My RPC tenor mouthpiece got dropped, and a very small chip on the tip compromises the seal between reed and tip rail. I'm hoping to fill the chip with some kind of epoxy, and then sand to smoothness. Are there particular epoxies that are know to be good for this kind of repair, and that won't poison me? Thanks.
how to repair a chipped rubber mouthpiece?
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This really isn't a repair for a novice to make. In fact, I can almost guarantee you that if you do what you are suggesting, that you will further damage, if not ruin, the piece. No offence meant to you...it's just that people who do this sort of work (well) practice a LOT at it, and ruin a lot of (cheap) mouthpieces before the point that they can do it correctly. Your RPC mouthpiece would have been meticulously hand faced by Ron Cohelo. If you fill in the missing material with epoxy and sand it, you will be altering (in a haphazard way) the parameters that he applied. You are much better off paying a bit to have it done correctly by someone who knows what they are doing. I'm not sure if Ron would take it back to do that sort of work, but there are others would would. I know Mojo (Keith Bradbury) does chipped tip repairs. I had a NY Meyer with a chipped tip repaired by Brian Powell, who did a fantastic job. I'm sure there are others, but these are the two that come to mind.
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I'm pretty sure Erik Greiffenhagen (Brian Powell's partner in the biz) would also be able to do that repair. Erik hasn't done that kind of repair for me, but he has worked on numerous mouthpieces of mine and his work is stellar. There are certainly others who frequent this forum who could also help you out and I'm confident would do a great job. Personally, I'd send it to one of them and not risk doing more harm than good by yourself.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad42ZLoX2OI
Repairing a Chipped Tip
November 2014 -
I show how to repair a chipped tip in a saxophone or clarinet mouthpiece. In this case it is a vintage Alto Sax New York Meyer Brothers small chamber 5M. I replace the missing chip using JB Weld epoxy.
MojoBari
Published on Dec 1, 2014
Repairing a Chipped Tip
November 2014 -
I show how to repair a chipped tip in a saxophone or clarinet mouthpiece. In this case it is a vintage Alto Sax New York Meyer Brothers small chamber 5M. I replace the missing chip using JB Weld epoxy.
MojoBari
Published on Dec 1, 2014
I definitely would not use JB Weld. I doubt if its toxic after complete curing but it would a totally different density/hardness than Ebonite or plastic. There is at least one kind of epoxy made for the purpose of Ebonite repair. This would be the thing for this fix as well as forming a new bite plate insert on a metal mouthpiece.
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Is J-B Weld toxic?
No. When fully cured, J-B Weld is non-toxic. However, we do not recommend consuming the product.
https://www.jbweld.com/pages/faqs
No. When fully cured, J-B Weld is non-toxic. However, we do not recommend consuming the product.
https://www.jbweld.com/pages/faqs
Uh, oh, okay. (Damn it!)
Thanks! Do you happen to know its name and/or where to get it?
Thanks, I'll take a look.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ron DID offer to repair it, but he is so backed up that I fear not having it for a LONG time. I'll consider your other suggestions.
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This
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Toss it and get another mouthpiece. I know that there is this thing about "it was my first love and and I need to it bring it back", but get real. If your first wife died, would you want to reconstruct her with JB weld? Move along. But wait, she was a good vintage piece. Still, move along.
Mark
Mark
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Since the prevailing wisdom says toss it, you have nothing to lose by trying a repair with JB Weld. It costs about 7 bucks and you will have the remainder - it will only take a small amount - on hand if you need to repair your engine block, mouthpiece bite plates etc.
You'll need a couple of different fine grit wet/dry sand papers, too.
You'll need a couple of different fine grit wet/dry sand papers, too.
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A new one is $275.00 or $325.00 plus apparently a wait time.
I'd have a pro repair it. Mojo repaired a similar problem on a Soloist mouthpiece of mine and the problem was solved.
As I recall it was ~$50.00
I'd have a pro repair it. Mojo repaired a similar problem on a Soloist mouthpiece of mine and the problem was solved.
As I recall it was ~$50.00
OP, have you confirmed there's any actual effect on the playing of the mouthpiece? "Compromised seal" doesn't mean anything to me; I doubt that any of my mouthpieces would actually hold the reed against the facing the way people always rabbit on about. If it plays fine, leave it alone (you did write "very small chip").
My main alto mouthpiece has a big nick right on the tip rail (not sure how I did it) and plays perfectly fine.
If it doesn't play, then yes, I'd fill the little nick. An RPC mouthpiece isn't a plastic Goldentone that you can get a replacement for $20. Make sure to get the surface dead clean before applying your epoxy filler. If you go slow and duplicate the existing/previous surface carefully, you should have no problems. We have no way of knowing, of course, whether you're an experienced woodworker, scupltor, and machinist, or a hamhanded computer driver that doesn't know a screw driver from a bus driver, or somewhere in between. I wouldn't hesitate myself to do this repair at home, but I've been doing fine tolerance work with my hands for almost 50 years.
My main alto mouthpiece has a big nick right on the tip rail (not sure how I did it) and plays perfectly fine.
If it doesn't play, then yes, I'd fill the little nick. An RPC mouthpiece isn't a plastic Goldentone that you can get a replacement for $20. Make sure to get the surface dead clean before applying your epoxy filler. If you go slow and duplicate the existing/previous surface carefully, you should have no problems. We have no way of knowing, of course, whether you're an experienced woodworker, scupltor, and machinist, or a hamhanded computer driver that doesn't know a screw driver from a bus driver, or somewhere in between. I wouldn't hesitate myself to do this repair at home, but I've been doing fine tolerance work with my hands for almost 50 years.
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Consider a vintage otto link, for example. Apparently a great many of them were absolute duds. There were a number that came out fantastic, and there were more that ended up fantastic once they had been tinkered with in various ways. Having a great version is significant, and getting a damaged one repaired by an expert would be wise.
I do not believe that the RPC has any such limited reputation. Made to good tolerances by modern methods. Replaceable.
In short, whaler gets my vote.
I would replace the piece. Get a new RPC.
THEN I would either send the chipped one off to get the repair done, or else take a crack at a DIY repair.
At that point I would have a main mpc and a backup.
If one or the other was a little different and better, I would go so far as to have one of our fine refacers trim up the deficient version to make the two as identical as I could get.
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