Hi folks,
I am new to mouthpiece 
repair and I need some 
advice.
I have a Vandoren cl piece 
that has been dropped and 
is now missing about half 
of the tip rail.  
Unfortunately the missing 
piece is missing forever.
Can anyone recommend an 
epoxy or cement that is 
good for rebuilding the 
missing portion?  I tried 
one kind of 30min epoxy 
already- let it dry for a 
day, but I was able to 
pull it right off with my 
bare hands.
all advice is well 
apriciated.
thanks,
Sky

Actually, my advice is to get a new mouthpiece. 

Most epoxies contain chemicals that are not advisable to have in contact with your mouth and saliva, as they can leach out and affect the body. If you really need to keep this mouthpiece for some reason, your best bet IMO is to cannibalize a trash mouthpiece--cut off the 1/2 tip rail that is missing and graft it, ala Dr. Frankenstein, onto the broken mouthpiece. 

Obviously you will have to make the joint as neat as possible--sand or file the broken part straight and do the same with the replacement piece. You can join them with an epoxy called "J&B Weld". This is also nasty stuff, but at least the only part in contact with your mouth will be a thin line at the join. 

You'll have to make sure that the tip rail on the cannibalized piece is slightly higher than on the mpc so that you can sand it smooth and level without changing the original rail height. It would also be helpful if it were a bit thicker than the original so that you can sand the beak level with the rest of the mpc. 

Finally you'll have to use precision files to shape the inner chamber to match the rest of the mpc. Even then you risk the reed vibrations eventually loosening the joint--for absolute security you should carefully inlay a small brass plate that covers the two sides of the joint on the inside--being careful to have the plate flush with and matching the inner curve.

Perhaps others have better methods, but the upshot is that whatever method you use it is never going to be as strong as the original, and it is going to take a fair amount of time and skill. If this were a rare old Chedeville mpc I would recommend the effort, but since Vandorens are relatively cheap I think you would be much better off saving yourself a lot of time and grief for an iffy result and just spring for a new mpc. By the time you buy an old mpc for parts, JB Weld and the necessary files and sandpaper you could probably just about buy the new one.

Toby


----- Original Message ----- 
  From: skygardener1 
  To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 12:23 PM
  Subject: [MouthpieceWork] broken rubber clarinet mpc


  Hi folks,
  I am new to mouthpiece 
  repair and I need some 
  advice.
  I have a Vandoren cl piece 
  that has been dropped and 
  is now missing about half 
  of the tip rail. 
  Unfortunately the missing 
  piece is missing forever.
  Can anyone recommend an 
  epoxy or cement that is 
  good for rebuilding the 
  missing portion? I tried 
  one kind of 30min epoxy 
  already- let it dry for a 
  day, but I was able to 
  pull it right off with my 
  bare hands.
  all advice is well 
  apriciated.
  thanks,
  Sky



   

--- In MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com, "skygardener1"
<skygardener1@...> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
> I am new to mouthpiece 
> repair and I need some 
> advice.
> I have a Vandoren cl piece 
> that has been dropped and 
> is now missing about half 
> of the tip rail.  
> Unfortunately the missing 
> piece is missing forever.
> Can anyone recommend an 
> epoxy or cement that is 
> good for rebuilding the 
> missing portion?  I tried 
> one kind of 30min epoxy 
> already- let it dry for a 
> day, but I was able to 
> pull it right off with my 
> bare hands.
> all advice is well 
> apriciated.
> thanks,
> Sky
>

Use slow set 24 hour epoxy which I find much harder than the quick set
variety.
You could experiment with the ratio of resin to hardener, instead of
the usual 50/50. I have not tried this myself.
De-grease the mouthpiece tip for good adhesion.
Apply electrical tape to the toothplate side, to contain the epoxy
until it sets.   Eddie

This html message parsed with html2text ---------------------------I have successfully reconstructed a missing "corner" - tip and side rail - on
a clarinet mouthpiece using dental acrylic. It didn't adhere well to the hard
rubber, so some adhesive would probably be necessary (CA such as Super Glue?).
Two points - 1: I had refaced a few dozen mouthpieces by the time I did this
so I had at least enough experience/technique to get it right, and 2: Toby's
right, it will cost nearly as much, if not more, than a new mouthpiece. Good
luck.  
  
Dan  
  
skygardener1 wrote:  

> Hi folks,  
>  I am new to mouthpiece  
>  repair and I need some  
>  advice.  
>  I have a Vandoren cl piece  
>  that has been dropped and  
>  is now missing about half  
>  of the tip rail.  
>  Unfortunately the missing  
>  piece is missing forever.  
>  Can anyone recommend an  
>  epoxy or cement that is  
>  good for rebuilding the  
>  missing portion? I tried  
>  one kind of 30min epoxy  
>  already- let it dry for a  
>  day, but I was able to  
>  pull it right off with my  
>  bare hands.  
>  all advice is well  
>  apriciated.  
>  thanks,  
>  Sky  
>  
>
>  
>  
>  
>  
>     * * *
>  
>      No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG
>     Free Edition. Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.23/513 - Release
> Date:
>     11/2/2006

Dental acrylic is the perfect solution, as it is completely non-toxic, and superglue is good as well, although I'm not sure it would be strong enough. A good idea would be to join the two pieces on a bias, so that as the constant beating of the reed is pushing the repaired piece up it is pushing it against the hard rubber of the original mpc: // rather than ||, if you get what I mean.

Toby

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dan Torosian 
  To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 9:32 PM
  Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] broken rubber clarinet mpc


  I have successfully reconstructed a missing "corner" - tip and side rail - on a clarinet mouthpiece using dental acrylic.  It didn't adhere well to the hard rubber, so some adhesive would probably be necessary (CA such as Super Glue?).  Two points - 1: I had refaced a few dozen mouthpieces by the time I did this so I had at least enough experience/technique to get it right, and 2: Toby's right, it will cost nearly as much, if not more, than a new mouthpiece.  Good luck.

  Dan

  skygardener1 wrote:


    Hi folks,
    I am new to mouthpiece 
    repair and I need some 
    advice.
    I have a Vandoren cl piece 
    that has been dropped and 
    is now missing about half 
    of the tip rail. 
    Unfortunately the missing 
    piece is missing forever.
    Can anyone recommend an 
    epoxy or cement that is 
    good for rebuilding the 
    missing portion? I tried 
    one kind of 30min epoxy 
    already- let it dry for a 
    day, but I was able to 
    pull it right off with my 
    bare hands.
    all advice is well 
    apriciated.
    thanks,
    Sky



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.23/513 - Release Date: 11/2/2006