Restore banjo to A1 condition
Replate metalwork

VG Banjo in  near original condition
I will swap Paramount tailpiece for 4 hump Grover Reproduction, engraved "Deluxe"
Armrest was plated recently and is still VG, I will not send it in.

Fiberskyn head will be replaced with a head of Donal's choice
Rim will receive fresh finish

All is as it should be, no tampering, no missing pieces

Now if we run a clear head, I like to dye the top of the rim in a dark reddish brown, to help accent the internal components visually.
It just looks better than raw wood
 

The center trim ring goes on just like an  Auto Piston Ring, into a recessed  slot into the rim

You pull it out on one side, and work it around until its free

I will pull the stanchions and have them plated as well

They almost look like little "Texas's" :)

Everything that is leaving for plating is counted and bagged, and off to FQMS for the service.
I had the correct hook and nut, for the one that was missing

All parts not going for plating

Ready to begin, I'll start with the frets
We will use a Stewart Mc Donald #147 wire, a medium wide wire that provides good service and is comfortable

Tailpiece in from FQMS, ready to head it right back out to Ron Raymer for "Deluxe" engraving

Old finish removed from rim, ready to seal, and then begin clear coats.

Starting to remove the varnish that was applied over the celluloid
Many times people do this to make it shine not knowing that only a compound and buffing is needed to do so.
 In some cases I can get back to clean celluloid if they used Varnish and not Nitrocellulose, that can intrude deep into the celluloid, rendering it unrepairable
The crazing you see is the varnish, not the celluloid

Wetsanding with 340 to get to the bottom of the finish

It is about 80 percent off in this pic, I still have some wetsanding to do but it will shine as you can see, I just buffed it to show this.

Cleaned inside of old varnish, ready for clear
Sidewall is scraped and sanded, ready for sealer

All sealed, ready for clear
one coat only inside, best for tone
 6 coats will go on the side with wetsanding between

Curing and taking on coats, you can see the rim as well, up on the left

Epi uses brads in the resonator on this model to contact the flange, maybe something to this, I like the concept of floating the flange.

Cure time, while I think on the neck for the next run

Mr.Raymer got his part taken care of and it looks just like the examples that I sent, and it is now off to the platers for some gold
I expect the other back soon and I will be working on the neck in the meantime.
All is going as planned
Back to the frets...

A few more to pull...
Ran out of blue tape...in case you are wondering :)

After air blowing all slots clean ..
Sealing any cracking, and strengthening the slot at the same time with thin cyano
All this you do before pulling tape, looking for chip outs

This fret slot cleaner is gauged for just this task.
i clean out any leftover debris and excess cyano before it is dried, doing 3 slots at a time

Pulling very slowly....What you want to see is no chip stuck to the tape.
Any that are can be placed right back into the board if you do not pull off the tape.
The memory of the tape will place it back into the divot and you can shoot a little more glue there.
 

This is strong binding tape, it will pull the graving wax right out of the inlays.
They will all be re-waxed.
 

All smoothed, slots leveled

Starting off the heel , going toward nut to help push the neck back a little
 

ready to fret the heel

All sealed, frets leveled and repolished with a heavy coat of tung oil soaking in... and I will oil the board several times as I get ready to refinish it, just to get it good and nourished after so many years

Very nice job by FQMS
 

Tinting the top of the rim, so if a clear head is used it doesn't look bad.
This adds contrast when the stanchions are in place

And with plated stanchions, I like to see that.

Separator ring installed

Rim skirt...

Flange...

Now to decide what head is to be used before we continue

After removing by stripper, no sanding I am cleaning up the marquetry as I go so it will be nice and bright

Scraped to the edge of the emblem.
I will start repairing the older scratch in the emblem with gold leaf acrylic and some flat black over by the "N" in Epiphone

Ill get the outline blacked it where its thin, and it will look nicer when I am done

Adding real jewelers wax to the gravings after getting the gunky finish from them.
Now the peghead will take on its original beauty

Ready to seal

Sealed and ready to clearcoat

All old thick finish gone, now you can see the detail and stippling much better

I'll add clear coats for a few days

Tailpiece returned from FQMS plating

I will let it settle in and then begin the final setup on it.
New frets are playing well up and down