Removing nickel plating

[Ruari McLennan]

Hi, I wonder if anyone has detailed  instructions for removing old nickel plating from brass banjo hardware and sanding/polishing in preparation for new plating as part of a restoration?

I seem to recall someone (Ian?) who had a chemistry background doing this and polishing before re-plating began, which led to a superb result.

I did have something re-plated previously, but it left a line where the old finish met the brass, because the plater did not do a good job of removing the old plate and smoothing the item before re-plating.  I want to avoid that in the restoration of my CE Special XX!

Ruari McLennan

Victoria, BC

[thereallyniceman]

I intend to prepare a banjo for re-plating in a few weeks time and will do a video of the full procedure if people would like to see?

It could be a bit tricky for people who find practical things a challenge, but I strip the nickel and polish the brass then all the plater has to do is re-plate ...  they are good at that bit!

[Ruari McLennan]

Wow!  Count me in!  That would be great!  (You will know better than me, but if you have a YouTube account you could stick it up there and just post a link?) 

As mentioned, because of the existence of full width 3 ply laminations under the fingerboard which would doubtless be destroyed in the process of trying to get the hide glue to unstick, my luthiers have had grave concerns about trying to take off the fingerboard of my Special XX (to install a carbon fibre "truss" rod preventing warping of the neck with steel strings) without entering a phase of restorative expense that might rival NASA's annual budget. There has already been damage and chipping to the fingerboard in the unsuccessful attempt. 

The frets are out. Oh! BTW, any recommendations on fret width/height? I want somewhat narrow frets due to the look/age of the banjo. Jescar has some narrow and tall frets about. (I play clawhammer, but I do know "Sunflower Dance" so feel that I just barely qualify as a member here) :-)

[thereallyniceman]

When I bought my  CE Special XX it came from the estate of an old man who had died. The banjo had been in the loft storage are for at least 40-50 years and it seems that the strings had been removed but the banjo case was stood up leaning against the wall. After all that time the neck had bowed slightly...BUT the WRONG (backwards) way. The bow caused the area around the 7th to the 10th frets to be higher than the rest so the strings rattled when playing the lower frets.  I took it to a luthier who (stupidly) suggested that he could file the frets level... There would have been no frets left around the middle of the neck!!!

I decided that as the neck had slowly bent, apparently just by leaning against a wall, it was probably due to the hide glue softening and hardening over the years as it got hotter in the loft during the summers.

I came up with the idea that gently warming the neck, to a temperature close to the melting point of animal glue (less than 100C), and applying pressure to reverse the bend and letting it cool It may straighten.....   

I built a "heat box" using scraps of old plywood and four 100W lamps.

I OBVIOUSLY TOOK THE NECK OFF THE BANJO AND REMOVED THE STRINGS ETC. !!!!

THE PHOTOS ARE JUST TO GIVE AN IDEA OF THE PROCESS

WARNING:  THIS WORKED FOR ME BUT I WON'T BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU HAVE A GO AND RUIN YOUR BANJO!!!!!!!!

The flat base had padded felt supports for each end of the neck, heel in one slot and the nut area in the other. There is a G clamp screwed down at around the 8th fret area and the screw end of the clamp pressed onto a piece of wood spacer with grooves in it so that the pressure did not press directly on to the frets, just onto the fingerboard wood.

I fitted the neck into the assembly and screwed down on the clamp until the pressure on the neck forced it to be straight. (I took it slightly past straight to allow for it to bounce back a bit). I used a steel ruler to check the straightness. Of course on removing the clamp the neck would bow back the wrong way again! So now for the "heat".

I fitted the light box over the neck  as shown and fitted an old digital thermometer that I had to monitor progress. When all ready I put a piece of wood on top to close the box (not shown here) and turned on the lamps.

I watched the progress and over about an hour the box temperature increased steadily and when it got to 85 - 90 centigrade I turned off the lamps, turning back on again when cooling to keep the temperature to around 85-90C. A clever person would use a thermostat, but I didn't have one.

It is very important that it does not get any hotter as if the glue actually melts rather than just softening you will end up with a pile of firewood and MOP shapes.

After around an hour at 85-90C I turned off the lamps and let the whole assembly and neck cool for a few hours..  

RESULT?  When I took off the clamp and removed the neck it was as straight as an arrow with no bow in the middle. When re-strung it played perfectly and with NO buzzes. 

I assume that the animal glue softened enough to allow the laminations to move under heat and then when cold again set in the correct position...  Much easier than destroying the neck by attempting to take it all to bits.

Of course this is all very well for a neck, as was mine, bent backwards, but the jig and technique would have to be modified (neck turned over) for a neck bending upwards as they normally do!!!

[marc dalmasso]

Well done , Ian  ____ and did the inlays had move up  after the job was done ?   BTW , the backward bow is usually more on the maple necks , i noticed ;

On an early Spencer made ' CE special i buyed in 2004 , the neck was bowed  ( slight ) and ..... twisted ; but still playable but hard to play .  So , i keeped this banjo always in tune and used to play it  sometimes ;  that 's all ; i have done Nothing ; and , may be for 3 or 4 years , the twist on the neck vanished by itself , making me believe the wood has a " memory " ; more , this happened also  with another tenor banjo .

WARNING:  THIS WORKED FOR ME BUT I WON'T BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU do Nothing AND RUIN YOUR BANJO!!!!!!!!

[thereallyniceman]

I had no problem with the MOP inlays after the heat treatment and it has been a few years now.

I am not surprised that your Special untwisted itself under tension.   Wood is not as thick as it looks ;-)

Maybe keeping the heating temperature controlled at below 90C helped on mine.  I had to do something with it as it was not nice to play with the strings rattling on the frets... I am pleased that it worked as it is a beautiful banjo.