@robin My preference would be to cut away some wood from where the bottom of the head butts against the neck and move the whole thing up,  but there is a lot of string height to take up. Changing the…   Read more»

@powerful
David Dyke is my number one supplier now for anything I can’t get from Bailey or wood where I want to do the jointing myself.

@robin Can you post a photo of the banjo where the neck and body are joined. I’m thinking you might need to carve some wood from the neck to get it higher up and improve the action. Altering the neck…   Read more»

@powerful
Acoustic building is a big learning experience but I’m sure you will get there. For kerf lining in the UK I would try David Dyke luthier suppliers. Very friendly firm to deal with.
http://www.luthierssupplies.co.uk/Bridge.htm#Linings

@robin The string action sounds high and reasons for this could be: 1. the neck angle to the body is incorrect or the neck is set too high on the body. A lot of cheaper banjos are just badly made…   Read more»

@tv101
The repair kit was a surprise, I thought it would be 1 ton press or something really destructive 

@robin If the plates are 1.5mm think then I would put some protection on the soundboard, like thick plastic and lever them off with a chisel. Old adhesive shouldn’t be that strong to resist very much. Words fail me for…   Read more»

@boo 
Time for some allergy therapy, go on you know you want to. They can be black.

@robin I agree with @tv101 removing the name label will leave a worse mess and the wood underneath will be a lighter colour as sound boards darken with exposure to UV light when the instrument is out of the case….   Read more»

@tej
If use use the wrench method then don’t grip it too tightly the shock of hammering may go up your arm. Also if your wrench is made as a casting it may crack as caste metal can be brittle.

@robin  Good point it depends on whether or not the handles get in the way of the de rusting and polishing, dip the metal in rust cleaner and clean the wood on a lathe. Some people like to preserve old…   Read more»