Winding down for 2011....

    With one day left of class, I have finished my customer project horn, and my mouthpipe turned custom build horn.  You should check out the Trumpet page, as there are so many pictures, I'm pretty sure it's going to crash the internet. 
     Reflecting back on my semester (because that's what I do) I can't believe the progress and confidence I have gained while in school.  I was a little nervous making this huge decision of switching out of Music Ed, graduating, and moving half way across the country to study band instrument repair- but it was totally worth it.  I have never had this sense of accomplishment in anything that I have ever done so far in my life.  I truly LOVE going to class every day (which is not something I could say about my undergrad.)  That being said, I value the experiences and knowledge I gained while at UMass - it's just this is a whole different ball game.  I can not thank my instructors at MSC Southeast Tech enough:  Greg, John and Lucas.  They are always pushing us as a class, individuals, and repair techs.  They are three of the most thoughtful, non-judgemental and critical instructors I have ever had - they are right up there with GNP. 
     So as my semester ends, and I fly home for three weeks, I will be starting to apply to local area repair shops, and I hope something comes up.  This place will probably be quiet, but rest-assured, come January 9th it'll be back up and running with more pictures of my happenings and progress.  Thank you to those of you who follow me, I have over 1,700 views since this blog's inception.  I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures.

the shop is a-buzz with activity...

So there is a lot of stuff going on.  I have my clarinet overhaul, my bugle overhaul, my proto-type horn project, and that's not even counting my actual stuff for school that's required!  I actually just started working on a "custom" trumpet build and hopefully soon we'll be getting our actual customer trumpets, which is what we get graded on.  Check out the trumpet page, the horn page, and the clarinet page for updates, also my most recent lathe project is the post below this one, check it out.  T-minus 15 days until the end of the semester, and I've never had so much fun at school.

euphonium/tuba valve stem lathe project

So right before turkey day break we had a lathe project to do. We were given a valve stem and had to figure out the measurements and dimensions to make an exact replica.  It was graded, and if you were wondering I did get full credit on it. :)

Updates galore!

So check out the dent work, custom tools, proto-type project, and trumpet pages for updates.  I hope you enjoy the copious amount of pictures.  That's it for now, happy reading :)

Some Pages Updated

I have updated the Horn, Trumpet and Dent Work Pages. Go ahead and check them out.  I should be getting my project Trumpet sometime this coming week, so be on the look out for updates on that.  Is it  a good feeling when I want the weekend to be over, so I can be back at school??

An over-due update

So there has been a whirl wind of activity at school.  On top of our regular school work, I have been overhauling my own personal instruments (before and after school) for a low low cost, working on my proto-type horn and this past week I was one of three students in the program to teach local high school kids, who were visiting the school for a career day, an introduction to buffing.  Not many band kids came through but I still think they enjoyed visiting the lab, they got to buff, soft solder and fix dents. 

In other news, we have been making more tools along with practicing our skills on different types of dent work.  Look for more pages with updates and pictures.

Welcome to Brass Lab!!

So I've switched sides for the remainder of the semester!!

We've started buffing, and it's getting more comfortable:

Trombone bell:

Trumpet Bell:

And we started soft soldering:

A few other things I have in the works:

-Overhauling my personal horn: Holton Merker-Matic H276

-Creating a "hybrid" instrument I've named "Mello-Horn"

Stay tuned for updates about those in a separate post.

Also:
Check out the Trumpet and Custom Tools pages for updates.

Flute-tastic!

On Friday I finished my Project Flute.  It came out pretty well - check the Flute page for the pictures.  We will be switching labs on Monday - I'm going to miss the Wood wind Lab. In other news I've been working on my own 1930's stencil Clarinet I bought a few months ago.  It's currently getting re-oiled over the weekend.  I will have pictures and updates soon about it. 

Weekly, Weekend Update.

Got a lot of work done this week.  Still have a lot to do on my Flute, but if you head over there you can see my progress, LOTS of pictures :)  Also this Friday was a "Lathe Project" Friday so I will update my custom tools page later next week with pictures of the fruits of my labor.

Weekend Update..

Uploaded a few pictures, check out the Custom Tools and Clarinet Tabs.  I am also starting on Flute on Monday!!

I have conquered the Clarinet!!!

I shall post pictures later, but today at the end of class I have finally finished my project misery stick Clarinet.  I even got to play test it and everything seems to be in working order.  The real test is when I get it inspected.  Now on to Flute!!

Time for an update!!

School has been going really well.  I am well into my "project" Clarinet which is an actual clarinet that will be going back to a company to sell! A bit scary, but very exciting.  Updates and pictures are on the Clarinet page. I am also going to be starting to work on my old Guy Humphrey stencil Clarinet I picked up at the local antique shop, so stay tuned for those updates.  I also learned how to silver solder and buff in the same project.  We made a brass and nickel "E" Here are a few pictures:

Remembered to bring my camera!!

Took my camera to school today, so I will be uploading pictures of the Clarinet I started working on.  Check out the Clarinet page for those, I also took a picture of my work space :)

Welcome to Repair School!!!!

It's currently the third day of class at MSC Southeast Tech and I am extremely excited to get into things!  We have made a few tools already and tomorrow we start tearing apart our misery sticks....uh I mean Clarinets.

I am embarking on a comprehensive, nine-month study of the repair of woodwind and brasswind instruments.   I will periodically update my progress with blogs and pictures from class, because who doesn't love pictures?  Each project instrument will have their own page with information of what I fixed and, of course, a myriad of detailed pictures!!