My latest project is a french horn.  It will require a good cleaning, some patch work, and some dent work.  Look for pictures of that in my Project Horn page.  I also had a picture of a new tool I made on the lathe in my Hand Crafted Tools page.

The Conn Victor is all patched up!  The second valve slide is still stuck, but I am sticking penetrating oil on it daily, and hoping I can get it unstuck without unsoldering the crook.  I have pictures of the patch work i did on the mouth pipe.  I also did a little work on the pistons.  They were mashed up on the bottom ends.  It still needs a polishing, a play test, and the second slide unstuck, but it is otherwise finished!

I started with a card stock pattern, and then cut it out of nickel silver

I annealed the pice, then started forming it on a mandrel

This is what happens to your finger when you don't have good aim

I had to tin the inside of the patch before I soldered it 

The end product looked like this

I also soldered on the a missing piece from the main tuning slide and did some dent work on the pistons

I have another extra credit project!  It is a conn victor coronet that was made in 1929!  The mouth pipe is in rough shape.  There was a mouthpiece stuck in it, and when I pulled the mouthpiece, the receiver fell off!  The receiver end is bent, and has a small tear on the underside.  It has a small amount of red rot as well, but I am not going to replace it.  I will patch the tear, and straighten the mouth pipe.
I spent several hours cleaning the coronet.  It had lots of lime, scale, and corrosion.  The only part that is still stuck is the 2nd valve slide.  I'll continue to work on it in my spare time, and keep you updated.

We got our Horns today!!  I played a horn for the first time ever.  It was fun!  We learned about how to oil them, and soon we will learn how to string them.

Also, we have been learning a lot about casing and piston repair.  I got some practice today on taking a dent out of a casing.  We talked about how to tell if a casing is dented, or if a piston is bent or out of round.  Pistons can also be obstructed by things kids decide to put in their instrument, such as paper clips or tooth picks.  Pistons can also jam because of bends in the body, slides, or stems.

On Friday we made a flute push rod tool on the lathe.  We used a nylon plastic.  We faced each end, drilled a hole in one end for pushing out a head cork, and then we put a small mark on the other end 17 mm from the end (like you would see on a flute cleaning rod) for installing head corks.  17 mm is standard placement for a head cork on a student line flute.  

This is the trumpet I worked on at the end of brass class last semester. It is finished! I had to repalce the mouthpipe due to red rot. I also did some dent work on this horn and chem flushed it.

Second semester began today!  I am back in brass class and reviewing dent work and other things this week.  Our teachers did a clinic on how to tell band directors to fix things today.  I have a very valuable resource for all of my band director & musician friends!

redwingmusicrepair.org/band/resources.html

Check out the "It's gotta work now!" videos.  There is valuable information about getting instruments through a concert or rehearsal without causing them further damage.  You will be surprised at how much money you save the school district or a student, just by knowing what causes further damage and what does not.  I was also amazed to see how many wrong things I have seen go on in my years as a student.

Band director, also be sure to educate your students on instrument maintenance.  Also make sure they know that if they are having a problem they should bring their instrument to you, and not try fixing it themselves.

P.S. this is what happens to instrument finishes (plating or lacquer) when you use rubber bands to hold water keys shut!  Damage can start within a day or two!!