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I just bought a "Sonora / Giardinelli" tuba. If you keep an eye on the famous / infamous auction site you may have seen it. It was billed as a "Czech BBb 4 Valve RotaryTuba". A little research discovered that it was actually made in East Germany by B&S in 1977. It was sold as "not in playable condition." All it really needed to be made playable was to have the post that holds up the key assembly soldered back on. That took me about a half hour.

I have a workshop, but it's not for brass instruments. It's for pipe organs. I intend to branch out to brass instruments. This tuba is, more or less, my attempt to "test the waters" so to speak. Tuba was my major instrument in college so I'm pretty familiar with the instrument from a players standpoint. I need to find out the best place to buy tools. In the pipe organ trade, the major supply house will not sell outside the trade. You need to be a pro. I have found suppliers on the net but they seem very high priced. That's another "trick of the trades" - sell to the general public at an inflated price while tradesmen get a fair price.

ferree's tools (I believe they will sell to anyone)
Allied Supply (Only sell to shops)

To second the last reply Ferrees tools is the place to go. The prices there will not be inflated but they still may seem high. Alot repairmen often have a background as a machinsit so they often make alot of their tools. But if you dont have lathes and mills and all that Ferrees will take care of that end.

Also I want to say that getting into brass repair takes a decent investment. It requires alot of tools that are specific to the field. But since your in another highly specialized related practice I imagine you've though of that.

I highly suggest getting and looking through the book "Guide to Brass Musical Instrument Repair" by Chistopher Page Bluemel.

Good Luck