Banjo Armrest hardware? Sorry, NMC

[soliver]

Hey gang, a banjo player at our local jam asked if I could look into making a wooden armrest for his Deering because his metal armrest is getting badly tarnished. I've been surfing the web looking and haven't found a source for the hardware I'm looking for. I have seen that there are a lot of different means by which to attach an armrest to a banjo, but I'd like to make one that attaches the same way as the one he already has.

He currently has this style: https://www.deeringbanjos.com/collec...eering-armrest

Is this something I'll have to fabricate myself? Or does someone sell a screw on type brackets and clamp like this that I can attach to a wooden armrest?

Thank you in advance for the help.

[sunburst]

What many people do is to cover a metal arm rest (like the one in your link) with either a wood veneer or a piece of wood fit to the arm rest. Some attach with epoxy, some drill a couple of holes in the metal arm rest and use fasteners. If veneer is used, either self adhesive veneer or double-stick adhesive is effective.

[MikeEdgerton]

Or you could tell him about Nevr-Dull and he could wipe his tarnish away with very little effort.

There's nothing magic about that armrest by the way, you can probably find one of similar quality elsewhere for a whole lot less.

[sblock]

What many people do is to cover a metal arm rest (like the one in your link) with either a wood veneer or a piece of wood fit to the arm rest. Some attach with epoxy, some drill a couple of holes in the metal arm rest and use fasteners. If veneer is used, either self adhesive veneer or double-stick adhesive is effective.

+1. Since your friend already has the complete hardware for a metal armrest, the trivial and straightforward solution is simply to mount a thin wood cladding on top of the tarnished metal surface. Problem solved!

[dhergert]

It may not be tarnish. It may be that the nickel plating is being eaten away as a reaction to the person's skin chemistry. If so, it won't clean up completely. Nickel and skin tend to have trouble like that. That's the reason many of us use a half-sleeve (usually the leg portion of a black sock) to protect both the arm and the armrest.

The problem with many of the thicker custom wood armrests that are available is that they raise the arm higher above the banjo rim than where the player is used to, causing a change in the arm/picking hand geometry. Some people can get used to that, some cannot.

If your plan is to "sculpt" a wooden cover for the existing armrest, you may want to let the player of this banjo experience how thick it will feel with a spacer caul of some sort before you go through the work of making the actual armrest.

[sblock]

It may not be tarnish. It may be that the nickel plating is being eaten away as a reaction to the person's skin chemistry. If so, it won't clean up completely. Nickel and skin tend to have trouble like that. That's the reason many of us use a half-sleeve (usually the leg portion of a black sock) to protect both the arm and the armrest.

The problem with many of the thicker custom wood armrests that are available is that they raise the arm higher above the banjo rim than where the player is used to, causing a change in the arm/picking hand geometry. Some people can get used to that, some cannot.

If your plan is to "sculpt" a wooden cover for the existing armrest, you may want to let the player of this banjo experience how thick it will feel with a spacer caul of some sort before you go through the work of making the actual armrest.

On most resonator-style 5-string banjos, the armrest bolts directly to the bracket hooks with one or two small bolts (often, the same tool used to tension the heads fits these bolts). Its height over the head surface can be raised or lowered by up to half and inch, or so, by re-positioning its attachment point on the brackets hooks. Unless you already have your armrest flush with the tension hoop, so that it cannot possibly be lowered any further (which is somewhat unusual, in my experience), you can typically accommodate the minor thickness of a wood overlay on the armrest by simply lowering the armrest on the attachment brackets. Also, if you choose to use a wood veneer, rather that a thicker wood cladding, the distances we're talking about here are really quite small: 1/8" or less. There is no reason why you should not be able to accommodate that with your playing position, anyway -- assuming you even notice it!

[soliver]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the guidance.

I thought about buying an inexpensive versions I saw at Stew Mac and cutting it down as needed to use as a bracket.

I've got his contact info, so I'll reach out and give him a few options.

[MikeEdgerton]

If it's the nickel plating wearing off you need to tell him that people pay a fortune for distressed instruments.

[soliver]

If it's the nickel plating wearing off you need to tell him that people pay a fortune for distressed instruments.

[dhergert]

... which is somewhat unusual, in my experience ...

Actually in the 45+ years I've worked with Mastertones, the majority of them have the armrest all the way down to the tension hoop. That does two things: (1) it allows the wrist to be straighter while picking which reduces tension in that area, and (2) it prevents the armrest from slipping down any further without having the bolt tension wildly tight.

I'd still recommend giving the player of this banjo a chance to feel the difference before going through the work of creating the wooden armrest cover itself.

[soliver]

When I looked closely at his banjo, he had his armrest off the head about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch... I'm thinking those are the parameters I have to work with.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I have my armrest floating about 1/4" above the tension hoop. That way,my wrist is 'straight' onto the banjo. A nicely made wooden top for the existing armrest is the way to go IMO,just as John Hamlett suggests. It could be attached to it using 'hi-tack' double sided tape,which would be removeable - if you use a sledge hammer & crowbar !,
Ivan

[Paul Busman]

I'd been wanting a wooden armrest on my Gold Tone CC-IT Irish Tenor and this thread has inspired me to make it happen. I went to good ol' Home Depot and found a piece of 1x3" maple with some really pretty figure in it, including one or two birds eyes. I'm using this to make a cover for the stock chrome arm rest. I'll attach it with epoxy which is pretty strong but if I don't like the results I can remove it by hitting the back of the rest with a butane torch to break the epoxy bond. I've ripped the 1x3 into two pieces a bit less than 1/2"thick. I've cut a piece for the face of the rest from the prettiest piece, and a second piece to wrap around the edge of the rest. Right now they've been cut, rough sanded, and glued together.

[soliver]

Post some pictures for us Paul!

[Mandobart]

I picked up a Nechville banjo armrest at Wintergrass straight from the Nechville guys. Simple attachment and very comfortable.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Paul - if you don't like the wooden armrest cover,please reconsider using a butane torch to remove it. Bending any metal causes residual stress to build up in it. One way to stress relieve the metal is to heat it, & very often it'll go all to hell !. Personally i'd use a hi-tack 'double sided tape'. It's hellishly strong & will do the job just fine -or - use a hot blade to soften the epoxy.You'd only need a couple of spots of epoxy anyway,not all over.

3M do a 'high performance' double sided tape for about $4 a roll,
Ivan

[Paul Busman]

Hi Paul - if you don't like the wooden armrest cover,please reconsider using a butane torch to remove it. Bending any metal causes residual stress to build up in it. One way to stress relieve the metal is to heat it, & very often it'll go all to hell !. Personally i'd use a hi-tack 'double sided tape'. It's hellishly strong & will do the job just fine -or - use a hot blade to soften the epoxy.You'd only need a couple of spots of epoxy anyway,not all over.

3M do a 'high performance' double sided tape for about $4 a roll,
Ivan

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like that double stick tape would be pretty useful around the shop in any event.
I use the torch to de-epoxy metal parts if I need to modify one of my wooden penny whistles. It's actually a mini butane torch with a very restricted flame. It also doesn't take a whole lot of heat to do the trick so I don't think warping would be much of a concern.
I was considering just taping the cover in place with something like painters tape temporarily to see if I even like the covered rest. I'd do this before even finishing the cover-- no sense going to that extent if I'm not going to like the final result. If I like it, I'll finish it -clear to show up that figure in the wood, and then epoxy it. I like your idea of only a couple of spots of epoxy. I'd mark those spots on the inside of the rest so if I do have to go back and torch it, I'd remember where to hit it with the flame.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The sort of double sided tape that i was meaning, is the sort that carpet fitters use in some cases to stick carpets down to non-wooden floors. Try ripping one up & you'd realise just how strong that stuff is. That's the reason that you'd only need 2 or 3 small pieces to keep a wooden cover on. If you put it all over,it would be a monster job to get it off.

Post a pic.when you've done it,it should look great !,
Ivan