For enthusiasts of early banjo
Photo uploaded on March 14, 2012
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Comment by Steve Jeter on March 14, 2012 at 8:45am
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I made this to keep the gourd from caving under the outward pressure of spike,, seemed to work, have since replaced with pine pot
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Comment by flatfoot johnny on March 22, 2012 at 4:15am
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Is this the carver gourd. Looks real thin. Im about to get a stash of gourds and am a bit worried about the wall thickness and was considering laminating the inside with fiberglass if they are as thin as this.
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Yep, maybe 1/8 thick. I ordered 3 large gourds from Alabammy , hopefully be here today, they are supossed to be 1/2 thick. I was thinking about coating the interior myself. Ive used tightbond2 to strengthen stuff,, just using it as a layer,,,, but maybe epoxy would work better, on a gourd though.
I saw where Senor Moschella has used epoxy on inside of gourds also Senor Menzies, and those guys certainly know their stuff.
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Comment by John Masciale on March 22, 2012 at 9:25am
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I've used birdhouse or Martin gourds. Then are really thick - 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The outside shell is really hard too. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to cut them.
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How did you cut them? I was thinking jigsaw, but that gets out of hand quick, My Japanese pull saw may work
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The problem was getting a clean start on the shell. I ended up using my Japanese pull saw, so you have a good idea, but I had a hard time getting through the shell at first. I started by using my drill to drill a couple of small holes, and then a utility knife to get through the material between the holes. After that I was able to get my pull saw to work cleanly. Work slowly. That was my solution. I'm sure someone out there has a better idea.
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I pretty much did the same with mine. Except i used a I used a keyhole saw... pull saw might be easier. they are quite tough to cut.
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Comment by Bart McNeil on March 22, 2012 at 8:56pm
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I cut two 11" gourds... My problem was that the gourds wanted to jump out from under my regular hand saw... So I built a simple cradle with 2" x 4"s and used 2" tape to hold the gourd in the cradle. Of course I also used bubble wrap in the cradle to cushion the gourd while cutting. I held the goard with my left hand and cut straight down. All went smoothly. I also used no pressure on the hand saw but let it do all the cutting. I thought that to force it would increase the possibility of breaking the gourd.
The skin went on without a problem but my tacking was a bit uneven. The thickness of my goards is about 5/16".
I coated the inside of the goard with several coats of clear laquer in hopes that it will reduce the possibiity of allowing moisture to get inside the wall of the gourd. I think that on one I will not use a "sound hole" in the side and maybe use a sound hole in the other just as an experiment.
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Comment by Matthew Mickletz on March 23, 2012 at 7:59am
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Now y'all got me curious as to how to best cut the gourd! Check out the method for drawing a perfect line around the perimetter of the gourd: How to cut a gourd
The book technique is darn slick! She never shows HOW to cut the thing in this video but does in another, taking the modern route of a jigsaw.Just a few barks from your neighborhood newbie! :) Mutt
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Oh and I had a thought on how to keep it as level as you can and still manipulate it. How about plopping it in a pail or box of sand? Conforms to every nook of the bottom. Could also used pea gravel or something like that.
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