Making plastic mouthpieces

[Dutchtown Sousa]

So I ordered some of this moldable plastic and set to making a mouthpiece. I will have pictures up shortly but first I'll detail how I am making this. The plastic comes as tiny pellets that you put in hot water and then they turn clear and you can mold them. I took enough pellets to make the basic shape of a mouthpiece, melted them down then set to making the shape. After that I shaped the shank (using a hair dyer and a knife) to fit into a borrowed sousaphone and started working on the cup. Biggest issue I face is the plastic is flexible instead of stiff so the shank my not be able to support the rest of the mouthpiece.

[imperialbari]

There are many brass photos I regret not saving. Some were from an estate sale including a BBb sousaphone. The deceased player had lost his mouthpiece, but had continued playing via a kitchen funnel cut down to fit under his nose. Not that I ever would recommend such substitute for a real mouthpiece.

Yet exactly this idea might be considered as the outer frame for you experiment.

Klaus

[Dutchtown Sousa]

There are many brass photos I regret not saving. Some were from an estate sale including a BBb sousaphone. The deceased player had lost his mouthpiece, but had continued playing via a kitchen funnel cut down to fit under his nose. Not that I ever would recommend such substitute for a real mouthpiece.

Yet exactly this idea might be considered as the outer frame for you experiment.

Klaus

Wow that's a bit extreme I guess but if a cut up kitchen funnel could serve as the shank maybe I could eliminate that one problem but I doubt it would work as the shank. Any ideas on what I could use as a shank? I was thinking I could buy a brass pipe approximately the same size as the shank and have a screw on cup on top but the problem there is actually finding the correct size/thickness pipe and I am pretty sure the shank tapers instead of being straight... Well any suggestions will be appreciated

[Art Hovey]

I used to make crude plastic mouthpieces using polyester casting resin from an art supplies store. Through trial and error I developed the following technique:

I made a mandrels for the backbore first out of wood but then out of steel with the help of the high school's machine shop. I coated the mandrel with wax and then wrapped fiberglass soaked with resin around it. After hardening and removal of the mandrel I spun it on an electric drill and filed it down to the right size and taper to form the shank of the mouthpiece. The fiberglass-reinforced shank was necessary because the casting resin was brittle without it.

Then I put it back onto the mandrel, mounted it vertically, taped on a paper cone (also waxed) to form the outside of the mouthpiece, and stuck a waxed wooden plug onto the tip of the mandrel. The plug was shaped to form the cup of the mouthpiece.

Then I poured casting resin into the space between the plug and the cone and let it harden.

Finally, I shaped the rim by hand, using various grades of sandpaper. Sometimes I would copy an existing rim by making a mold of it using modeling clay, and glue it on.

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I used to make crude plastic mouthpieces using polyester casting resin from an art supplies store. Through trial and error I developed the following technique:

I made a mandrels for the backbore first out of wood but then out of steel with the help of the high school's machine shop. I coated the mandrel with wax and then wrapped fiberglass soaked with resin around it. After hardening and removal of the mandrel I spun it on an electric drill and filed it down to the right size and taper to form the shank of the mouthpiece. The fiberglass-reinforced shank was necessary because the casting resin was brittle without it.

Then I put it back onto the mandrel, mounted it vertically, taped on a paper cone (also waxed) to form the outside of the mouthpiece, and stuck a waxed wooden plug onto the tip of the mandrel. The plug was shaped to form the cup of the mouthpiece.

Then I poured casting resin into the space between the plug and the cone and let it harden.

Finally, I shaped the rim by hand, using various grades of sandpaper. Sometimes I would copy an existing rim by making a mold of it using modeling clay, and glue it on.

I was thinking of casting these but first I do need to make a mouthpiece to then make a mold out of. I could just take my helleberg and make a mold of it but I want to make something different than a helleberg at this point, except for the rim. I am completely jealous that you had access to a machine shop at your high school because they no longer have those in high schools (they now have classes like Yearbook (where they work on the yearbook), Early Child Development (some of these people in my school should take that class because they will be having children sooner rather than later), Agriculture (not that Agriculture is a bad thing but i bet less than 5% of the people who take that class will ever have anything to do with the farming industry), and many other pointless classes) and I don't know very many people that could afford to purchase their own lathe and such. How thick were your shanks that you made compared to a brass shank? I'm trying to make mine about the same thickness so that the air goes in the same with this shank compared to my helleberg

[opus37]

Being a wood turner, I did the natural thing for me, I turned my own wood mouthpiece. I used walnut, but only because that is what I had laying around. This is my cold weather mouthpiece. I have several traditional mouthpiece in my collection to handle most all indoor situations and enough to cover a lost or accident situation. The wood mouthpiece works very well by the way. The wood was free and it took be about a hour to make.

[Michael Bush]

Being a wood turner, I did the natural thing for me, I turned my own wood mouthpiece. I used walnut, but only because that is what I had laying around. This is my cold weather mouthpiece. I have several traditional mouthpiece in my collection to handle most all indoor situations and enough to cover a lost or accident situation. The wood mouthpiece works very well by the way. The wood was free and it took be about a hour to make.

I've turned a half-dozen wooden mouthpieces, and some of them have been successful. The problem for me is consistency. I've made some cardboard profiles to measure against to make a Helleberg style cup and rim, and that helps. But when life slows down a little I'm going to get a mini metal lathe to do this with. That will open up plastic and (obviously) metal.

[opus37]

I just used my primary metal mouthpiece as a guide. The hard parts are not making the inner rim diameter too large and getting the shank taper right. I even put in a backbore.

[Donn]

Some trivia I happened across a day or two ago - G C Conn got his start in the instrument business when someone hit him in the face and busted his lip, prompting him to make some kind of rubber mouthpiece. Good luck!

[Dutchtown Sousa]

My biggest issue right now is getting the shank straight and in the center of the mouthpiece. How would you suggest I measure this out to get it on straight? I have the rim perfectly round (though it is pretty large at about 52mm in diameter, being from the outside edge to outside edge). I know I can't make a perfect mouthpiece this way but I am aiming to have something playable, as this is part of my science fair experiment (my brother came up with the topic so I am not quite sure how a homemade mouthpiece correlates to the project). I assume if the mouthpiece is somewhere close to the typical specs of a tuba mouthpiece it will be able to produce at least a decent sound.

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I finished the mouthpiece and will be trying it tomorrow and then might do some adjustments to it to get it better. The cup is more of a cup shape but that was what was easiest to do

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I tried out the mouthpiece today and the dynamics broke up very early on though I could get it to be loud but I had to control my attack. At any point that I had to move my lips to change octaves the sound broke up and the midrange low notes and pedals were nearly impossible to hit but I could still easily hit my helicopter noises (much lower than a pedal tone). Higher notes were easier on the lips but still broke up easily. I think I just need to make a mold rater than to free form the mouthpiece

[sloan]

realSoonNow I'll be attempting to build a mouthpiece or three out of ABS using an extrusion stereolithography "3D printer".

[Dutchtown Sousa]

realSoonNow I'll be attempting to build a mouthpiece or three out of ABS using an extrusion stereolithography "3D printer".

I was thinking that could be a possibility but the cost of 3D printers is astronomical

[sloan]

realSoonNow I'll be attempting to build a mouthpiece or three out of ABS using an extrusion stereolithography "3D printer".

I was thinking that could be a possibility but the cost of 3D printers is astronomical

Not as much as it used to be. $2500. We liked the price so much that we bought 2.

Of course, that's the "educational" version. For "industrial strength" add (at least) one zero.

And then there's the minimalist design where 95% of the parts can be printed! Buy one, and let it reproduce (some assembly required...)

[sloan]

realSoonNow I'll be attempting to build a mouthpiece or three out of ABS using an extrusion stereolithography "3D printer".

I was thinking that could be a possibility but the cost of 3D printers is astronomical

Not for Sloan, the university pays for his.
I believe that other then learning how to use a 3D printer, making a mouthpiece that way is a waste of time.

My job description mentions "teaching" - it doesn't say anything about "mouthpiece production".

I get paid to do a lot of things you might consider a "waste of time". Sometimes they buy me toys to play with.

Lucky me.

[tubaglue]

I used to make crude plastic mouthpieces I could just take my helleberg and make a mold of it but I want to make something different than a helleberg at this point, except for the rim. I am completely jealous that you had access to a machine shop at your high school because they no longer have those in high schools (they now have classes like Yearbook (where they work on the yearbook), Early Child Development (some of these people in my school should take that class because they will be having children sooner rather than later), Agriculture (not that Agriculture is a bad thing but i bet less than 5% of the people who take that class will ever have anything to do with the farming industry), and many other pointless classes) and I don't know very many people that could afford to purchase their own lathe and such. How thick were your shanks that you made compared to a brass shank? I'm trying to make mine about the same thickness so that the air goes in the same with this shank compared to my helleberg

I took Ag in HS, and played in the FFA band. it was a "national level band" and was also a whole bunch of fun! Yea FFA!

[Dutchtown Sousa]

Well as an update I completed another plastic mouthpiece, this time making a mold of my Conn Helleburg then pressing the material into the mold. It works much better than the last one but I need to add some lead tape to it and the Kellyberg I have so that the higher dynamics might be more stable

[Dutchtown Sousa]

I used my homemade mouthpiece again today and determined it was better for extremely soft dynamics than my Conn Helleberg

[DrDave]

We have done direct comparisons of live playing and recordings of otherwise identical silver plated brass and Delrin plastic Wedge H2 (our version of the Schilke Helleberg II). The Delrin models are CNC turned and machined using the same program as the metal ones. (We do the same thing with trumpet and trombone mouthpieces.) Players consistently report that Delriin mouthpieces are very responsive to soft articulation and are great for very soft passages. They certainly speak more quickly than brass, providing great security for very quiet passages. However, they lack some of the clarity of sound found in the brass models, especially in the upper register. Some people actually prefer the Delrin mouthpieces, especially if they have a naturally bright sound but want to produce a darker one for some applications.