Re: Mouthpiece question...


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Posted by Machinist on October 31, 2002 at 09:12:06:

In Reply to: Mouthpiece question... posted by Tim Seaman on October 31, 2002 at 00:18:34:

They are usually made from (round) bar stock in a lathe. The exterior can be cut in one chucking, if you are careful to remove the material in an order that preserves the rigidity of the bar as you work, and cut off as a solid blank. Obviously, this blank must then be machined from each end to form the backbore and cup in turn. A custom collet which holds the whole blank in the spindle of the machine gives a very solid grip, but creative workholding set-ups could also be devised. A tool turret to hold the start drills, final taper reamer and also some kind of roughing blade and cup forming blade (think woodworking style large "drill") might yield some very repeatable results!

Trying to trace a curved cup by hand or eye by manipulating the cross-slide and compound simultaneously would be very tedious, IMHO. Could be just the thing for scraping a modification in an existing cup, though. In fact, you could use a machinist's scraper by hand to soften the bite of a too-sharp rim.




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