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A customer brought me a family heirloom banjo "custom ordered at a craft fair in the 1970s." The skin is torn, he wants it playable. I open it up and find the skin stapled to the body, and an old coffee can... I don't know what to make of it (in a *good* way - this is a really cool instrument).
Can I get just get a skin from StewMac (or somewhere else) trim it to size, and staple it in? Do I have to shape it around the rim of the body, or will the coffee can do that when I put it all back together? How long does a skin stay pliable after you wet it?
Any tips for working with calf skin? or anything else I should know?

pictures at https://photos.app.goo.gl/os3KQd2L6YVkk7ik6

I've replaced just one banjo skin head, but I read around a lot.

In essence the process is simple:

1. Soak the skin for 15-30 mins in warm water until it is soft and supple. Check it from time to time, don't soak it longer than you need to.

2. Fix it in position so that it is taut with no wrinkles.

3. Leave it to dry (24-48 hours) - it will tighten up a lot.

4. Tighten up the head to desired playing tautness.

In your case that will require some improvisation. Looking at your picture, this is my best guess:

a. Staple the head in place using the coffee can to press the head down into its final position. With luck, if you place the banjo face down on a flat surface, the head will be in the right place if it is flat to that surface. If not, you will have to improvise something to press down against. Staple opposite sides, then at 90 degrees, then filling in the gaps with staples on opposing sides. All the time you will need to keep pulling the skin taut to remove wrinkles, whilst simultaneously pressing the head down to your surface with the coffee can (using your third and fourth hands, I'd think).

b. Loosely attach the back to hold it all in position to dry.

c. Once dry, tighten down the back to tension the head.

As I said, this is just my guess. Look at how the head has to sit when the banjo is set up to play, and modify as necessary from that.

And good luck! Worst case is you have the head too loose, or so tight it splits, and have to try again with another one.

Doing some further research, it seems like this was built just like the banjos in the 3rd Foxfire book. My dad has these books from the 70s. I sent him a few pictures and he confirmed they are the same. I guess they are sometimes called mountain banjos.

So... this video tells me how to skin it.

But I still have some questions... StewMac's video on installing a banjo head says to wax everything so the head can move (presumably to tighten). The mountain banjo video says to use wood glue to prevent the head from moving so it doesn't tighten too much...

So... Wood glue? or wax?

I'm thinking of waxing the metal ring, and using wood glue on the body... Is that a terrible idea?

I am not a banjo guy at all - I hate working on them. But what you suggest sounds like a good plan.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

On a hooped banjo, the skin can stretch under the hoop and across the top. The hoop is maybe 1/2 inch deep.

So my guess is to glue up to around 1/2 inch from the edge of the playing surface, if you are supposed to glue. I'd just wax the rim of the tin where it contacts the head.

But maybe wait to see if someone has actually done this before? If not, the video is someone actually doing it, so probably better advice than me.

You might want to ask this question on the Banjo Hangout - there always seems to be someone who's owned one of whatever the question is about.

Thanks for pointing me there. I just registered but apparently can't post yet.

They used fish glue in bookbinding and other trades using parchment. With its long open time it might work good for your application.

I've still got my Foxfire books and have always wanted to make one of those but got into guitar making instead. If you need me to, I'll take a screen shot of the pages with the "plans" and post them. Looks to me like the guy they interviewed didn't use glue when he set the hide.