Posted by John Swensen on July 23, 2002 at 10:43:01:
In Reply to: Re: Re: mouthpiece experimentation posted by Marc on July 22, 2002 at 18:07:04:
Oval rims have been around for a while, but have never been very popular, probably because they do not work enough better than round rims to warrant their higher manufacturing costs (they started out in pre-CNC days).
If you want to try non-round rims without great expense, cut the rim off an old mouthpiece and shape some rims out of polymer clay (such as Sculpey or Fimo), hardening the clay in a 275 degree (F) oven for a few minutes. Some of the harder varieties of these polymer clays may hold up, unfired, to a few minutes of playing, so you can test shapes before committing. You may need to tape the rim in place but, for a few dollars, you can try different rim shapes until you either give up or discover something that really works for you.
If you want a metal rim, you can do wonders to a hunk of brass with a jeweler's saw and a few files, and you could silver-solder that rim onto your cup and have the whole thing silver plated.