Neck refinished , with new binding and new engraved  inlays in fingerboard

Some of the frets were missing, and all others were flattened past limits so I will refret
The dowel was also loose so I pulled it and will reset it.
Some of the marquetry is missing from the dowel, and I will probably use some of the old stuff that is on the resonator, which is damaged, and will need new binding
 

Pulling frets with tape around them, to inhibit chip outs

All fretwork complete
I will assemble the banjo before continuing, to see what is missing, and to check playability

The gold paint is covering the damaged marquetry, I will remove that and add in a section
The dowel end was also broken out, so I sealed it and added an end ferrule, which will be plated along with the other pieces.
4 hooksets were also added, as well as an Oettinger tailpiece

Rim has already been refinished
Nice Lions Head carving, akin to the High end bacon and Day banjos

Original Planet tuners function well
I added a spanner nut, one was missing

Strung to pitch, no buzzes

Oettinger tailpiece will be replated when the other goes in

Major delamination and breakage, along with some water damaged areas

After scraping finish, I am gently heating with my heat gun, to get the back to separate.
I will save as many pieces of binding as I can, for repairs in other areas

Pyralin sidewall has only one break, I can seal that up

Coming around the other side

Good separation
There is also some missing inlay (Diamonds) on the face .
They are set in thin black celluloid and a 3" section is missing
I will repair all of that

Backplate is in good order, with the exception of being "Dished" in the center, from being over tightened......
 

....and 1 - 3" section of missing marquetry
if I am lucky, I can make some of the old fit in there

All of the rim supports were broken, and one missing.
One was glued back together to use as a pattern.

I found a nice piece of black celluloid in my old binding stash, that will suffice for the repair of the facing

Here is the purfling I'm looking for
Of course, if I use it, it will mean that the rim bottom side, the dowel, the topside of the sidewall, and the entire concentric along the back edge would not match.
The finish has cracked all along the length of the neck, in various places, only up alongside the binding
I will wetsand it and see if I can get it to fill with some topcoats.

I found a thin piece of  black celluloid from a vintage rim, perfect for the missing section.
This is why you never throw any scrap away.

Trimmed out to a square profile
I took the one inlay for a pattern, and will use it for the one missing  on the other side.

New inlays in place, and celluloid trimmed to profile
Sealing all of the inlays around the rim with thin cyano, which also wicks up under the celluloid re-attaching it.
 
 
 

Dogs are utilizing my heat lamp while I am on other tasks

All sealed, cracks repaired, sidewall sealed, and ready to re-attach to backplate

Now to use up the only remnants of the broken pieces, to mend areas that can be saved.

Cleared out the damaged area, and will add in some of the pieces here
wetting the old veneer helps it to radius once again.
It is very brittle

And now to repair the edge damage, which is 3" here, and 7" on the other side
 
 

So basically 10" was saved by using the scrap pieces

That will leave me coming up with only one edge binding and i have a plan........I think

A bunch of stuff to weight down the sidewall while the glue dries

Neat grain pattern in the Rosewood backplate

Made the new stops and glued them in place
 

Sealing the inside and top face
 

Now I can get something planned for the lower binding that will not look obtrusive with what is existing.

Getting the finish off of the Pyralin is tedious, you cannot go into the Pyralin and remove any gravings
 you will pull some blacking out of the gravings, but it can be replaced

The Pyralin is lighter out from under the yellowed varnish.

I have added a Multi laminate purfling strip into the cavity and will allow the glue to dry before sanding to profile, then staining with a Medium Red, to mimic the Rosewood
This has a thin white veneer added to one side which will accent the new purfling making it blend more into the original profile.

I did a Yellow Amber  stain wash over the pyralin and new veneer after staining the red, making the "Patina" return to the entire sidewall, and added a coat of sealer.
I chose the tiger maple purfling strip with some forethought.
I thought the vertical stripes would match up well against the checkerboard strip making a smoother looking transition as well as...

.... Giving it the same look as the wide grain rosewood back panel.
With the original colors and designs no longer available, I am happy with the results.

All scraped and detail painted back in
Another yellow amber stain wash over the pyralin to "yellow " it a tad, giving it uniformity and patina.
 
 

 With first coat of sealer applied
 

All sealed, ready for clear

4 coats, with wetsanding between each coat

Now to tear it back down and send the plating to Paul and Steve

But first Tyler has to run it thru its paces, since he dropped in the shop today.
He agrees, it is the best sounding Troubador to date.

OK, lets get back to work.....

Parts ready to ship

Plating returns

Lets start with the rim assembly

I want to fix this spot before I go any further, using a scrap of leftover veneer from the resonator repair.
That is why I never throw even the smallest scraps away.

I routed a cavity, and cut a piece to fit in the space.

it looks better now.

I am installing some vintage MOP buttons as would have came on this model.
Also, I am "Chasing" the button post threads, to clean the excess plating from the threads

Nice reflection in the finish

Resonator hardware attached, I will install it after I finish tweaking the setup
It sounds and plays very good on the first run which is always encouraging!

installing new resonator felt, after final buffing/waxing