I've been working on an alto mouthpiece, which looks similar to a hard
rubber French George M. Bundy, but when taking it down the dust is
black, rather than the typical tan of hard rubber, and it smells like
mothballs--paradichlorobenzene!  It's a strong smell, seems toxic. 
Gotta wonder whether the material is safe to have in the mouth.  I'm
about ready to chuck the piece because of it.  Has anyone experienced
this, know anything about it?

I've experienced the moth ball smell on some old mouthpieces, primarily in the old Vandoren Diamond Perfecta series of mouthpieces and some pieces of various other brands.  I don't think it is a big deal.  I only experience it when I work on the mouthpiece.  Once the dust settles (so to speak) the smell is greatly diminished.
   
  The dark color you have experienced is probably due to a larger amount of carbon black in the HR formula.  It doesn't take much however to make the color go from that of the typical sulfur/tan appearance to a charcoal gray appearance of asphalt.  In my experience, the color of hard rubber's material left on the sandpaper can go to dark gray with only a fraction of a percent increase in carbon black.  But keep in mind that there are many different types of black and each substance does create a difference in strength, of the mouthpiece, color of the material left behind and resonance characteristics of the piece in question.
   
  I don't think the Carbon black or the moth ball smell are anything to be concerned about.  The main question is how the mouthpiece feels to play and sounds to the ear.
  

honkytone <dwf@...> wrote:
          I've been working on an alto mouthpiece, which looks similar to a hard
rubber French George M. Bundy, but when taking it down the dust is
black, rather than the typical tan of hard rubber, and it smells like
mothballs--paradichlorobenzene! It's a strong smell, seems toxic. 
Gotta wonder whether the material is safe to have in the mouth. I'm
about ready to chuck the piece because of it. Has anyone experienced
this, know anything about it?



         



       
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> honkytone <dwf@...> wrote:
>   
> I've been working on an alto mouthpiece, which looks similar to a hard
> rubber French George M. Bundy, but when taking it down the dust is
> black, rather than the typical tan of hard rubber, and it smells like
> mothballs--paradichlorobenzene! It's a strong smell, seems toxic.
> Gotta wonder whether the material is safe to have in the mouth. I'm
> about ready to chuck the piece because of it. Has anyone experienced
> this, know anything about it?

Have mouthpieces ever been made of a thermosetting phenolic resin (e.g.
bakelite)? These are hard and somewhat brittle plastics that might have been
tried at some point.

Barry

Barry:  Yes, but Bakelite is not a very good material for mouthpieces, as you said, brittle.  Shanks cracked, tips easily broken.
   
  Paul

Barry Levine <barrylevine@...> wrote:
          > honkytone <dwf@...> wrote:
> 
> I've been working on an alto mouthpiece, which looks similar to a hard
> rubber French George M. Bundy, but when taking it down the dust is
> black, rather than the typical tan of hard rubber, and it smells like
> mothballs--paradichlorobenzene! It's a strong smell, seems toxic.
> Gotta wonder whether the material is safe to have in the mouth. I'm
> about ready to chuck the piece because of it. Has anyone experienced
> this, know anything about it?

Have mouthpieces ever been made of a thermosetting phenolic resin (e.g.
bakelite)? These are hard and somewhat brittle plastics that might have been
tried at some point.

Barry



         


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Vintage Henton mouthpieces and a few others seem to be made of Bakelite. 
They have a metal table and rail edges for strength and the rest looks like
Bekelite.

> 
> Have mouthpieces ever been made of a thermosetting phenolic resin (e.g.
> bakelite)? These are hard and somewhat brittle plastics that might have
> been
> tried at some point.
> 



       
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