MIMF

Thanks, Bob. I have not tried cutting my own because I have read that a very good degreasing is needed. Have the bones sold at pet stores had a proper degreasing for cutting nut and bridge blanks?

Thanks, guys, for the wise advise. O.K. maybe Mammouth tusk is not a bright idea, but my former Walrus supplier's cost is more than I can pay. I would go with bone, but I want an oversize nut and can't find one. Anyone know where I can get a 3 inch long 3/4 x 1/4 inch nut blank? I can get a reasonab...

Has anyone used Mammouth tusk for nuts or bridge inserts?

I am considering using it in a Weissenborn style build.

Dan

Here are the pics of the completed Didgeridoo-Bro & Steel

Finally got the pics reduced to 150k. My entry is a Didgeridoo-Bro & Steel built from reclaimed materials. This is a "quiet"practice Dobro with a long hollow body and sounds like a hybrid between a Digeridoo and a Dobro. Construction pics are posted. Total cost was $11.54-- $2 for part...

I will be posting pics of practice dobro on a triangular aluminum body ( Digeridoo like tube) when I get the pics down to size. This pic is not the entry as it was my first attempt at building an instrument and is a "quiet" practice Dobro made entirely of junk parts 2 years ago. I was tryi...

Interesting indeed, thanks Alan. I too wish I had a better understanding of how this all works. Unlike Bryan, I am already so far off "the beaten path" (Deodar cedar for a pineapple Weissenborn) that I might as well continue. I am considering using two sound holes one on either side of the...

I am trying to design a pineapple shaped Weissenborn. The grain pattern of the top would look good with 2 sound holes - one on either side of the strings. Is it necessary to have a sound hole directly under the strings, or is this just tradition

Michael:

Please play with your ideas a bit more. How would anchoring the strings to the tailblock on a full sized Weissenborn affect the construction? Seems like a good idea if you get enough vibration transferred to the bridge.

Thanks for the quess on thickness. Based on pressing a steel ball between two different woods and measuring the depth of the impression, my Deodar is definitely softer than black walnut, softer than an unknown soft maple and slightly softer than black cherry but much harder than southern (mid-Georgi...

Of coarse, tone is what is most important. If sustain is more complicated than it should be - tone is extreemely more complicated than it should be!

Most guitars have very thin tops and backs and a lot of bracing - would thicher tops and backs with less bracing sound as good?

Thanks all for the good replies. I agree with Chuck Morrison - sustain on a banjo seems to be an oxymoron ( unless Jens Kruger is playing it). Now the guestion becomes to get great sustain from a pinapple shaped Weissenborn, if I am willing to give up some volume, loudness, power, projection, etc. -...

Sustain, Volume, Loudness are they all the same?

Deodar Cedar-- I have some Deodar Cedar which was cut 20+ years ago and was recently recut into thin pieces. These have been planned to 0.2 inches and look great. I have bent some strips 4 inches wide and they look great. I would like to try to build a Pineapple shaped Weissenborn. Anyone know how t...