OK I searched and found nothing on this topic.
Does anyone here have any info on engraving mouthpieces? I assume
there will be special problems due to the shape as most engraving is
setup for flat surfaces. I was going to just buy an engraver and
experiment, but now I am thinking about finding a jeweler in town and
asking for his expertese. If I find out I'll post my findings here.

This has not been discussed before.  Take a look at Phil Barone's site.  It
shows a picture of him using what looks like a standard engraver to me.

I use a blue needle spring held in a pin vice to scratch info on a
mouthpiece.  Crude, but it works for my needs.

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!
http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/

I have an electric engraver that I got for a few dollars at Sears 
over 30 years ago when I was working as a machinist...much fancier 
ones are available today for less than $20 (e.g. 
http://doityourself.com/store/6199319.htm ). I use it for many 
things, including engraving ID on tools, bikes, valuables, 
etc...works great on rubber and metal with full adjustability. With a 
tool like this, you can make much more attractive engraving than when 
you have to use force (like with a needle or scratch awl)
--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick" <spr1ng64@y...> 
wrote:
> OK I searched and found nothing on this topic.
> Does anyone here have any info on engraving mouthpieces? I assume
> there will be special problems due to the shape as most engraving is
> setup for flat surfaces. I was going to just buy an engraver and
> experiment, but now I am thinking about finding a jeweler in town 
and
> asking for his expertese. If I find out I'll post my findings here.

Hi Jeff...
Yeah I know those are an option but my handwriting is so lousy that it
would look terrible... I am looking at the pantograph types like the
Hermes M3. The only tricky part is the curvature of the mpc...
I suppose I would have to make some sort of jig to hold the mpc and
allow it to turn also.

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Rosner" <sjrosner@y...>
wrote:
> I have an electric engraver that I got for a few dollars at Sears 
> over 30 years ago when I was working as a machinist...much fancier 
> ones are available today for less than $20 (e.g. 
> http://doityourself.com/store/6199319.htm ). I use it for many 
> things, including engraving ID on tools, bikes, valuables, 
> etc...works great on rubber and metal with full adjustability. With a 
> tool like this, you can make much more attractive engraving than when 
> you have to use force (like with a needle or scratch awl)

http://philbarone.com/shop/shop10.html

It looks like he engraves before he casts the bite plate.

I posed the question of a 30+ year veteran of volume mouthpiece production
when we were talking today, and he said currently in production they use
roller dies in a special fixture.

He mentioned that in the past they would use heated dies and hand strike
"engraving".

Perhaps one could have a Logo/Name die made up for reworked markings and do
a the same heated-press sort of "engraving" job?

I have a couple mouthpieces from Keith with Mojo pin-scratched, but not all
of us have such a short "handle" to go by!

I'll do some experimenting with heating the letter-punches in my garage tool
box sometime in the next few weeks and report back.

Steve W

Another crossover question...years ago I had a signature brand 
made...you heat it with a torch. I use it for marking custom 
furniture that I build. You can still get such things, e.g. 
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=701&sid=AF998

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Steve Weinert at Excel.Net" 
<srw@e...> wrote:
> I posed the question of a 30+ year veteran of volume mouthpiece 
production
> when we were talking today, and he said currently in production 
they use
> roller dies in a special fixture.
> 
> He mentioned that in the past they would use heated dies and hand 
strike
> "engraving".
> 
> Perhaps one could have a Logo/Name die made up for reworked 
markings and do
> a the same heated-press sort of "engraving" job?
> 
> I have a couple mouthpieces from Keith with Mojo pin-scratched, but 
not all
> of us have such a short "handle" to go by!
> 
> I'll do some experimenting with heating the letter-punches in my 
garage tool
> box sometime in the next few weeks and report back.
> 
> Steve W

Well after weeks of research on my own (I really didn't contact any 
of the big mouthpiece makers), I have found that the best way to 
mark these mouthpieces is to use a hot stamp machine. Due to the 
complications of engraving text, numbers, etc... around a curve 
(i.e. the shank)engraving would require quite a bit of time and most 
engraving machines are setup to do flat surfaces. 
The hot stamping encounters the same problem (the curve) but is much 
easier to deal with. BTW - both options are spendy $$$ now I know 
where the real money goes when you buy a mouthpiece. HA!
Cheers,
Patrick

Take a look at the Lamberson mouthpieces...I use these on bari, tenor 
and alto. The identifying info has been NC machined into the shank: 
the facing and chamber on one side (e.g. 7SB) and his full 
name "LAMBERSON" on the other side. The bari also has a cool 
geometric pattern machined in for decoration at the base of the 
table. My guess is it is done at the same time the bill is 
formed...these pieces all have long, narrow 'duckbill profiles and 
the mouthpiece would probably be on a rotary table at that time. The 
features are obviously NC controlled...trivial if you use NC to make 
your mouthpiece, extremely expensive if you do them by hand. I kinda 
like the look of the JG and Mojo pieces and the careful hand 
engraving...I have a vibrating pen engraver and you can do remarkably 
clean engraving with that. 

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick" <spr1ng64@y...> 
wrote:
> Well after weeks of research on my own (I really didn't contact any 
> of the big mouthpiece makers), I have found that the best way to 
> mark these mouthpieces is to use a hot stamp machine. Due to the 
> complications of engraving text, numbers, etc... around a curve 
> (i.e. the shank)engraving would require quite a bit of time and 
most 
> engraving machines are setup to do flat surfaces. 
> The hot stamping encounters the same problem (the curve) but is 
much 
> easier to deal with. BTW - both options are spendy $$$ now I know 
> where the real money goes when you buy a mouthpiece. HA!
> Cheers,
> Patrick

Patrick:  A hot stamp machine is exactly how Runyon marks their 
mouthpieces.  They stamp through a piece of gold leaf, and this "brands" 
the gold into the logo or facing number.  Afterwards, the area is 
lightly buffed, taking off the excess gold leaf, leaving it down in the 
number or logo.

Paul

Patrick wrote:

> Well after weeks of research on my own (I really didn't contact any
> of the big mouthpiece makers), I have found that the best way to
> mark these mouthpieces is to use a hot stamp machine. Due to the
> complications of engraving text, numbers, etc... around a curve
> (i.e. the shank)engraving would require quite a bit of time and most
> engraving machines are setup to do flat surfaces.
> The hot stamping encounters the same problem (the curve) but is much
> easier to deal with. BTW - both options are spendy $$$ now I know
> where the real money goes when you buy a mouthpiece. HA!
> Cheers,
> Patrick
>
>
>
> Got a Mouthpiece Work question?  Send it to MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
>
> Visit the site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MouthpieceWork to see 
> the Files, Photos and Bookmarks relating to Mouthpiece Work.
>
> To see and modify your groups, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>     * To visit your group on the web, go to:
>       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MouthpieceWork/
>        
>     * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>       MouthpieceWork-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>       <mailto:MouthpieceWork-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
>        
>     * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
>       Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>.
>
>

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Rosner" <sjrosner@y...> 
wrote:

> I like the look of the JG and Mojo pieces and the careful hand 
> engraving...

I consider it chicken scratch ;-).  But it does have the sweat of the 
artist mixed in.