Playing the trumpet is one of my past times. In school, I play in the band and orchestra, and also in the Marching Band after school. So when my trumpet instructor offered to give an old Cornet from the early 1900s (1909 is my estimate) for me to repair, I of course accepted. The cornet was in quite a state of neglect and disrepair due to its age and the lack of mantaince. Many slides were stuck, one of the valves was immobile, much the silver plating was worn down to raw brass, and several of the soldered connections were broken. So I set to work. I used a propane torch to repair the broken connections, and managed to use penetrating oil to free the valves. I found a silver plating kit online, and used it to replace some of the worn-down plating. After about a month of on-and-off work, I managed to get a presentable cornet.
Heres the result: