attaching Neck
Drill five holes in the big end of the neck. Drill through the aluminum tin to match the holes. Drive screws through the holes with a one inch one in the middle. Directly opposite the screws. Drill a hole from the outside going towards the pie tin. Drive a screw partially throughout the hole but so it the head sticks out some from the pie tin.
Covering the Pie Tin
Cut a piece of the shammy that is the size of the pie tin. Stretch it over the side by taking the outer bit of the shammy and punching it under the lip with a screwdriver and securing it with a pair of Pliers to clamp the lip.
Stringing It
Wrap one end of the D A G chords around one of the holes in the hinge. Then pull the other end of the chord and wrap it around the screw on the other side of the pie tin. The B chord is wrapped around the screw in the head of the neck. Then pull the other end of the chord and wrap it around the screw like the other chords.