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____8. Gather a few clamps, a flat scrapwood clamping block, and some padding material. (fig. 11)
The type of clamp doesn’t matter so much (spring clamps, c-clamps, cam clamps, etc.) Just
don’t rely on weights to do the job because you cannot adjust pressure where you need it with
weights.
For padding, we use strips of heavy foam rubber from an old floor mat, but you can cut strips
of leather, terrycloth toweling, or carpet pad instead.
FIG. 11
Make a dry run first, without
glue, just to set the clamps to
the right gap for each position,
and to make sure the fretboard
can be quickly re-positioned
after the glue is applied.
clamping block
padding
more padding
Clamps
p
When satisfied with your system,
spread glue on the top of the neck
and place the fretboard on it, mak-
ing sure the burrs fall into the div-
ots made earlier. Clamp the whole
length of the fretboard, making
sure a little glue squeezes out along
the entire length on both sides.
You don’t want to have any gaps
between the fretboard and neck.
Use a wet towel to clean up excess
glue before it dries. (fig. 12)
____10.
____9.
FIG. 12
FIG. 13
FIG. 14
When the fretboard is dry, remove the clamps and begin
shaping the back of the neck to suit your grip. We have only
done basic rounding for you. When we finish off this banjo,
we like to alter the profile as shown at right. Do this with
coarse sanding blocks, rasps, and/or scrapers until you are
happy with the shape. Be careful to keep the overall thick-
ness at least 1”, including the fretboard. (fig. 13)
CAUTION: Don’t sand the tang at the end of the neck.
That has been carefully fitted to the hole in the body
already, so it should not need sanding.
p
