 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tb0b
Date: 2000-12-02 03:42
i have two teeth marks on my vandoren mouthpiece. they're not dents (like i had in my old plastic one). they're just tiny little scratches.
is there any way that I can remove/sand/fix them?
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-02 04:10
(I'll assume we are talking about a hard rubber mouthpiece)
These are IN-dentations. Some can be light, some can be deep. I have played with many older mouthpieces, some which had teeth marks. You can even out the indentations, but you would be digging to China if you thought you could (fully) buff or sand away gouges which are very deep.
With light impressions, I have worked with wet-dry sand paper of varying grits, say 600, 1000 & 1500. I use the 600 (even as low as 440 carefully) to even out ridges and then polish with the higher grades. I prefer to work with a wet surface. I clewan the surface, often, while sanding as it clearly shows my progress (or how far I am from China!)
Likewise, a buffing machine would work well too, using a very, very light abrasive substance. (I have my eye on a nice bench motor rig at Sears ... a beaut, too)
Remember, too, that when a mouthpiece patch is placed over the teeth marks (for me, preferably a black rubber patch, if you are agreeable to that style) the teeth marks shouldn't be noticeable and won't bother your teeth as much as direct contact with the teeth indentations. I have been there on the latter & its uncomfortable playing with no patch and teeth gouges ....
best of luck
mw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2000-12-02 18:24
MW says it very well, its my suggestion also to use a rubber or PLASTIC mp patch. I have one on each of my good mps, and since I go back and forth with single/double lipping [related to music character, volume and register] , it works for me. Don
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-02 21:08
I worked with some teethy mouthpieces last night & this morning.
Deep marks take a lot of work, & this necessitates working & including areas around the teeth marks. I was able to take one subject mouthpiece & do a fair amount of good, to the point that it was quite comfortable *without* a mouthpiece patch.
The problem: Once I was done with sanding & polishing with my various grits #'s of wet-dry sandpaper, I had a pretty scratched up mouthpiece. I tried a # of things, but I will tell you what did the *BEST* job.
(If JB sees this, he'll be smiling) The solution (for me) was Gel Gloss. It really helped me polish out ALL of the scratch marks. That one teethy mouthpiece looks pretty darned good right now. There isn't a trace of any sandpaper scratches and I levelled out the teeth marks fairly well. (the Gel Gloss requires more elbow grease than speed.
Just used an old cutup pieces of a cotton tee shirt to apply the Gel Gloss, applying it liberally (& directly) to the affected area. Then use another piece of the same cotton to polish. Finally, finishing with material from an old pillow case. I rinsed the mouthpiece with soapy warm water to remove all traces of the gel Gloss. Then I let the mouthpiece soak in a lemon juice solution to 30 minutes. After rinsing, I polished again with a pillow case cloth.
Don't try this on your best mouthpiece (that has teeth marks) until you've had some practice. Good luck. mw
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Author: Jeff Gegner
Date: 2000-12-02 22:41
Has anyone tried filling the teeth marks first and then sand down. Maybe some epoxy, or even a p-tex candle then sand down the filler. You should be able to restore the mouthpiece to the original dimensions that way. To me it seems sanding down a mouthpiece without prefilling would change the characteristics of it.
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2000-12-02 23:18
Jeff,
Varying degrees of success can be achieved with LocTite 380 (Black Max) however I warn you that this product is very expensive. It is an acrylic filler that can be used in a variety of applications. A small bottle (1 oz) will put you back about $27 plus tax. Not a cheap alternative if you only have on mouthpiece or a limited application. Fortunaltely I can justify the expense since I work on many clarinets and can use it for building up worn tenons on resonite clarinets, fill surface cracks, set posts on resonite clarinets, etc.
mw,
Yes, I did smile.
John
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Author: mw
Date: 2000-12-03 00:28
Jeff, I think you & John have a great idea with the filler. I bought some Lok-Tite 401 back in Sept. & I am still reeling from the half-filled bottle that cost me $16.00 @ a wholesaler (yes, wholesaler) in OKC. Then, they claim it is best kept refirgerated. Great glue, but ...
I think that in most cases we are not talking about removing as much as you might think. Lets also remember that when we put a black rubber mouthpiece patch, that vandoren (or whoever) didn't have that in mind with their engineering of the mouthpiece either.
That said, I know where there is a bucket full of mouthpieces with teeth impressions ... mostly vandoren & portnoy mouthpieces. Last time I was there, a handful of mouthpieces costs $5.00 (seriously & it reminds of the golf tees at the golf shop, a buck for as many as you can grab with 1 hand).
Lets think of this --- what would you use with a beautiful crystal mouthpiece with some big tooth marks. what clear filler would be available? I have worked small dents out of a crystal tip rail. it takes a LONG time by hand with 1000 grit, but it looked great & played great afterwards. I wouldn't want to use a machine to try and buff it out.
mw
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 2000-12-03 00:38
Mark,
I do not know of a clear filler. I'll give my district LocTite representative a call early next week and see if he has a suggestion. I can almost hear him now, I've called him so many times lately that he has probably started screening my number through his caller ID!
Later,
John
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