02/18/2026
Tearing apart the assembly area of the shop to make room for something new. I emptied the bins of some older crooks and found the one on the right and it made me sad. I bought it when I lived in Maine and before I could bend my own tubes and bells. I was trying, but with terrible to mediocre results. So I paid way too much money and bought a custom bent commercial bronze crook. It arrived ovalized at the apex of the bend and I couldn’t return it because it was “custom work”. I couldn’t use it on a horn in that condition either. I couldn’t bear to throw it out because it was so expensive, so I put it in a box and moved it from Maine to Portland and Portland to Palouse and basically forgot about it. Today, 10 years later, I balled it out and made it round, and useable! It sits next to crook I bent for a future project. $5 worth of brass and 10 years of experience is what that one cost. That experience also helped me correct someone else’s sub-par work. Every upgrade (financial investment) I make to my shop helps me have more creative control over my horns, which hopefully leads to better Pujés. The next picture you see of this area should be radically different. The next ten days I’ll be focusing on the shop, so who knows what I’ll find in the next nook or cranny. I’ll keep you posted!