from an end, and make a saw kerf from the end to the hole. To cut the pearl inlays, first make a 1/2 x 2 x 6 in. At the peghead, add a small triangular filler block with ebony veneer in the slot over the truss-rod end. The finished hole must be tapered, but for now, bore a hole to match the end of the fifth-string peg. Center the hold between the fourth and fifth frets and about 1/4 in. Use a drill press to bore the fifth-string peg hole. File the neck edges and binding flush, and finish shaping the neck with files and sandpaper. Use a perfectly straight piece of 2-in.-thick stock as a caul to ensure that the fingerboard will be flat. Then, install the truss rod, spread glue and clamp the fingerboard to the neck using the pins to position the fingerboard. Accurately position the finger-board over the neck and press down to impress the pin locations. Allow the pins to protrude about 1/16 in. Tap short locating pins cut from brads into the neck's flat surface, one at each end of the neck. After the glue is dry, scrape the binding flush. Glue the binding to the fingerboard with Duco cement, using masking tape to hold the binding in place. Adjust this cutting line to accommodate the thickness of the fingerboard binding, saw to the outside of the line and smooth the edges. Then, trace the neck on the back of the fingerboard. Don't align the centerline of the board with the truss-rod slot, but adjust it so it's aligned with the neck centerline from the heel to the fifth fret. Position the neck over the fingerboard so the gap between the peghead veneer and the end of the board equals the thickness of the nut. You can find more great projects at Popular Mechanics DIY Central. This project was originally published in the March 2001 issue of Popular Mechanics. You can buy all of the parts and tools through mail-order distributors - including resonator, pot assembly, slotted finger-board and machined neck blank. When it comes to building your own banjo, it's probably easier than you think. Half drum, half fretted, string instrument, the modern banjo has nearly as much polished metal on it as a '58 Buick and a bright, distinctive sound that's familiar to all. It's a colorful history for an instrument that's no less unique. One shaped by African slaves, adopted and refined by Civil War entertainers, accepted into the parlors of urban society and finally reborn in the hands of innovative instrumentalists and folk music interpreters - the five-string banjo. While the music is uniquely ours, though, most of the instruments we use were born and bred in a classical tradition. Not the lofty kind, heard and played in quiet concert halls or recital rooms, but our music, the music played by and for the people. Whether it's jazz, rock, blues, or folk, we Americans love our music.
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