Aside from shaping the nut a bit to get it just right, everything is done.  There is not much to the final assembly really.  The neck is attached to the rim and the strings put on.  The bridge is held in place on the head by the tension of the strings....

I started to shape the nut, which is where the strings travel from the peghead to the fretboard.  The nut will have grooves to hold each string in place. I made a cover for the truss rod out of a thin piece of ebony.  I will lacquer it and hold it over the truss rod...

The tuner for the 5th string is installed in the side of the neck between the 4th and 5th frets.  I drilled a hole which then needed to be tapered a bit to match the peg on the tuner.  The tuner is just pressed into the hole, held in place by friction.  To press the...

The skin for the head comes dry, so it needs to be soaked in water for about 20 minutes to become pliable.  After soaking I draped it over the rim and tone ring. I made a flesh hoop from a piece of bare copper wire.  The flesh hoop is placed around the rim...

I covered the neck and rim with 5 coats of spray lacquer, masking the fretboard with painters tape.  When the lacquer was dry, I wet sanded it with 1000 grit paper to smooth it and then polished it with compound.

Each fret is cut from a long piece of fret wire so it is a little longer than the fretboard width at the point where it is to be installed.  The fret wire has a tang with barbs that will hold it in place once it is hammered into the slot.  I used a block of wood to...

I used 3 stain colors to try to create a fade from red to a darker color closer to the ebony.

I am keeping the front of the fretboard plain except for the star but I do want a few fret markers along the top edge so they can be seen while playing.  The dots are made from 1/16in white plastic rod inserted into holes along the side of the fingerboard.  A short...

Four of the five strings start at the peghead so I need to drill 4 holes for the tuning machines.  I used a brad point bit and backed the piece up to minimize tear out. I won't install the tuners permanently until after the banjo is finished but here are some photos...

I decided to forgo having markers on the front of the fretboard, but I have seen a few banjos with a star between the 4th and 5th fret and liked the look so I decided to do that.  I cut a star out of mother of pearl and routed the fretboard like I did for...