Hi Guys,
 

 I'm fairly new here. Have been reading posts for a while now, and have been following some threads. I'm occasionally trying stuff out for myself regarding mouthpiece work. But somehow the most I'm struggling with is getting my tables flatter than a pancake without making them convex.. 
 

 I'm using 400 and 600 grit sandpaper on a glass plate. Non-adhesive, so I taped it to the glass. I'm stroking shank first and I try different kind of grips while sanding, but nothing seems to give me a true flat table. What am I doing wrong? I've tried applying a lot of force as well as little to no force. But it always comes to the same conclusion, slightly convex, resulting in an endlessly long facing length. 
 

 Any help would be great (I've been searching through previous posts, but kind of hard to find what I'm doing wrong, so apologies if I ask a question that's been answered before).
 

 Thanks all,
 Tijmen Janssen

Hi I am not a specialist in these tasks (learning curve!) but I think it would help a lot to give more details, as at least the material of the MP.
Perhaps also the brand and.model to let the specialists better undersatand your case.??
GV


On Friday, May 2, 2014 3:22 AM, "t.j.e.janssen@..." <t.j.e.janssen@...> wrote:
 
  
Hi Guys,

I'm fairly new here. Have been reading posts for a while now, and have been following some threads. I'm occasionally trying stuff out for myself regarding mouthpiece work. But somehow the most I'm struggling with is getting my tables flatter than a pancake without making them convex.. 

I'm using 400 and 600 grit sandpaper on a glass plate. Non-adhesive, so I taped it to the glass. I'm stroking shank first and I try different kind of grips while sanding, but nothing seems to give me a true flat table. What am I doing wrong? I've tried applying a lot of force as well as little to no force. But it always comes to the same conclusion, slightly convex, resulting in an endlessly long facing length. 

Any help would be great (I've been searching through previous posts, but kind of hard to find what I'm doing wrong, so apologies if I ask a question that's been answered before).

Thanks all,
Tijmen Janssen

Have you watched some of my videos?  I show how to flatten a convex table in several of them.

> On May 1, 2014, at 8:22 PM, <t.j.e.janssen@...> wrote:
> 
> Hi Guys,
> 
> 
> 
> I'm fairly new here. Have been reading posts for a while now, and have been following some threads. I'm occasionally trying stuff out for myself regarding mouthpiece work. But somehow the most I'm struggling with is getting my tables flatter than a pancake without making them convex.. 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm using 400 and 600 grit sandpaper on a glass plate. Non-adhesive, so I taped it to the glass. I'm stroking shank first and I try different kind of grips while sanding, but nothing seems to give me a true flat table. What am I doing wrong? I've tried applying a lot of force as well as little to no force. But it always comes to the same conclusion, slightly convex, resulting in an endlessly long facing length. 
> 
> 
> 
> Any help would be great (I've been searching through previous posts, but kind of hard to find what I'm doing wrong, so apologies if I ask a question that's been answered before).
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks all,
> 
> Tijmen Janssen
> 
> 

Thanks for your response. I've watched most of your videos a while ago. Tried looking for one where you'd explain how to do that but couldn't find it. Could you tell me which video I should watch? Mouthpiece is a common modern Meyer alto sax.

As someone who recently struggled with this issue, these were the things that helped me the most. 

 After EVERY swipe across the sandpaper: 1) I look at the table and see exactly where I'm taking material off. I make sure my observations fit with my goal/strategy.

 2) I wipe the table clean. 3) I measure with the .0015 feeler gage. 

 When I didn't do these things after EVERY single swipe, I would usually gravitate to bad technique and end up with an endlessly long and wildly uneven facing.
 

 When I did look and measure after each pass, I always knew if my most recent swipe was a success or a failure, and thus whether I should continue cautiously or readjust my technique.
 

 I hope I won't have to do this forever, but for now it keeps me honest.
 

 Hope this helps.

Hello everyone!  
 

 I also had trouble getting a flat table. Long thought what to do. Now I use a slightly convex glass plate (0.1 mm). I am of Polish poorly know English and difficult for me to explain how I made such a glass plate so I put a drawing by "Files, Tools, Glass plate".
  
 John Sabik

the glass plate must be absolutely flat….a convex plate will not give good results


On May 3, 2014, at 4:02 AM, sabik0@... wrote:

> 
> Hello everyone!  
> 
> I also had trouble getting a flat table. Long thought what to do. Now I use a slightly convex glass plate (0.1 mm). I am of Polish poorly know English and difficult for me to explain how I made such a glass plate so I put a drawing by "Files, Tools, Glass plate".
>  
> John Sabik
> 
> 

This would be good if you want to make a concave table.  Concave is better than convex.  Most of us seem to think flat is best.


> On May 3, 2014, at 5:02 AM, <sabik0@...> wrote:
> 
> Hello everyone!  
> 
> I also had trouble getting a flat table. Long thought what to do. Now I use a slightly convex glass plate (0.1 mm). I am of Polish poorly know English and difficult for me to explain how I made such a glass plate so I put a drawing by "Files, Tools, Glass plate".
>  
> John Sabik
> 

Hello! 
 

 Sorry for my english but I will try to explain how I do it. When the table is very uneven use of the convex glass plate of 0.2 mm and sandpaper 400 to 600. Later I go to the plate 0.1 mm sandpaper 800 to 1000. When thi table already equal to the straight glassplate and sandpaper 1000 to 1200 drag mouthpiece several times with very little pressure and I have a simple table. We know that you need to master, but for me, this method is easier because all the time working on a simple glassplate need to be very careful with the pressure and position of the hand, but everyone does like him more comfortable. 
 I'm probably already in a group of two years. I read all the posts and a lot of you have learned. 
 Of all, thank you very much.
 

 Jan Sabik

Thanks for all your responses! 

 I think I know what the problem is. I should go for adhesive sandingpaper, because the 'loose' paper seems to be the problem. Whatever I tried always ended up in the same result. (I've watched the video, "Closing a Tip - Part 1 of 6" at the end)
 

 I should also try a higher grit sandpaper, 1000+. I'll let you know how it worked out once I've bought the right gear. 
 

 I've recently bought a second hand Brancher L23 alto mouthpiece. The table is very concave and it seems to work out just fine (the reed seals well, maybe the concavity is intentionally to allow the reed to vibrate more freely?). The curve however doesn't seem to be smooth. It plays okay, but sounds a bit 'airy'. 
 

If you find any source for adhesive sandingpaper in Europe pls let me know.
Thanks
GV



On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 10:03 PM, "t.j.e.janssen@... [MouthpieceWork]" <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 


  
Thanks for all your responses!

I think I know what the problem is. I should go for adhesive sandingpaper, because the 'loose' paper seems to be the problem. Whatever I tried always ended up in the same result. (I've watched the video, "Closing a Tip - Part 1 of 6" at the end)

I should also try a higher grit sandpaper, 1000+. I'll let you know how it worked out once I've bought the right gear. 

I've recently bought a second hand Brancher L23 alto mouthpiece. The table is very concave and it seems to work out just fine (the reed seals well, maybe the concavity is intentionally to allow the reed to vibrate more freely?). The curve however doesn't seem to be smooth. It plays okay, but sounds a bit 'airy'. 

I do it all day on 240 and 400 grit loose sandpaper.  So I doubt finer grit or sticking it to the surface plate will make any difference for you.  You're just putting pressure in the wrong place when you're sanding.  Good news is, if it's always the same, at least you're consistent.