Wooden Mouthpiece Repair

927 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by DougR, Oct 27, 2007

AlistairD

Discussion Starter · Oct 26, 2007

Hi,

I have just finished repairing my Barone NY Wood Tenor Mouthpiece. I had a couple of trials and am now very pleased with the result. A 3mm crack opened up the full length of the table and as I enjoy using the piece I thought I would have a go and repair it. After some experimentation, it is now back as good as ever and it generates a good reed 'pop' now.

View attachment 3411

If you look closely you can see the old split down the middle.

View attachment 3412

The build up around the brass ring is epoxy to create a good seal which was missing....

So, anyone out there who is thinking of dumping a split wooden mouthpiece, please don't... I may well be interested in having a go at repairing it...

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daigle65

· #2 · Oct 26, 2007

So you did that yourself with epoxy, wow!

What caused the crack in the first place?

I have a wood LeBayle for bari and I'd like to know what precautions to take to avoid cracking and warping, besides the obvious ones....cleaning and drying after every use, oiling it regulary and being careful in cold weather.

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AlistairD

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 26, 2007

daigle

I think the crack was caused by the different expansion rate of the brass collar and the wood as the split occurred on a very hot day in summer, though I am not sure.

I got the mouthpiece 2nd hand and I think the split was already starting, it just blew apart in the hot weather.

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daigle65

· #4 · Oct 26, 2007

That's very plausible.
I have a small brass ring around the shank so I'll be careful in hot weather also.

So a hot summer day in England would be around 15 or 20 celsius?

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clarnibass

· #5 · Oct 26, 2007

I've played a couple of wood mouthpiece for several years, never oiled them, and they never cracked. FWIW.

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AlistairD

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 26, 2007

I should never have taken the photo.... Turned around, posted on here, went to get the mouthpiece and the dog has chewed it.... Thankfully I did not spend too much on it..

Anyone got a cracked wooden tenor for me as this one has no hope of repair again!!!!

Serves me right I guess for posting and not practicing...

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daigle65

· #7 · Oct 26, 2007

Oooooh !!!
Man that hurts.
I hope you were not responding to my post when that happened.

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AlistairD

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 26, 2007

daigle65 said:
Oooooh !!!
Man that hurts.
I hope you were not responding to my post when that happened.

No.... I was just stupid enough to leave it on the table after photographing it... Never do that again!!!

BTW it reached the mid to high 20's last summer even in England....

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jbtsax

· #9 · Oct 26, 2007

I think you have given us some good reasons not to buy a wooden mouthpiece. Did you "pin" the crack after you glued it as is done with wooden oboes and clarinets? This is usually done to prevent the wood from splitting again along the same seam.

Also, were you able to get the area of the repaired crack perfectly flat following the repair? From the photo there appears to be a slight indentation still where the crack occurred. In our shop we often use a small drop of super glue followed instantly with powdered grenadilla dust to fill cracks. The excess is carefully filed and sanded to match the original contour of the surface and then lightly polished.

One would need to be very careful using this technique on a mouthpiece table, since it must be perfectly flat. Any excessive sanding of the entire table of course would change the lay and the tip opening.

John

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AlistairD

Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 27, 2007

jbtsax said:
I think you have given us some good reasons not to buy a wooden mouthpiece. Did you "pin" the crack after you glued it as is done with wooden oboes and clarinets? This is usually done to prevent the wood from splitting again along the same seam.

Also, were you able to get the area of the repaired crack perfectly flat following the repair? From the photo there appears to be a slight indentation still where the crack occurred. In our shop we often use a small drop of super glue followed instantly with powdered grenadilla dust to fill cracks. The excess is carefully filed and sanded to match the original contour of the surface and then lightly polished.

One would need to be very careful using this technique on a mouthpiece table, since it must be perfectly flat. Any excessive sanding of the entire table of course would change the lay and the tip opening.

John

John,

The advantage of the Barone is that it sits around a brass tube (and the tube extends about an inch inside the mouthpiece). I sanded the outside of the tube to ensure a good adhesive surface so there was no need for pinning.

I filled the slight remaining gap with epoxy and sanded it very carefully flat. Next time, I will take your advice about super glue and dust to match the colour. On this piece, the expoxy is clear so it looks like an indentation.

Mind you, now the dog has chewed it, the table is less than flat:x :x :x :x :x

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DougR

· #11 · Oct 27, 2007

A brass tube into a wooden cylinder is a very questionable piece of engineering - doing it in wild grain (sinhalese ebony?) is really asking for trouble.

As the moisture content of the timber varies it shrinks and swells - by differing amounts in different directions - so you are almost certain to get either splitting or a very loose fit - an unlucky victim could get both.

Sorry to hear about the dog.

I knew a guy who thought he'd found "The Piece", it was french, and made of ebony and of course a one-off from a long-dead artisan in......

Before placing your jeans in the washing machine - CHECK THE POCKETS.

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