Hi to all the friends of the blog,

I recently found an old Larsen 100/0/SMS with very long table and
window. I had many and different BL offset but the table so long make
me curious. Age '50 o '60 ???
I take sizes and I found it have shorter facing than SMS, only a 20
mm., and even the baffle is lower than usual /O. and tip opening 115.
Facing is anyway not pair, I got problem on high notes and whistle.

How to fix the facing and the considering mpc is in stainless and I
have poor tools, good for HR or brass? How to down the table to close
the tip  of 010, as make it a 106 ?

Thanks.
Gian 

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DEAR JOHN,

If you are looking for practice in refacing try a cheaper rubber piece first.
WOW THAT'S A GREAT IDEA..! BUT UNFORTUNATELY I'M NOT INTERESTED TO PRACTICE, WHY DO YOU THINK I'M? MY MAIN INTEREST IS TO KNOW THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE, AND HOW DIFFERENT  TECHNICIAN CAN DO THE WORK.

 Having done one stainless steel mpce, I would suggest sending it to a pro, especially if you don't have the tools. 
I'VE TRADITIONAL TOOLS BUT NOT FOR STEEL AND I'VE NOT A REFACING MACHINE AS RUNYON OR LARSEN HAVE, AND I DON'T THINK A DREMEL WILL BE GOOD ON A RAIL!! THAT'S IT. 

 It is very difficult to work with otherwise.  
OBVIOUSLY JOHN... 
BUT I'M NOT INTERESTED TO REBUILD OR TOTALLY CHANGE A STEEL MOUTHPIECE.  

JUST INFORMATIONS GIVE ME KNOWLEDGE AND THAT'S WHAT I NEED.
 SURE "MOJO" OR SOMEONE ELSE CAN DO IT BETTER THAN ME, BUT THAT'S NOT MY QUESTION.

QUESTION ARE:
LONG TABLE... YEAR OF PRODUCTION ?
FACING WITH CURVE STARTING AT 22, BUT SMS IS NOT 24? 
CAN HAPPEN ON LARSEN? THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENCES ON LARSEN!
AND FINALLY... HOW TO WORK ON STEEL?

G/L



On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 12:30 PM, jazzstate <jazzstate@yahoo. com> wrote:

Hi to all the friends of the blog,

I recently found an old Larsen 100/0/SMS with very long table and
window. I had many and different BL offset but the table so long make
me curious. Age '50 o '60 ???
I take sizes and I found it have shorter facing than SMS, only a 20
mm., and even the baffle is lower than usual /O. and tip opening 115.
Facing is anyway not pair, I got problem on high notes and whistle.

How to fix the facing and the considering mpc is in stainless and I
have poor tools, good for HR or brass? How to down the table to close
the tip  of 010, as make it a 106 ?

Thanks.
Gian 


      

When working on stainless steel, you can use the same files you use on brass, but they will dull after 1-3 jobs.  If they are low cost Asian-made files, you may just want to buy more.  I use Valtitan files which are very hard and cost a little more.  These will last for 10-30 SS jobs.

For chamber work use a high speed rotary tool with grinding points.  

For table and facing work, I start with coarser grades of sandpaper.  120 grit when opening/closing a tip.  220-320 for most other work.  Expect the paper to get dull quickly.

Many Bergs have convex tables.  I think you may need to practice on 10-20 mouthpieces before you are good at flattening a convex table.  So I would recommend that you practise on non-SS mpouthpieces until you are good at it.  Otherwise, you can try to make the Berg table concave first, then try to flatten it.  Flattening a concave table is easier than flattening a convex one.















      

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This Berg Larsen is a very rare and valuable mouthpiece from the 1940's 
and would remain more valuable if it is left alone. You are risking 
ruin of an item valued within a $250 to $400 range.  Condident 
technicians that have done hundreds of sucessful refacing jobs should 
only attempt altering a gem such as this one.

 
> The way you are talking you are headed to disaster. Nothing major. 
You will
> just destroy the piece. Refacing is a skill where you acquire basics 
after
> at least few months of practice, reading and thinking. Trying to do 
it right
> away is like walking into an ice ring first time and asking how to do 
triple
> turn in the air. John comment was dead on. Good luck
>