Laguna banjo annoyance - the cast logo

[Simeon Warner]

I have a Laguna 1836 that I'm very happy with. I find the cast logo on the top of the banjo an annoyance though: it holds dust when I brush the lathe clean, it reduces the clearance over then banjo by 1/4 - 3/8" for no benefit, and it tends to rust because I don't take care of it as carefully as the bed.

I'm wondering what to do, the two obvious choices seem to be: 1) cast some epoxy over it to make a smooth shape, 2) grind it off and paint it. The grinding choice is appealing because it gets me that bit of extra clearance but I have no idea how much of a pain it would be to do. Has anyone else been similarly annoyed and done anything about this?

Cheers,
Simeon

 

[Roger Wiegand]

An abrasive cutoff wheel in an angle grinder should make quick work of it.

 

[john lucas]

36 grit sandpaper on a sander will get rid of it quickly.

 

[hockenbery]

I’m with @Roger Wiegand use a cut off wheel
Wear goggles the sparks will be hot.

A dremel cut off wheel will be slow but do the job. I’ve used the dremel wheels inside a tailstock casting to remove some metal that was binding on the ram.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Here's a dumb thought, but I'd look at the banjo from the underside, too. Make sure those letters don't have an imprint from the bottom side into the casting, like you'd see on stamped sheet metal. (I know, it's a casting, not a stamping. Probably won't be there.) Only takes a few seconds, but if the letters do have an imprint, grinding them off on the visible side would probably destroy the banjo. Better safe than sorry. I agree with your premise- dumb design.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I certainly would use an angle grinder to make quick work of that, if it is solid cast, you'd have to check that ;-)

 

[Darryn Achall]

Please post a pic of what you come up with. I've never thought about it, but I may do this with my Laguna banjo too just for fun.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

You know what might look kind of cool- grind the letters down almost flush but not completely. Leave them standing just a half hair tall (just a thousandth or two tall) and be careful not to touch the surrounding paint with the grinder. Don't sand the grinding marks smooth, leave them as they are. You might need to gently hand sand any resulting sharp edges of the letters, but a piece of 220 grit will mellow those sharp edges fast. Then clean the ground surface really well and spray a couple coats of clear paint/laquer/poly over the whole banjo surface to prevent rust. Now the letters are still visible and contrasting with the surrounding paint, they won't collect dust, and the machine has this new, ultra-industrial look to it with the bare cast iron name showing.

Or, do the same as above but paint the whole surface allowing the name to still be visible but very low profile.

Or forget all of that and just grind the letters off and repaint. Choices...

 

[Vincent Vogel]

I just checked my Laguna today and the underside is flat with no letters showing so I may reduce the size of my letters also.

 

[Mick Fagan]

I have the Laguna 24-36 lathe, it has a much larger banjo, the raised letters on my banjo are 2.75mm in height (0.1082677") Possibly about 3/32" I guess, but I'm not 100% sure as I don't have any inch rule devices. I have used Laguna 18-36 lathes and didn't notice that the raised lettering was as high as you have mentioned; perhaps they've changed the banjo lettering to be way more prominent since mine and others were manufactured.

If I was to remove the raised lettering, I would find someone with a milling machine, or at the least a milling bed on a drill press, and remove the raised lettering that way. It would be clean, and you could reduce it to a uniformly exact height. I would think any other method is going to look quite amateurish.

 

[Simeon Warner]

@john lucas - Many thanks for the sander suggestion. That seemed easier (though maybe slower) and a better way to get a good finish than a grinder or cut-off wheel. That is what I did, although I had only 50 grit so presumably a bit slower than 36 grit would have been. After about half an hour and a few loops of paper I entirely removed the lettering and rounded the corners. Then I cleaned and painted it. Photo attached.

@Steve Tiedman - Leaving the letters just showing sounds fancy but I was happy to remove them entirely.

@Mick Fagan - Yes, I think I overstated the height. I should have said 3/16 - 1/4". I have ground them off now so can't check... but I think they were more proud than shown in your picture.

Thanks all!

 

[Norm Marentette]

Simeon I like what you've done with the banjo. I am really interested on your vacuum hose holder. Do you have any photos how you made it. I have tried to make numerous things but haven't been happy with them. Looks like a good design. I have the same lathe.

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

@john lucas - Many thanks for the sander suggestion. That seemed easier (though maybe slower) and a better way to get a good finish than a grinder or cut-off wheel. That is what I did, although I had only 50 grit so presumably a bit slower than 36 grit would have been. After about half an hour and a few loops of paper I entirely removed the lettering and rounded the corners. Then I cleaned and painted it. Photo attached.

@Steve Tiedman - Leaving the letters just showing sounds fancy but I was happy to remove them entirely.

@Mick Fagan - Yes, I think I overstated the height. I should have said 3/16 - 1/4". I have ground them off now so can't check... but I think they were more proud than shown in your picture.

Thanks all!

View attachment 59186

Looks great! I like how it blends in really well

 

[Doug Machin]

Just fill in the letters with Epoxy. No sparks

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Winner winner!