Since I last wrote, Steve and I have done quite a bit of work on the neck. We most recently cut, plained and sanded the ebony  fingerboard piece. It was a bit nerve racking at times because it is so easy to plain too much off and have to start over completely. We also glued on the ebony piece that goes over the head. We are using mammoth tusk for the nut, and we fitted it to the two ebony pieces to size. It is great working with an experienced luthier who knows the tricks of the trade- like how to place "training wheels" (little pieces of wood) next to the exact place you are gluing, so there is very little room for a mistake glue job. 

I also cleaned up and straightened the hardware from the fire banjo. My friend Alex helped me in this process.

I have been thinking a lot about the inlay I want to put on the banjo head. I began with the idea of a rose or newt, but after thinking about it for a while  I realized they were both a bit too predicable. I have been toying with the idea of a fingernail moon in white pearl and the rest of the moon in black pearl. I even thought about calculating it so it would be the moon seen on my birth. I recently traveled to England for an art show my father was in, and was inspired by the many birds in his paintings. I think I am going to have him draw me a bird for the inlay.

Steve Selin and I are making three banjos this spring (one for me and two for him). We began the project with a beautiful piece of wood for the neck. It was given to Steve by a mutual friend years ago and comes from an old factory from around here. We cut it according to a template we created and found that there was a small whole from the beam where the headstock would be. We figured it might add character to the banjo, and decided that I would fill it when the time came. The first couple of days I was able to use the band saw for the first time along with helping Steve with the table saw. It felt good to get over my fear of electric saws.

After some research, I came up with a design for the headstock and traced it on to the wood. This week I made a dowel to fill my little whole and glued the ebony piece to the head. Steve and Richie recently made a trip out to Perry City to find the remnants of a banjo that had been through a studio fire soon after it was build. All that is left is the metal hardware beautifully warn by the fire. I will use this for my banjo and to get the same affect, we are going to put Steve's banjo hardware in the wood stove for a while.