(Purchased form Lars Edregan, New Orleans LA.)
Lars is the banjoist at the Preservation Hall as well and other venues.
He lost these 2 in the flood and I will show you the devastation

Resonator back completely missing, only the sidewall remains
A good view of the laminations on this and the rim bottom for reference purposes
 

The sidewall is in strips of maple
 

Each  one is numbered with a pencil
 
 

All glue joints are compromised
Inside veneer is rotted

17668 neck

Some inlay missing
 

Necks still in transit, this is an initial pic from Lars
May have backbow and other unseen damage, can't tell yet.

23271 Rim
 
 

Total submersion causes many issues, when it comes to saltwater
The wood is ruined, the hardware can be stripped and replated

heavy oxidation on this one

What is left of the back is a good reference for showing the cross laminated veneers in the construction
 

23271 Neck
 

Again, more severe damage on this banjo

New neck pics (Arrival)

They are about what I expected, they waterline is about halfway up one neck, 3/8 up the other
All glue washed out of the laminates.
Nothing I haven't seen before, many cellars up north flood as well.

Severe Saltwater damage, full delamination of veneer and rim laminates

Glueing down the lifting fingerboard areas

Resealing the delaminated heel

Heel cap rebuilt
I will leave some of the old water worn finish on this neck, and shade over it.
I call this "Katrina Patina" and feel some of its history so be left alone.
 

Replacing the missing fingerboard sections
 

New binding installed, missing inlays replaced ( non original shapes),  ready to fret

Adding the new colors onto the neck
All maple laminates were scraped back to natural to highlight the colors

Fretwork complete, and ready for side markers

I will add clearcoats, and prepare to reinstall the dowel
 

Ready to begin regluing the rim laminations

I mixed a thinned glue, and made some cauls to aid in the clamping, with one kerfed to go to the inside

Filling the joints

Using my adjustable clamps to work the glue in

And C clamps to squeeze for the cure, only about 5" at a time will I work.
 

Sealing it up nicely
The wetted wood glue allows the wood to soften and rebend quite well.
There will be nothing done about the swelling around the  anchor shoe washers, thats just more "Katrina Patina" now.

Moving on around the periphery
When completed, a new bottom side laminate will be added on.
 

Dowel was warped, so I am heating and clamping it to pull it back around,

All glueing completed, and rough sanded

Adding some bottom side veneer
Oddly enough, these are scraps from the cellar Dale Small which also had flooded in the past, and this was too warped to use as large pieces so from one flood to another, it goes.

ready to stain dark walnut

Standard BD color going onto the rim

Ready for clear

Auguring out the glue residue from the tenon hole, with my Forstner.

reset, ready to final finish

Changed the rim # to match the dowel when old one got sanded out

Angle is good, ready to apply about 5 more clearcoats then build up the rim

Dowel cured, large hardware final buffed and waxed.
No replating will be done, and no fancy finish for this old "Battle Axe"
5 coats of clear on the rim and neck
It will be a players banjo !!

I decided to add a little history that would always be with it.
A helter skelter time it was, and the lettering was skewed a bit to go with the wave effect.
 

Half the hardware machine buffed, with the threads wire brushed

ready for  head, I will choose clear to show off its "survivor" brand.

Good neck angle, ready to add some tuners and tailpiece

  Grover "Pancake" tuners, ivoroid buttons
Neck finish was 0000 steel wooled, then polished to make a more satin effect

Setup on 9/16, the banjo already has what I consider the "top end of the scale"  tone, for BD Silverbell configuration.
Its light and airy, and full of clear tonal note separation up and down so yes, it sounds like a high end banjo, not a "Drum with a neck attached"!
Great action , easy to play up and own the neck
Thats a big plus, the Banjo Gods looked favorably on this project so far..

Now the resonator is a project of its own, and will be in process while I work on the other neck and rim

Removed the left over sidewall from the old back
 
 
 

I had a couple of old back plates here that were experimental , and odd sized so I have decided to cut both of them down so I will have backs for both Bells.
They are happy to down size and finally be used on something else, and it will save me $$ .

After I have 90 percent of the overburden removed from the sides and beginning the taper
I am doing  on a belt sander , what was done on a lathe originally so it is a slow process
 

Deep enough to now add the binding

Bound and final sanded, ready to stain
 

Inside will get 2 coats of clear, I like it thin on the inside

Bindings final scraped, and back is taking on clear after tint, and edge fade.

I chose to run the stripes vertical, with the straight grained neck
6 coats of clear, and some steel wool and a light buffing
Again, this is a player, not some super fine finish
 

Farquhar bridge will stay, I like the tone its giving

Fabricating an armrest

I will use some brass stock similar to the original
This one was already cut out and was going to go onto a tension hoop with screws but I will make it the hook attachment style

Positioning the hooks to work as functional hooks and armrest attachments

Ready for engraving or just plating

She is ready to make music once again and she will be looking for a new home
A good banjo, brought back from the brink of death, a labor of love and proof that persistence beats patience any day of the week.
Not to mention a tone that will hold it own with the rest of the best.
Thanks for watching,
Vinnie

NEXT!
 

 NECKWORK
 23271 Rim / 23271 dowel
LARS Project #2

BD has a Sequence of pearwood laminate, maple, pearwood, then it is ebony on top for the fingerboard
No fingerboard is present in this pic.
 

Both heel and lower fingerboard are glued and clamped
 

All neck laminates sealed, new heel cap installed, ready to start the staining and a coat of sealer
I always like the new stain and seal on before I go on, this allows stain to set well in fresh wood and keeps things like superglue from penetrating raw wood because when it does, it will never take stain in that area so this is merely a precaution as I go forth.

That will do for now, time to splice the missing upper fingerboard into place
I have the new Dark Vintage Maple dye on the peghead, I will steel wool the MOP to clear it before moving on
 
 

I'm recycling Roger Hales old Tubaphone deluxe fingerboard,.
I have flattened the used side until the fret slots are just lines, and will glue it into place with hidden  pins to hold it centered
 

Ready for glue, you can see where it is pinned on the bottom, 2 more will be at the top

SQUISH!
I'll wipe the excess in 10 min, allowing for squish to complete

Under the radiant heater, which pushes heat thru the projects very well, better than lamps
It s 89 degrees with the laser temp checker at that level, perfect for a normal dry time
34 degrees outside the shop tonight.

I have the new section profiled and leveled and slotted, and have begun to install the new wire
For those of you that realize I did no inlay before fretting, I want to complete the neck to check it for integrity under string tension.
I can do this on another rim assembly I have in the shop so before it leaves Ill check it after I reset the dowel at the angle I wish.
I can easily slip in the inlay, fret wire or not after that test.
The dot you see is a locating pin, yet to be drilled out

Disassembling the rim

This is the section that sat submerged the longest

All the big hardware has been plastic wooled to remove oxidation, and the neck is fretted, bound and taking on a couple coats of clear before I test it on the other rim..
 

Curing under heat
That bit is what I enlarge tuner holes with.

Clamping off where it is already cured , and kniving in glue on the final section
 

Everything is going as planned, good tite seams

Bottomside complete, ready for bottom veneer
 

Moving around the  top of the assembly,glueing squishing, clamping
 

Bottom veneer installed and profiled
I will use Shellac as a barrier coat to hold back any contaminants left in the rim
Shellac is far superior as a sealer compared to lacquer.
 

Thats Gold, not silver.
I like the gold better, like was used on the #4s and up
 
 

2 coats of gold, ready for outside stained lacquer.
Shellac is already applied and cured

I chose Medium brown, very reddish, it will be pretty.
Final coat of sealer applied, ready for clear coats.
That is Andrew's plectrum in the background, going together at the same time.
You can see I have begun to clean the flange, that is 000 steel wool first.
I'll do one spot for contrast

"Wicked" metal polish, some of the best in my opinion

That is without machine buffing

Mock up, ....that will buff on up pretty nice considering what its been through!

You can see the later model F holes are larger than on Andrews.

I will restamp the rim to reflect this ser#

Yellowed finish will be removed

Small splinter missing from overlay, Ill mend that and stick in a newer inlay of my choice.

Mocked up on Andrew's rim for a looksee
 

Grafted in maple and ebony, inlay installed, ready to stain
 
 

headed back to Playerville
Fade at peghead and heel

The gold is just prettier than the silver.
Now for multiple clear coats

Shoes and screws brass brushed then polished on the buffer

I'm going with Renaissance, an excellent ITM head

Hooks brushed and polished

This is all original plating, showing the resiliency of Nickel plating

Matching numbers now

The "Old and the New"

Showing it with the  flange area that has been cleaned

Flange removed from Deadwood

It appears a little Electrolysis went on here, maybe the electricity flowing in the floodwater.

All buffed and polished, the bent areas on the flange have been hammered out

Ready to String up

Neck hardware and tuners installed
 

Strung to pitch on an original Bacon 1/2" bridge and Tensionator tailpiece in GDAE tuning
The missing hook is where the armrest attaches, I have to make that.
 

Very nice clear tones up and down even at first setup, very encouraging.
Now to start on the resonator plate while I dial this on in

I have decided to recycle this old Gibson style resonator with a 2 piece solid maple back, for this project
I have began to Hot knife the seam where you see the separation beginning

I will use the original mounting ring as I continue to try and recycle all of the original pieces I can.

Glued and clamped
3/8 dowel makes great gobar style clamping on these radius'ed backs
Wax paper to make sure it does'nt become part of the work table.

Ready to profile

Lets get some gold in it

I'll add another coat, I wanted to see if my stamp would run out OK on the enamel
 

Then I will bind it and start on the back
 

Bound, Fine sanded and ready to stain
 
 

Final profile scraping completed, stained, and taking on sealer

A little more fade to the edge and now some more clear

Clear coated and branded
I also wrote some hidden history up and under the flange lip, good for ID'ing  if it gets stolen
"I survived Katrina" and my initals and date
 

And underside of the backate logo plate

 Armrest ready to complete
back is buffed and ready to go
Almost there

Armrest complete
 Mike plays lefty with righty stringing

Everything is settling in now and to me it is one of the most pleasing sounds I have gotten from my GDAE tuned jobs
Nice and clear but still gutsy.
I will send it off got field trials and report back

When these pieces all came in from Lars I didnt see there was any chance for a playable instrument much less 2.
Thanks for watching
Vinnie
 

More to come