Klarinet Archive - Posting 000784.txt from 2004/01

From: mginesi@-----.net
Subj: Re: [kl] Mouthpiece repair - can it be done?
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 09:48:43 -0500

walter wrote
>When I was done, the mouthpiece played very well, as well as many of my new
>mouthpieces. I don't know how good it was before it was chipped, but it
>still
>played very well. I tried it with several nasty excerpts.
>
>Has anyone else out there done anything similar? Has it worked well? Did the
>repair last? (I gave the student a 50% credit on the repair toward a new
>mouthpiece if the repair lasted less than two years).

yes, ferree's magic jet G-20

marvelous material...to work with and in its varied applications.

you will probably not need to worry about the credit....i have repaired
mouthpieces in such a manner and they have not come back in over 6 years...

my method is similar to what you have done. initially i dip the tip or
affected area in muriatic acid to remove any hint of grease, or oil; then
stopping agent...dry with a heat gun...apply the epoxy - i use wax paper for
the molding of the tip and baffle, leaving extra to be filed and shaped.
i use more part 1 - to increase the hardness of the final mix.
to decrease the cure time i set it under a 100 watt lamp.
when cured it is easily shaped and indeed is as good or better than the
original. i have not noticed a deficiency in the sound quality of the final
product...in most cases...the owner feels the piece plays with more
magnificent tone quality than previously. [of course the facing may have been
improved in some small manner as well]

a wonderful manner with which to save a favored mouthpiece.

the epoxy is very effective as well for tuning of the clarinet...if one needs
to build up the interior of a tone hole...using black tape to establish the
desired change...then remove the tape and install the epoxy...let cure and
shape. [ i use acetone to clean the interior of the tone hole for oil,
grease, etc removal.] chipped ring extensions likewise can be rebuilt in a
like manner. the repair is indistinguishable when complete.

michael ginesi
www.musica-ginesius.com
mginesi@-----.att.net
> I had an interesting project last week and I thought I'd mention it to the list.
>
> Early last week, I had a distraught Mom call me. Through mis-handling, her son's
> mouthpiece was chipped. She explained to me it was a special mouthpiece, made
> from a Chedeville blank and had been given to her son by a beloved teacher. I
> had them come over.
>
> It turned out to be an old Bettoney mouthpiece and yes is was royally chipped. A
> big "V" shaped chunk was taken out of the tip, to the right of center, and the
> pieces were sticking on to the mouthpiece pad.
>
> I said I'd take a look at it, but there was a 99% chance that it was just a
> goner.
>
> Well, I fumbled about with it for a day, and right away decided there was no way
> of "gluing" the piece back together, with like super glue or something.
>
> I decided to try epoxy. So I got out my special "Ferree's" super epoxy and mixed
> up a small batch. I put slippery package sealing tape inside the mouthpiece so
> it conformed to the curve of the baffle and eased in a big glob of epoxy. As it
> started to cure, I smoothed it to conform somewhat closely to the original tip
> rail curve, leaving plenty of extra.
>
> Surprise, surprise, after it cured for a day the epoxy was as hard as the
> original rubber, maybe harder. I used normal mouthpiece techniques to thin the
> tip rail and polish the upper baffle. (I used a file, grinder, and my buffing
> wheel to make the beak (where the teeth go) conform to a nice smooth profile.
>
> When I was done, the mouthpiece played very well, as well as many of my new
> mouthpieces. I don't know how good it was before it was chipped, but it still
> played very well. I tried it with several nasty excerpts.
>
> Has anyone else out there done anything similar? Has it worked well? Did the
> repair last? (I gave the student a 50% credit on the repair toward a new
> mouthpiece if the repair lasted less than two years).
>
> Anyway, I thought I'd share this one with the list to see if similar things have
> happened elsewhere. Tony, aren't there some guys in the U.K. that do similar
> work?
>
> Walter Grabner
> www.clarinetxpress.com
> world-class clarinet mouthpieces
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>

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