Banjo Head Torque Wrench

[Marvin T. Stone Jr.]

I recently purchased a Banjo Head Torque Wrench from Janet Davis. I played
with it tonight and torqued the head on my banjo down to 8 on the dial. I
was able to tighten most of the nuts a bit with with some already that
tight. I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this wrench
and how tight on the number dial have you tightened your head? Is 8 tight?

Marv Stone

[Lynn Oliver]

> I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this wrench
> and how tight on the number dial have you tightened your head? Is 8 tight?

The key to success with the torque wrench is to use it only to keep the
tension even all around or to repeat known settings, not to tighten your
head to some arbitrary value. Try going up by increments of one, playing
the banjo after each increment. When you find the tone that you like, stop
and record the setting for future use, or more likely if the sound starts to
get worse, back off to the previous setting.

FWIW, most banjos sound good somewhere in the 5 to 11 range. Janet used to
include a sheet with the torque wrench giving recommended values; if your
did not come with one you could request it from Janet.

Lynn

[Ken Blake]

"Lynn Oliver" <chi...@gte.netnospam> wrote in message
news:7Mmi6.2502$YF5.3...@paloalto-snr1.gtei.net...

Can someone give me an ide of the price of this torque
wrench?

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

[Paulsv]

>I was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this wrench
>and how tight on the number dial have you tightened your head? Is 8 tight?
>

My bluegrass banjo, with a snuffy smith head and a Price Straight-line
tailpiece sounded best at around 12. At 8, it was a little tubby, and the
down-pressure of the bridge deflected the head more than I liked. My frailing
banjo, with an Elite head from StewMac, and a No-Knot tailpiece, is at around
9. I think I paid around $45 for mine. In addition to helping you get even
pressure all the way around the head, I find the drum Torque wrench helpful
when switching heads, to get it close to the tighness you want on the first
try.
Paul Vander Woude
Chicago, IL

Born to Tinker
Forced to Work

[Marvin T. Stone Jr.]

Ken,
I believe that the wrench was $49.00 and I bought 2 sizes of T wrenches
to go with it and shipping brought it up to about $60.00. You will need the
T wrenches because the end of the Torque wrench does not accept a standard
1/4" socket wrench. You put the T wrench on the nut and then put the Torque
wrench fitting over the T wrench to tighten. This wrench does make a
consistant tightness of your head and you can change things and put them
back to where you were if you don't like it.

Thanks for the info Lynn.

Marv

Ken Blake <kbl...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:t8k4ek7...@corp.supernews.com...

[Ken Blake]

"Marvin T. Stone Jr." <Marvi...@compuserve.com> wrote in
message
news:w9xi6.310744$hD4.73...@news1.rdc1.mi.home.com...

> Ken,
> I believe that the wrench was $49.00

Thanks very much for the info. I'll probably pass then. I
don't think it's worth that much to me.

[blackb...@mindspring.com]

8 is tight. My Stelling is 3.6 Depends on what head your using on
what Banjo as well. I just start low, play it for a while noting where
all the torque settings are and increase or decrease to where it
sounds best to you. I've learned there is really no easier way to do
it. Good Luck.

Rick L

[Lynn Oliver]

> 8 is tight. My Stelling is 3.6 Depends on what head your using on
> what Banjo as well.

Also depends on what torque wrench you are using. The common Neary
Drum-Torque wrench is calibrated to kg-cm, but given your fractional reading
I'd guess you are using different units.

Lynn