August was a moderately productive month. It was a bit damp and cool on the recreational side of things, so I stayed in the shop more and got more done than I had expected. Banjo #300 was an 11″ walnut slot head with a tunneled 5th string.
Banjo #301 is a stock slot head, shown on the Banjos page. #302 was a custom 11″ walnut A scale with the 5th string tuner moved closer to the pot. The customer supplied the armrest for this one.
I also built an A style mandolin in early August and will list it once this Shop News is written. I built it to have on hand when a friend who plays mandolin visited, but he hasn’t had time to come up yet. It will be shown on the Mandolins page, and is my first A style made from walnut.
I started two banjos in the last week of August and completed them in the first week of September, so I’ll go ahead and show them now since I’m this late writing the August update. Banjo #303 was a cherry 11″ slot head with a longer scale length and narrower nut than what I normally build to have in stock.
Banjo #304 is a cherry 11″ with a Whyte Laydie-type tone ring.
My other project this month was a batch or armrests. I currently have 9 in stock in various woods and sizes and am always happy to make others. For September I have just started work on two 11″ stock banjos with Whyte Laydie-type tone rings, to be made from curly maple and cherry with walnut trim. I’m also aiming to make a fiddle this month, and if any custom work comes my way of course I’ll be happy to do that.