I’ve rough-cut the wood I’ll be using for the banjo neck. Next step is to laminate the pieces and then start the shaping.

For the second photo I’ve laid out the pieces pre-shaping but you can imagine from the layout how the banjo will look when completed. The heel will go through the bowl and out the other side…for the photo I simply laid the bowl on top of the heel piece. Lots of work ahead shaping the neck.

The neck and heel piece are ash. The fingerboard is rosewood, and I’m putting a zebrawood overylay on the peghead and on the neck behind the fingerboard. The bowl, made by Jamie, is maple and the tailpiece is antler. I was going to use bone for the nut, but I’ve cut a piece of ebony and I might use that instead, or perhaps a piece of bone with a bit of ebony behind it as a decorative element.