 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-27 08:07
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 1.jpg (192k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 2.jpg (234k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 3.jpg (402k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 4.jpg (187k)
For the past few decades, I have tried so many embouchure formations that I've lost count. Each one failed as I could feel the contractions of my focal dystonia muscles on the right side of my mouth begin to contract. The day after was usually one of pain which I knew in a few days would go away.
As I contemplated my rather unique problem, it finally occurred to me that no embouchure formation was going to allow me to play and that I was going to need some form of device to place pressure upon the right side of my mouth in order to prevent my damaged muscles from being used.
I thought about various mechanisms, both inside and outside of my mouth that I thought could help me. And, yes, I prayed about my problem because I wanted to play some hymns.
I don't remember exactly when, but a basic design began to be seen in my mind. The more I concentrated upon this conceptualized design, the more convinced I became that it could actually help me play again.
To make this story shorter, I had to find the appropriate acrylic thickness, learn how to bend acrylic, and go through numerous sizing experiments, screw placement, and a short search for material to help prevent slippage between the acrylic brace and acrylic/hard rubber mouthpieces.
I see several advantages to the "Embouchure Brace":
1) Allowing players with embouchure focal dystonia to play again;
2) Allow players to play for longer periods of time without embouchure tiring;
3) Allow players to play a stronger reed than their current embouchure development will allow them.
Yes, it's a simplistic, homemade device which can give the viewer of the enclosed pictures the idea of "I can make that easily." Let me assure you of one thing: It is not easy to duplicate. Trust me...I know only too well.
All I can say now is that it feels great to play again, and, when I'm through playing, my mouth feels as if I haven't even played at all.
I made this not only to help myself, but, hopefully to help others as well.
Please feel free to email me directly if you would like to make a brace like this for yourself for whatever reason.
Thanks for stopping by and I wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Post Edited (2024-11-27 08:19)
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Author: ruben
Date: 2024-11-27 13:19
Dear Dan, I hope other people with similar problems will benefit from your invention and your positive attitude when confronted with this issue. Maybe you could see somebody from the medical profession and highly refine and pinpoint your "brace".
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-27 23:03
ruben,
Thank you for your kind words.
I've investigated various medical methods and decided I didn't want to chance the possible negative side effects.
It took a long time to simply overcome the Pavlov effect, i.e., if I even thought about playing or simply looked at a clarinet mouthpiece or visited this BB, a neurological effect would begin to take place in my brain with the consequential self-contracting of various muscles in my upper lip and the right side of my mouth which, at first, I thought might be permanent, but fortunately, each time, only lasted around 3 days. Right now, if I even played without the brace for around 15 seconds and stopped, my upper lip and right side embouchure muscles would begin to contract and would stay contracted for around 2-3 days. I forgot to mention that when my right side mouth muscles contract, they contract so hard that pain always follows requiring massages and stretches to help alleviate the pain. Prescription muscle relaxant medications only helped slightly. Hence, my need for an external brace.
I emailed Brad Behn yesterday about my embouchure brace and he wrote back that in his entire career, I'm the only person he knows of that has come down with this disorder. Also, I have read that when embouchure focal dystonia sets in, it usually ends the careers of professionals with less than 1% being able to return to performing. Perhaps it's simplistic thinking on my part, however I hope this device can help another afflicted player. All I can say is that it feels great to play again! And, for as long as I want with no negative embouchure side effects!
I'm planning to post a pictorial diagram along with step-by-step instructions for anyone who might be interested in constructing this embouchure brace. It's rather complicated (to me) so it will probably take a few days for me to complete. (I also feel the need to do this so that it will become a part of the huge BB digital archive.)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2024-11-27 23:22
Dan, thank you. This provides new ideas in how to adapt to a possibly career or hobby ending problem. It indeed may have some side effects, but now people have a choice where no choice existed before.
Thank you ,
Mark C.
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Author: ruben
Date: 2024-11-28 00:43
The ideal person to make a good prototype of this would be a prosthetist; preferably one that plays a reed instrument. There must be one out there.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-28 01:20
My wife mentioned about me making these with a 3D printer. Unfortunately, at nearly 78, my mental capacity is not what it used to be.
Not noted above, there are 2 extra things that need to be taken into consideration. The angle of the "wings" would probably be different for everyone because each person, imo, has a different facial configuration. For example, my acrylic source is actually a book holder from Amazon. It has 2 bends, one at 92 degrees and another at 100 degrees. Both were much to flat to offer any support. So, I had to experiment. 125 degrees was too tight or constrictive against my face, so I made another at 115 degrees. That one was slightly loose so it couldn't offer the support that I was looking for. When I made another at 120 degrees, the fit was perfect...comfort and support. The 2nd thing is that acrylic cracks quite easily. I found that out when I slightly overtightened the brace against a mpc. What you don't see in the pictures is a thin, very rigid, zinc coated metal between the screws/nuts and the acrylic brace. Now, I can snug up the tightness without fear of the acrylic brace cracking.
It's like what I wrote to Brad...This embouchure brace is pretty much like a shoe. The length size and the width need to be just right.
p.s. By shoe length of the brace, I mean the actual length of the supporting brace from the edge of the bend to the end of the brace. One inch was too short for me. I have mine set at 1.5 inches from the edge of the bend. By shoe width of the brace, I mean the actual angle of the supporting brace with reference to the mouthpiece.
Post Edited (2024-11-28 08:37)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-28 03:22
Mark, you are very welcome. And now, I feel the need to say: "Thank You" Mark, for providing this wonderful forum which, fortunately for everybody, has an extensive digital vault of valuable information available to everyone without cost.
The Woodwind Bulletin Boards for Clarinet, Saxophone, Doublers, etc., is a very unique treasure of information on the Internet.
IMHO, no other forum even comes close.
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Author: Micke Isotalo ★2017
Date: 2024-11-28 13:06
Dan, I'm really glad on your behalf that you are able to play again, thanks to your most ingenious invention.
My very first visualization when I started looking at your pictures was that your device was to be kept inside your mouth, but soon realized that isn't the case. 
I remember once in another thread (probably already a few years ago) suggesting to "circumvent" your embouchure dystonia with a "biting" embouchure - instead of the generally recommended "rubber band" type.
True, "biting" is mostly considered as a big no-no (for good reasons, involving tone, tuning, strain, fatigue, etc), but at extraordinary circumstances I think we just need to think a bit out of the box (as you also most evidently have done with your brace device). As you also are recognizing in your OP, at the most basic level what an embouchure needs to do is merely to put pressure on the reed. If then the usually recommended "rubber band" approach isn't an option, the second best one appearing to me would be to just simply "bite".
Yes, you may loose something in your tone and you may experience some other drawbacks, but if your ability to play or not is at stake, all that would still be just minor disadvantages. As I understand, even some pro players are actually "biters" (especially some of those few using very hard reeds), and I believe quite a lot of players just going on as unintentional such ones - simply not aware of anything else (including myself, years ago).
So just out of curiosity, did you ever try such a "biting" embouchure - and how did it work? Did it still trigger your dystonia?
Even when all the required pressure on the reed comes from the jaws, and none from the lips, the lips would of course still need to seal around the mouthpiece. But, as I understand your brace device, the same applies also there - or are the plastic plates pressing against the sides of your mouth actually also contributing to your lip seal (if not, a possible further development could perhaps include some kind of gasket)?
Post Edited (2024-11-28 16:34)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-28 21:49
Micke,
When I was 14, I received a clarinet and was taught to play by a music store teacher who in retrospect really didn't know what he was doing. I was taught the "smiling technique". Even though air kept leaking out of the right side of my mouth, I was admonished to "keep smiling". Now, obviously, looking back, that simply was the wrong technique for me. However, unfortunately, even though I had only 3 lessons, that wrong technique stuck with me. This was way before the Internet, YouTube, etc.
You are correct when you stated: "are the plastic plates pressing against the sides of your mouth actually also contributing to your lip seal". Yes, absolutely, that is precisely what the plastic plates are doing. Actually, you don't even need to form what might be called a "proper" side embouchure. By that I mean all that is necessary is to form a basic, loose embouchure with no side pressure and simply press your mouth into the brace. Pressing the sides of your mouth into the wide "V" shaped plates moves the loose muscle tissue towards the mouthpiece and forms a seal. All that is necessary then is to simply "blow". The plastic plates by sealing the sides of your mouth against the mouthpiece actually form an effective embouchure. I know it sounds a bit unrealistic, however, when I'm through playing, due to the pressure of the plates against the sides of my mouth, I feel afterward like I almost haven't even played. On a side note, because I haven't played in decades, one thing that became evident right away was how weak my lungs were. So, the more I play, the more I'll develop my lungs while my mouth will feel just fine. (No focal dystonia muscle contractions and no tiredness of embouchure from playing.)
I apologize if my explanation isn't quite clear enough, but it's the best I can do.
I plan to post a close up picture of me using the brace. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-28 22:23
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 5.jpg (263k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 6.jpg (208k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 7.jpg (1093k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 8.jpg (336k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 9.jpg (249k)
Picture 5 show the acrylic bookstand that I purchased from Amazon. I purposely looked for acrylic objects that already had bends in them. The left most bend is 92 degrees and the much more slanted bend is 100 degrees. I tried both and both angles were too small. I did, however used the plastic to start building my brace.
Picture 6 shows the hard metal brace against the acrylic embouchure brace. As noted above, without this metal reinforcement, the acrylic will break when tightened too much against the mouthpiece. Also in this picture, you should be able to see a small patch of tan. To help prevent the acrylic brace from sliding against the mouthpiece, I found that a small patch of masking tape worked just fine.
Picture 7 is simply a picture of the item I used to form the metal supporting bracket. Although it's less than 1mm in thickness, it is incredibly strong because I simply cannot even begin to bend the metal with my hands. I purchased this picture hanging bracket from my local hardware store. One of the reasons I'll continue to use these is because of the preformed, elongated opening at the top. A 4-40 screw fits nicely into it, the rounded screw head almost completely covers the opening, and the elongated opening gives a person a little "leeway" if the other hole isn't drilled exactly in the right place. I found this metal to be extremely hard to drill into with a designated metal drill bit.
Picture 8 show the tip of the mouthpiece along with a slim metal mm ruler which I also bought from Amazon. If you're wondering where to position the brace, all that is necessary is to simply slide the slim mm ruler in-between the mouthpiece and the brace. You should see a reading of 13mm. Yes, I actually have a very nice mouthpiece with a Brand 24 (12mm) facing. If not enough mouthpiece is protruding from the brace, if the tightness of the brace against the mouthpiece is a slight snug, you should be able to simply push the brace back, reposition it with the beak being parallel to the top of the brace and take another measurement equaling the facing of your mouthpiece. When the correct measurement is made, simply tighten up the brace just a little bit more. When "snug" enough in tightness, the brace is actually quite stable.
Picture 9 shows drawings and measurements. IMO, the hardest part of constructing this brace is doing the acrylic bend to a precise angle required. More about this will follow in another post.
Post Edited (2024-11-28 23:23)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2024-11-28 22:33
Hmmm ... Ganchos. I understood that immediately.
7 years in Mexico will do that to you.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-11-29 02:48
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 10.jpg (260k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 11.jpg (324k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 12.jpg (261k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 13.jpg (328k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 14.jpg (173k)
Mark, Thanks for the humorous moment...I needed that!
Micke, About that saying "A picture is worth a thousand words".
Well, here's 5,000 words for you:
Picture 10: Front view with a 24 facing mpc. (The side to the right is my embouchure focal dystonia side. Notice how different it is from the other side.)
Picture 11: My right side view with the same 24 facing mpc.
Picture 12: My left side view with the same 24 facing mpc.
Picture 13: My right side view with a 36 facing mpc.
Picture 14: My left side view with the same 36 facing mpc.
Directions for making the brace to follow in another post.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2024-12-01 01:52
Thanks for these photos of you using the brace. I confess that until I saw them, I really didn't understand how you were using it.
I'm glad you've found a way to enjoy playing again. And belatedly, welcome back to the BBoard!
Karl
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-01 10:59
I spent a good part of today enhancing Picture 9 with very detailed measurements.
When you look at this new picture, #15, in the following post, you'll see that the lower left corner of the section that goes against the mpc has been cut off. When I put the brace on a 36 facing mpc to play, my original design interfered with the ligature so the easiest solution was to simply remove that portion that is just under the metal reinforcement bar. When I did a selfie with a 36 facing, because I just wanted to show how it covered my face, I didn't have a ligature in place.
Today, I received a special acrylic bending tool specifically designed to bend small pieces of plastic. With all of my previous attempts at bending acrylic, I used a heat gun but had many unsatisfactory results due to the spreading of the heat over a small piece of acrylic.
If you have any questions, please feel free to post them below.
Post Edited (2024-12-01 12:24)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-05 08:51
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 16.jpg (523k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 17.jpg (205k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 18.jpg (256k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 19.jpg (232k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 20.jpg (395k)
Picture 16: shows a horizontal line connected to a 125 degree line. After the cut pieces are heated with the Amazon "Acrylic Arc Bender", simply bend the pieces to match the drawn line. Hold firmly in place for around 15-20 seconds and the bend is then permanent.
Picture 17: shows an acrylic piece prepped for a hacksaw cut. Always use masking tape to collect the countless micro plastic particles. (If you're proficient at cutting acrylic using a very sharp stiff blade, by all means, use that method.)
Picture 18: shows the cut plates with the bend line drawn vertically in the middle. This bend line is important when inserting the pieces into the "Acrylic Arc Bender" to make sure that the heated section is at or extremely close to a true 90 degree angle. Otherwise, the bend angle will probably be different at the top from the bottom which is against the lined paper.
Picture 19: shows 2 bent plates next to a line drawn with a 125 degree angle.
Picture 20: shows a picture of an angled plank with a line drawn for cutting. The short line on the left was drawn by measurement. The angled line was drawn along the side of the finished metal brace after it was positioned correctly. Also shown is a 50lb, 1/4 inch wide picture hanger before and after the cutting, the drilled hole, and the filing of the edges to round the corners.
Directions for making the Embouchure Brace:
1. First, cut out two pieces of acrylic with the dimensions of 1.5 inches by 3 inches. Leave the thin plastic protector of the acrylic in place. This will prevent any marring of the surface caused by the use of a metal vise or if the acrylic piece is held steady with a C-clamp holding the acrylic to a piece of wood. When making any cut by a hack saw, always put masking tape on both sides of the acrylic to catch the myriad of micro plastic particles that the sawing produces. I’ve tried the sharp blade cutting method and found this method to be tedious and time consuming. I found that using a hack saw was much, much better for me.
2. After the cut, remove the plastic covering along with the masking tape. Then, use a file or sandpaper to smooth out the edges of the cut.
3. Next, on a blank, white, large piece of paper, draw a 2 inch horizontal line. Then with a protractor or a digital angle measuring ruler, from the right end point of the first line, draw another 2 inch line at 125 degrees. I find this angle to be a good starting point with a 34 or 36 facing mouthpiece. The purpose of this long angled line is due to the difficulty in making the bend angle accurately with one end being just one-half inch. Greater accuracy is obtained when both ends, after sufficient bending heat is applied, are long when adjusting the bend to the drawn angled line. I used the “Acrylic Arc Bender” (Amazon) pictured because the results of the bend were far better for me than the use of a heat gun. (Note: hold the acrylic between the heated elements for only 3 seconds. Applying the heat longer always mars the clear acrylic.)
4. With a “fine” Sharpie marker, trace a “bend line” at the 1.5 inch plank length. (About 1/16th of an inch length is used up on both the plank side and the mpc ½ inch side due to the bend) Then, align the second plate just under the top lined plate and mark another bend point. The two bend lines should form a straight line with one under the other.
5. After the 2 planks are bent to the correct angle, I suggest “vise grip” clamping the two pieces together on the mpc side to form a large “Y”. After you put the two pieces together, look at the “Y” from the side to make sure the angle formations starting at the bottom of the “Y” are equal. I use a magnifying glass to check for this accuracy. Another reason for “vise grip” clamping the two pieces together is to make sure that when a hole is drilled, the accuracy of the drilled point is automatically transferred to the other piece. Also, when doing the cutoff of the excess on the mpc end, the accuracy of the cut will be the same for both plates.
6. To prevent excess sliding between the acrylic brace and the mpc, I found masking tape to do a pretty good job. Just apply it on the inside of the brace between the two drilled holes.
7. To assemble, I use 2ea 4-40 bolts with a rounded hex head at a 1.5 inch length.
I stated at the beginning of this post that this brace is not easy to duplicate by simply looking at the original pictures. Hopefully, I have proven that statement.
p.s. I know I received a lot of inspirational help because I primarily wanted to play hymns on my clarinet.
Post Edited (2024-12-05 11:14)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-12 00:49
WoodsyBloom,
No, I'm not a genius. In my last post above, I mentioned "inspirational help". After numerous design failures, I prayed for inspiration and my prayers were answered. Trust me, at almost 78, I'm not that smart anymore.
My wife wanted me to 3D print them, but I simply didn't want to get into that high of a technology. (Too complicated for me...)
Now, as to what you created. Several things: 1) Did you make the angle around 125 degrees? As you slide the brace from a 30 to 38, you'll notice that the angle starts to spread outward due to the curvature of the mouthpiece. However, the curvature from 34 to 38 is less pronounced. 2) Due to the bolt hole locations, I'm guessing that what you made might work alright on a 34 mpc but not on a 36 or 38. The reasons for that is because the lower bolt 3D section might hit the ligature on a 36 and with a 38 mpc, the upper bolt will most likely be right against your upper lip. This is why I purposely moved it further back. I simply didn't want my lip touching the bolt. 3) Because your brace appears to be rather thick (I'm guessing around 1/4 inch), you probably won't need any kind of metal brace to prevent breakage of the material. (I used 2mm because anything thicker than that would very likely give me bending problems for a specific angle.)
I was hoping that somebody (like you) would take an interest and produce a 3D replica. My reasons for this are because: 1) yes, I know it would help players with embouchure focal dystonia return to playing again; 2) I think it would be very useful for players whose embouchure gets too tired very quickly. I believe an embouchure brace would simply allow players to play for longer or an extended period of time without the tiring of their embouchure; 3) IMHO, I believe an embouchure brace would be a great help to anyone having difficulties forming a proper or what is considered an appropriate embouchure (especially the elderly!). As I stated above, when I use mine, I simply form what I consider to be a very loose embouchure, then I press the brace against my face and I simply start blowing.
I sense you're going to go through a fair number of modifications. I have a pile of acrylic sections both large and small which I produced as I kept modifying my original design.
If you want to patent it...go for it! I think your 3D brace could be very useful to a lot of people.
Here's 2 more uses for it: 1) If you sound okay playing a #3 reed but sound much better when you try a #4 for around a minute but your embouchure starts to hurt, as long as you have the lung power, IMO, playing a #4 would definitely be possible: 2) If you'd like to play a Vandoren 7JB in a Dixieland band for an hour or more and you know your chops aren't made of steel, (again, as long as your lung power is there), to me, an embouchure brace would make playing that wide open mpc a whole lot easier.
I'm so happy that you took a serious interest in it and produced a 3D replica!
Post Edited (2024-12-12 01:39)
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-12 08:57
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 21.jpg (754k)
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 22.jpg (1860k)
I had been looking for a compression spring to put over the 4-40 bolt because when I removed the brace, all of the brace pieces came loose After taking a few careful digital mm readings of the 4-40 bolt thread, I found what I was looking for at Amazon. (See photo 21). The length of the spring was just right so that when I took the brace off, it stayed together in a solid structured manner which made it easy to slide back onto the mouthpiece. (See photo 22).
After I installed the brace with the compression springs to a 36 facing, I noticed that there was a rather tight space for the reed because I had a 0.8mm clarinet patch starting at the beak edge and going all the way up to the top end of the beak. What I did to remedy the situation was to cut the upper portion of the mouthpiece patch at the 20mm mark. From there to the top of the beak, I simply used Scotch clear packing tape so the spring wouldn't scratch the top of the beak. Doing this freed up extra space for the reed leaving sufficient space for the reed when the brace was pushed back for a 38 facing mouthpiece.
I knew that this brace could be replicated on a 3D printer, however I don't know if the 3D printer can produce a clear brace. I realize building it by hand takes longer, however I like the clear acrylic look because when a player is using it, it's pretty much invisible to the audience.
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Author: WoodsyBloom
Date: 2024-12-12 09:11
Dan, I've updated the design and added a clarinet mouthpiece 3D model for comparison. (The ligature and reed in particular are very funky looking, so take it with a grain of salt). Yes, I made it very thick for two reasons: 1) Like you said, it will then not need the metal brace, and 2) It will be easier for the machine to print. One of the the advantages of 3D printing this I think will be that the angle can be easily adjusted by heating it with a hair dryer and bending the plastic.
I think this may also help people prevent or help people heal from embouchure overuse syndrome, and the unfortunate occasions when one might end up with 7 hrs of back-to-back rehearsals.
Let me know what you think of the updated design! With your permission, I'd like to put it on thingiverse.com so that it will be easy to access for other people who might find it useful.
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Author: WoodsyBloom
Date: 2024-12-12 09:11
Dan, I've updated the design and added a clarinet mouthpiece 3D model for comparison. (The ligature and reed in particular are very funky looking, so take it with a grain of salt). Yes, I made it very thick for two reasons: 1) Like you said, it will then not need the metal brace, and 2) It will be easier for the machine to print. One of the the advantages of 3D printing this I think will be that the angle can be easily adjusted by heating it with a hair dryer and bending the plastic.
I think this may also help people prevent or help people heal from embouchure overuse syndrome, and the unfortunate occasions when one might end up with 7 hrs of back-to-back rehearsals.
Let me know what you think of the updated design! With your permission, I'd like to put it on thingiverse.com so that it will be easy to access for other people who might find it useful.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-12 09:54
WoodsyBloom, I'm all for "spreading the design everywhere" to as many places as possible. At the very heart of my endeavor was not only to help myself, but also to help as many players as possible in so many diverse situations.
Please keep in mind that mouthpieces vary in width and also players facial features will also vary. This, of course, means that the angle will probably have to be changed for each user.
I first started using a heat gun but the results were rather catastrophic. However, that may have been the case because I was using a thin 2mm acrylic. I'm sure that you are aware that both sides of the bend area need to be heated equally in order to facilitate increasing or decreasing the angle of the bend.
I found that a 34 facing brace is pretty easy, a 36 facing is harder and a 38 facing is the hardest to configure because the available space to attach the brace is at a minimum. Since mouthpiece facings generally go from 32 to 38, your brace will need to be able to accommodate them all.
If you use the compression springs (which I hope you do), I suggest making the sides a little wider...perhaps 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch wider. This will provide a little more clearance room for the reed.
I believe you meant to post a photo. Anyway, your verbiage seems to indicate so.
It looks like you're on a roll...Good luck!
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-15 02:34
A while back, I tried to play a mouthpiece with a 34 facing and it felt as if the ends of my lips were being forced into a crevice and some saliva leakage was also noted. After looking at the curvature of the brace with a magnifying glass, I was right. (See photo 23). I tried to figure out a way to cover the crevice to prevent these 2 things from happening and the idea of simply placing another small section of acrylic over the the original one and placing it next to and actually touching the mouthpiece took care of the problem. (See photo 24.) The 2nd acrylic I used was 2mm and I wondered how a 1"X1" piece would feel against my face. When I placed the extra small piece on top of the original and placed it against my face, I felt no difference at all. Whether it was there or not felt the same to me. Because I didn't want to loose 2mm of space available for the mouthpiece tip, I ordered 1mm acrylic from Amazon.
I viewed several videos on YouTube about how to glue 2 pieces of acrylic together. They all had different strengths of adhesion, however what concerned me most was their toxicity. So, instead of a commercial glue, I decided to try Sally Hanson's Hard as Nails. (I have very thin fingernails.) I took two discarded pieces of acrylic, spread the nail hardner evenly across one piece and pressed them tightly together for 30 seconds. I then tried to separate them. I couldn't. I let it set overnight and I had to use 2 pairs of pliers along with a lot of force to finally break them apart. So that's what I'm going to use with the 1mm acrylic when it arrives.
I'm always looking for a way to improve this brace.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-17 08:23
Attachment: Embouchure Brace 25.jpg (330k)
Today, I received 1mm, 4X6 sheets from Amazon. I was able to easily use a sharp cutter knife to cut out 1 inch square pieces to cover the crevices on both sides. (See photo 25). As I played, I quickly noticed what I had hoped to achieve. The feeling of facial flesh in the crevice was gone and no escaping saliva occurred.
Tomorrow I'm supposed to receive 1/8 inch acrylic sheets. I'm planning to just make 2 long, narrow pieces that normally come in contact with the mouthpiece and tighten them up as I normally would. I'm hoping the increased thickness will prevent the acrylic from cracking as I tighten the bolts and therefore eliminate the need for a metal brace.
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Author: Dan Shusta
Date: 2024-12-22 00:26
As I stated above, after I received the 1/8 inch acrylic sheets, I “struggled” to cut 2, 3/8 inch wide X 1.5 inch long pieces. (This wider acrylic was very dense and tough to cut with my bi-metal hacksaw blade.) I drilled the 2 holes in their appropriate places, installed the bolts, put on the nuts and began to tighten the assembly against the sides of a mouthpiece. Although it didn’t crack, it did, most definitely, begin to bend. That just proved to me that to use acrylic alone (without the metal brace), the thickness of the material had to be greater than 1/8 inch. I wasn’t willing to buy thicker acrylic, because the bend radius increased with the thicker material. With the 2mm acrylic, I measured the bend length to be 1/8 inch. With the 1/8 inch acrylic, I measured the bend length to be 0.25 inch. That, of course, would mean a rather large crevice between the plank and the mouthpiece. I just looked again at WoodsyBloom’s pictures and it appears that he is able to create the brace with a sharp 90 degree corner instead of a gradual bend. So, his braces would be able to go up against the mouthpiece completely flat without any crevice.
After inserting the mouthpiece, the top bolt is designed to sit on top of the mouthpiece. Also, by design, the angle of the mouthpiece beak should be parallel with the top of the plank. After tightening, if necessary, the brace can rotate so the planks can rest evenly against the face.
Now, for something I should have mentioned a long time ago:
WARNING! WEAR RUBBER GLOVES! The edges of cut acrylic are way beyond incredibly sharp. I have more than a few of what I call “micro-cuts”. These are cuts which are so shallow that no blood is let out and can only be seen with a magnifying glass. Yet, they can be painful especially when washing your hands with soap. So again: WEAR RUBBER GLOVES! Also, be sure to bevel all edges with a file or sandpaper!
End of assembly instructions.
p.s. The diagram shown in photo 15 is good for up to a 36 facing mouthpiece. For a 38 mouthpiece facing, the width needs to be increased from 1.5 to 1&5/8 inch to allow sufficient room for the reed. Also, the 0.5 inch section that goes against the mouthpiece should be reduced to 3/8 inch. Obviously, with a longer width, a longer metal brace would need to be made to keep the edge of the top bolt 3/8 of an inch from the top of the brace.
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