I'm getting ready to assemble a Boucher Early Banjo project and thought there might be interest in this "alternative" way of joining the ends of the tension band. Both ends are tapered, lapped, and joined with three screws. It's a rather low-tech fastening method, but it is surprisingly solid. This tension band is purposefully assembled in a manner that might have been done in a small factory in the mid-1800's. I'm sticking it here as food for thought for those of you that hesitate to make a tension band due to a fear of brazing.
