All shellac stripped, prep sanded for new finish
Laminates all were brittle and were sealed with Cyano.

Fret ends dressed, frets sealed and leveled, then recrowned and polished

NOTE
The truss rod was super tight,. past "critical mass"..Its amazing it did not break the fingerboard in the pressure point.
I got it to loosen and I leveled the frets with it loose
It has some bad whips in it from being too tight so I worked the frets accordingly, we will see how it does soon enuf.
 
 

Fingerboard oiled and polished, Tuners installed

5th string pip installed

I took the Walnut rim and mixed up a potion, and now it thinks it is Rosewood.
This matches the fingerboard and the dark bottom edge will go good with the black neck
I scraped off the marquetry dividers to get some more contrast

Suspending the raised brass ring under the tone ring

All hardware buffed and waxed
The other used head that was leftover was pulled too far on one side, and I opted to set it up on a Remo Fiberskyn since it is what is on the shelf as far as 10-3/4
Many times these respond well on 10-3/3 and smaller rims.
 

Ready to lag up the heel and add  the rods

All lagged up and rods cut to fit the smaller dia. rim
 
 

Problem
Factory heel cut off to one side
 

You can clearly see the neck canted at an angle to the left.
Everything is flush and bolted up correctly which can only mean the heel cut radius is off to one side.
There isn't really a good way to test this other than assembly and when it pulls tight against the rim.
I will go ahead and string it to see how far off it is, and what it will take as far as reduction on the high side of the heel.
Its a very small amount that you remove, because a little is alot in this case as it transfers up the neck.
It is too much to make up with shims.
The tailpiece is over about 1/8" too far to the left and if centered, it makes the D string fall off the treble side
I have shimmed it to center it to see how much I need to remove so it will be taken back down and the remedy provided.
I was also able to check preliminary fretting and tonal qualities, both which are good so I am optimistic as far as it being a player.
 

Back apart, ready to go forth
 

You can see the radius is not perfect,  high on left side
Also, this is for 11", and 10-3/4 does make that aspect change a tad as well.
 

Using my riffler to take the high side down

Thats quite a bit closer

I have it on a fairly low action with a 1/2" Emerson Power Bridge and it can be stepped up to a 9/16, if a higher action is needed
 

I have learned that with 5 string banjos, what I think is good may not always suit a player so now I dial them as best I can, and will tweak it from there after the player trys it and tells me the fine points he or she is looking for.
I think this one plays nicely but will await a report for Tom soon.
 
 

Thanks for watching,
Vinnie