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Maybe I'll find time to get on my South Bend lathe this summer. After searching the web, I see the average price of a 2 inch brass rod 4 inches long is about $60. This is just big enough to cut a mouthpiece. Seems like a lot of money to putz around on some first trials. Maybe I should look into some similar materials like plastic.

Any ideas?

TJ

I've been exploring stainless steel as an option, and while a bit cheaper (perhaps $45 rather than $60), it's still a lot of money to burn, considering how many attempts it's going to take to converge on a decent mouthpiece. As such, I'm leaning toward 3-piece construction. It's possible to use much smaller rod stock for the shank, and even the cup can come from smaller rod stock than can the rim. As a bonus, it's possible to try out, say, several back bores without remaking rims.

In general I prefer single-piece mouthpieces, but given the nontrivial setup differences, chances are I'll never get around to making them.

How about delrin?

Delrin, that's a great idea. It's about $99 for 24 inches of 2". I could work on threading.
I also want to work on freehand, which is tricky on a metal lathe but would make cutting curves much less complicated.


tj