well, the pot is reinforced now, and its a lot stronger. there's still a tiny bit of give, but not enough to cause problems. next up, i have to start turning the dowel stick.

the grain measure. this was a very expensive antique grain measure. but the hoop is simply too thin to support a stretched skin, so it has to be reinforced with an oak lamination. once it is glued in place and dried, it will be more than sturdy enough. however, all this extra work and expense is why i now prefer to use modern wooden shells to build my banjos.

darius's banjo moving along into the final neck shaping stage.

joshes second banjo, finished. fancy pics to come...

New banjo ordered by Darius is under way. Still working on churning out extra bridges for past two banjo buyers (sorry guys... band saw died, work, etc. slowed me down. they are coming very soon, though, i promise).

Well, there's been some progress. Joshes second banjo is almost done. If I can, I would like to finish it this today. The huge pot actually fits rather nicely with the shorter neck, aesthetically speaking, which was something I was uncertain about when he requested it. This weekend I have to begin a new tackhead for Darius in Connecticut, so it's been busy here for sure. I'm still working on hardware fabrication plans for the adjustable headed banjos, but I've been so busy making tackheads that I haven't had much time to get going on those projects, which are now looking likely to be in full swing during the dog days.