making a mouthpiece

[Casey Tucker]

i was just wondering how you would go about making your own mouthpiece. would you just buy a block of metal and start chizelin' away? what tools are needed? what metals are even used? just wonderin'.

-casey

[quinterbourne]

You need a metal lathe. I would also imagine you need something to smooth out the edges (rim especially) when you are done - like a buffing machine of some sort.

[tubatooter1940]

Just start with a solid block of metal or lexan and grind off everything that isn't mouthpiece.

[tubamirum]

It is cheaper to buy one. If you think there is a better shape to be made, use brass.

[windshieldbug]

I suspect it's a whole lot easier to modify than to make. Just START with something smaller than what you suspect you want. I did that once, and it worked out just fine in the end.

[Shockwave]

Oddly enough I read this as I returned from the shop after having modified my mouthpiece. I decided I was too cheap to buy a larger mouthpiece, so I chucked an old mouthpiece up in the lathe and modified it. The cup diameter was 32.5mm, and I wanted larger so I made it 33.5mm. The rough cut I did with a boring bar at about .1mm under my final ID, then I moved both the toolpost and compound handwheels at once to roughly fair the new rim ID to the existing funnel cup. 150 grit sandpaper and red scotchbrite did the rest. If I like it I'll sand, polish and plate it later.

I made a mouthpiece from scratch before, but it took hours to hollow it out and it seemed like such a waste of brass. You start with about a 10lb hunk of brass to make a tuba mouthpiece, and it's $3.89 a pound. It's much cheaper and easier to buy a used mouthpiece and modify it than to make one from scratch. My scratch built mouthpiece was a waste of time too, as I discovered a Dr. Young cup with a 40mm ID is just too much...

-Eric

[Art Hovey]

I used to make tuba mouthpieces out of polyester casting resin, available at art supply stores. At first the shanks tended to break off, so I strengthened them with fiberglass. After making a rough mold I could spin the mouthpiece on an electric drill, shaping the rim and smoothing it down with sandpaper. By rubbing it with steel wool, fine steel wool, and then cloth I could bring it to a very smooth finish. I made some tapered steel rods for the backbore mandrel, and made the inner cup mold out of wood, coated with paraffin. Casting resin is a very good material to work with until you drop it; then it breaks.

[dwerden]

This is a pretty risky venture. While I too think it would be interesting and fun to make my own mouthpiece (especially trying different materials), mouthpieces can have very subtle effects on your playing. You might like a mouthpiece at first, only to find that after playing it for a month or two you are having trouble playing certain passages that are well-within your grasp usually. I have found this to be true with commercially-made mouthpieces, so I have to think it would be even more true with "home-made" mouthpieces.

Usually there is a good reason that other players have settled on the popular mouthpieces. Unless you are a really experienced player with great analytical skills, I would suggest trying the 3 most popular models that are used by players of your skill level or above, selecting the one you like the best (after trying it in all registers, through all styles, and at all volumes), and just practice the heck out of it!