Handcrafted Banjos Meet 21st Century Manufacturing

The Challenge

Having control over a CAD/CAM program to get smooth curves and the right accuracy for the banjo inlays that add a great deal of eye appeal.

• With Mastercam, Ramsey was able to move his banjos into 21st century technology.
• Mastercam allowed Ramsey to cut pearl and abalone inlay that adds a great deal of eye appeal to the banjo, and it allowed for precision routing of the fretboards.
• Mastercam’s local Reseller installed the software and even helped Ramsey setup his machine better to work more efficiently.
• Mastercam provided the ability to scan in artwork, convert it to a usable file, and then cut the artwork on the fretboard.
• Users have great control over the tolerances in Mastercam, which is important when your dimensions are critical.

Mike Ramsey, owner of Mike Ramsey Banjos, first started playing these instruments in 1984. His first banjo consisted of a neck made in his basement workshop fitted to an old rim. Many prototypes followed as he fine-tuned the process, style, sound, and product. However, along the way, he really couldn’t find just the right banjo sound. So, he spent about four years building them and trying them out along with changing different characteristics on each one to develop an instrument that he really liked. “I eventually settled on a couple of models,” he remarked. “I took all the prototypes I had built and was selling them to a music dealer in New York City. Then, over the years, I just developed a name for building banjos.”

From being totally handcrafted, Ramsey moved his banjos into 21st century technology through the use of CAM software to cut pearl and abalone inlay that add a great deal of eye appeal to the banjo and for precision routing of the fretboard.

Originally, Ramsey cut and inlaid all his pearl and abalone by hand. Then he visited Larry Sifel and his company, Pearl Works, in Maryland and learned about CNC cutting. Sifel introduced Ramsey to CNC routing, and CAD/CAM software for controlling his CNC router.

“I began cutting pearl using CAM software, but I wasn’t getting the results I wanted,” he remarked. “I couldn’t get smooth curves, I wasn’t satisfied with the control I had, and I couldn’t get accuracy with the 1/32” and smaller cutters I was using. So I went back to Sifel and asked him what to do. He said, ‘You need to start using Mastercam CAD/CAM software. It will give you the results you’re looking for, and take the two-horsepower motor off and put an air motor on the router.’ I did both of these things. Also, Darrly Motley from CNC Services (Amherst, VA), the local Mastercam distributor, helped me set up my machine better and installed the software. When I started doing the artwork, I found that Mastercam does a better job for me, it’s faster. When I do my fretboards, all the scales are programmed into the CNC. I don’t have to worry about accuracy as far as the layout of the frets. It actually does a better job than I could do by hand, and consistently.”

Dimensions for the pearl to fit into the pocketed fretboard are absolutely critical. A pocket too small won’t allow the pearl to be inlayed and if it’s too large, the fretboard could end up being scrapped. Ramsey allows only about a thousandth of an inch tolerance between the pocket and the pearl. “You can control the this tolerance with Mastercam. You can put in a half thousandths or whatever dimension tolerance you need with it,” he said.

“The thing I like about Mastercam is its ability to scan in artwork, convert it to a usable file and then cut the artwork on the fretboard. For instance, a customer sends me a logo, I can easily put it on his banjo in pearl or abalone. I scan it, convert the file to a raster or vector, apply geometry to it, snap a wire frame around it, clean it up, and I’m ready to go. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do that,” he comments.