blokepiece with H-Kote

[ken k]

I ordered my blokepiece but never received it because I wanted to get it H-Koted. (I wanted, purely for vanity, a gold colored mouthpiece, because they look so cool in a silver horn. I know, Bling Bling)

Finally I was able to make the 30 mile drive down to Mr. Houser's shop to pick it up after it was H-Koted. Mr Houser offers a titanium coating in a gold color for the stainless steel mouthpeices. You will notice it is not a bright finish like a gold plated mouthepce but rather a satin type finish. He also has a very cool dark grey, which sort of looks like the blueing on a rifle barrel. the H-Kote is a $35 option.



I am going to use the mouthepice this season when I play with the Lancaster Brass band (I play Eb) The rim is very reminiscent of my Denis Wick 2 which I used for many many years, however the bloke design is a shallow to medium bowl type cup rather than the funnel cup. It definitely gives a different tone quality. I have not yet played it in a large hall. Right now in my small music room with a 9 foot ceiling, the tone comes right back at me and it seems to have a bit of a buzz in the tone, a little bit of the "rip" which I always admired in my Eb partner's sound. It may sound real cool out in a hall, so I am looking forward to working with it.

ken k

[iiipopes]

Tell me more. I have a son who is starting band and has metal allergy/hypersensitivity. The only thing I've been able to do so far is to get a goldplated mouthpiece for him. This sounds like another possible alternative, but I'm not familiar with the chemistry of what H-coating actually is. Thanks.

[TMurphy]

I am going to use the mouthepice this season when I play with the Lancaster Brass band (I play Eb) The rim is very reminiscent of my Denis Wick 2 which I used for many many years, however the bloke design is a shallow to medium bowl type cup rather than the funnel cup. It definitely gives a different tone quality.

Ken,

As I have mentioned here before, I initially used a Wick 2L with my 983, but quickly moved to a 2SL, which is a shallower cup, because I found the 2SL to be a more "flexible" mouthpiece (easier to move around on), as well as having a more vibrant and "colorful" tone. What did you notice different about the Blokepiece, as compared with the Wick 2 (or a 2SL, if you have any experience with one)???

[ken k]

Tell me more. I have a son who is starting band and has metal allergy/hypersensitivity. The only thing I've been able to do so far is to get a goldplated mouthpiece for him. This sounds like another possible alternative, but I'm not familiar with the chemistry of what H-coating actually is. Thanks.

Titanium Nitride. It is applied at 900 degrees F, so it is a different process from electroplating. I don't believe he does that at his shop. He may send them out. I do not know since I did not ask.

you can read more about it on the houser mouthpiece website.

http://www.housermouthpiece.net" target="_blank" target="_blank

It is a coating only for SS mouthpieces. He says it can be done on brass but is not recommended. There is a pic of the different coatings on rims.

If your son has the sensitivity/allergy issue, a plain SS mouthpiece may do the trick without any other coating. My understanding is that SS is inert and hypo-allergenic by nature, which is why they use it in the medical field. Evidently this H-Kote finish is used in the medical field also.

It was neat to see the huge CAD/CAM lathes Mr. Houser has to cut the mouthpieces. Quite impressive. About the size of a minivan. I asked him what one of those run and he said about $80,000! You have to make and sell quite a few mouthpieces to pay that off!

Also laying in the front lawn when I got there was a shipment of about 12 huge SS rods about 12 feel long each. This was the bare stock he uses to make his SS mouthpieces. I can't imagine how heavy that shipment was or how much that cost. Pretty cool though.

ken k

[ken k]

I am going to use the mouthepice this season when I play with the Lancaster Brass band (I play Eb) The rim is very reminiscent of my Denis Wick 2 which I used for many many years, however the bloke design is a shallow to medium bowl type cup rather than the funnel cup. It definitely gives a different tone quality.

Ken,

As I have mentioned here before, I initially used a Wick 2L with my 983, but quickly moved to a 2SL, which is a shallower cup, because I found the 2SL to be a more "flexible" mouthpiece (easier to move around on), as well as having a more vibrant and "colorful" tone. What did you notice different about the Blokepiece, as compared with the Wick 2 (or a 2SL, if you have any experience with one)???

I actually use a gold plated Conn Helleberg now with my horn because the low register is so much more open and easy to play compared to the 2L. I never played a DW 2SL so I can't compare. The Low register on the Sellmansberger is not as open as on the Helleberg, so i am probably more inclined to keep using the Helleberg for my quintet and orchestral playing, but for brass band and tuba euph stuff where I play the high stuff alot, I am thinking of using the Sell. I figure I will give it a good go this season and see how it works, and then make a judgement after having given it a good amount of face time to get used to it. I have gone through a bunch of different mouthpieces in the last 2 years or so (hope springs eternal that I will find the magic bullet ) and i just keep coming back to the Helleberg. The R&S heavyweight Helleberg (I forget which model) was too dull sounding. The Sidey SS was a little too big, the Kelly SS Kellyburg was a little too tight, the Laskeys were nice but not appreciatively better than the Conn, so I sold them all off. For me the Conn Helleberg is like Goldilocks, just right.)

k

[Dan Schultz]

Here's the most common use for TiN (tinanium nitride).

[iiipopes]

Titanium Nitride. ... Pretty cool though.
ken k

Thanks. Since he doesn't seem to be adversely reacting to gold plate, and right now we're talking cornet instead of tuba mouthpieces for him, I'll hold the thoughts on solid SS and TN for another day.

Hey tubatinker -- so THAT's why the drill bit set I got is gold. I knew it had to be something hard, but didn't know what.

[Rick Denney]

Also laying in the front lawn when I got there was a shipment of about 12 huge SS rods about 12 feel long each. This was the bare stock he uses to make his SS mouthpieces. I can't imagine how heavy that shipment was or how much that cost. Pretty cool though.

If it was 2" rod, about 18,000 pounds. Each rod is a little over 1500 pounds. I'll bet that Mr. Houser has an A-frame gantry crane on wheels available, heh, heh.

Rick "490 pounds per cubic foot" Denney

[Rick Denney]

Tell me more. I have a son who is starting band and has metal allergy/hypersensitivity. The only thing I've been able to do so far is to get a goldplated mouthpiece for him. This sounds like another possible alternative, but I'm not familiar with the chemistry of what H-coating actually is. Thanks.

Titanium Nitride has been a popular topic for the biomechanical field, because it is less likely to be rejected by the surrounding tissues.

Titanium itself is a well-known material for providing good strength to weight ratio, with strength potentially similar to steel but density between steel and aluminum. It's also well-known for its reduced corrosiveness, which is second only to platinum among metals. What makes it so good is that it almost immediately forms a hard, impervious oxide layer that is transparent and smooth.

Titanium Nitride is a process of applying an even harder reaction layer to other base metals, and it has the effect of making them as corrosion resistant and biomechanically inert as solid titanium. Titanium burns and forms a very hard reaction layer at about 800 degrees C. Coatings are usually applied to materials using an RF sputtering method, almost like spray-welding. The coating is extremely thin and provides both a harder surface than tool steel, and better lubricity.

Gold is actually not that great, with an estimate of 13% of the population suffering to some degree from contact dermatitis int he presence of gold. For most of those, the symptoms are so slight that they don't notice it, but they would if the gold was being used biomechanically and in contact with sub-dermal tissue. Since lips are moist and porous, contact dermatitis is more of a problem there than with jewelry.

So, stainless steel is better than gold, but the nickel in it can still cause a problem. Nitriding the stainless steel will prevent that completely.

And, unlike gold plating, you will never have to worry about it wearing off.

Rick "who has a blokepiece on order, but without the nitrided surface" Denney

[Dan Schultz]

..... And, unlike gold plating, you will never have to worry about it wearing off....

Yes... the TiN is VERY hard. But... the coating is also VERY thin... Perhaps three millionths of a meter (that'll send the metric conversion guys running after their calculators!) It's noted that the actual hardness is difficult to test because conventional testing methods punch through the coating and get the reading from the substrate. Although you will probably never have to worry about wearing the TiN coating off.... the hardness will not be perceptible inasmuch as If you drop the MP... it's still going to 'ding'... just like the substrate would.

[tubatom91]

I thinnk this is an interesting coating and am glad that it is a coating that seems to be helping people. I also like that it is a coating and can seemingly be put on later
Tuba "who also has a bloke piece (non-coated) on order" Tom

[Kevin Hendrick]

Also laying in the front lawn when I got there was a shipment of about 12 huge SS rods about 12 feel long each. This was the bare stock he uses to make his SS mouthpieces. I can't imagine how heavy that shipment was or how much that cost. Pretty cool though.

If it was 2" rod, about 18,000 pounds. Each rod is a little over 1500 pounds. I'll bet that Mr. Houser has an A-frame gantry crane on wheels available, heh, heh.

Rick "490 pounds per cubic foot" Denney

Rick, isn't there a little over a quarter of a cubic foot in a 12' long x 2" diameter rod? That would indicate a weight per rod of about 128 pounds, and a *total* weight of a little over 1,500 pounds (still fairly heavy stuff).

[Rick Denney]

Rick, isn't there a little over a quarter of a cubic foot in a 12' long x 2" diameter rod? That would indicate a weight per rod of about 128 pounds, and a *total* weight of a little over 1,500 pounds (still fairly heavy stuff).

I have a gut feeling you're right--my numbers have been bothering me since I posted them.

So, let me see where I went wrong. The radius of a 2" rod is 1". Pi R^2 is therefore 3.14 square inches. Okay, there's my error. I needed to divide by 144 to get square feet. D'oh!

Rick "pie are round; cornbread are square" Denney

[Dan Schultz]

Rick, isn't there a little over a quarter of a cubic foot in a 12' long x 2" diameter rod? That would indicate a weight per rod of about 128 pounds, and a *total* weight of a little over 1,500 pounds (still fairly heavy stuff).

I have a gut feeling you're right--my numbers have been bothering me since I posted them.

So, let me see where I went wrong. The radius of a 2" rod is 1". Pi R^2 is therefore 3.14 square inches. Okay, there's my error. I needed to divide by 144 to get square feet. D'oh!

Rick "pie are round; cornbread are square" Denney

I like to use numbers that I can easily remember. Now... this is also going to illustrate my age. Remember the Chevy 283 cubic inch engine that was such a workhouse? Well... a cubic inch of steel weighs about .283 pounds.

[Rick Denney]

I like to use numbers that I can easily remember. Now... this is also going to illustrate my age. Remember the Chevy 283 cubic inch engine that was such a workhouse? Well... a cubic inch of steel weighs about .283 pounds.

Neat trick, and filed (in the empty case up here) for future use.

Rick "hitting on several levels" Denney

[imperialbari]

About the dark grey coating, is it like the old style oil-stain type gun blueing or is it a solid color?

If it is solid grey and you want the oil-stain type blueing, then just bring it to your work and use it as the funnel when supplementing oil to the engine.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

We use plastic funnels for that because they don't hurt as much when you drop them on your foot.

Kellybergs?

[iiipopes]

Hey Rick: pie are round, cobbler is square. and I'll take a serving of peach, please...with ice cream, thank you.

But you're right: it's only real cornbread if it's made in one of the square cast iron skillets, so you can cut it in squares more easily to eat. And eat. And...hey -- anybody got any bean soup?

[ken k]

here you go again, talking about food....
what is ti with you guys??
at least there are no pictures...
k

[imperialbari]

here you go again, talking about food....
what is ti with you guys??

Yes, doesn’t that question give some food for thought?