Production Process
The full process behind a handmade piece, from mixing the alloy through to the mouthpiece being played before it ships. Written out properly rather than summarised.
The alloy
A bronze, gold and Tibetan cymbal blend, mixed here. Bronze on its own is workable and it sounds good, but the cymbal metal and the gold change how the material holds an edge, and an edge is the whole game on a rail that has to seal against a wet reed.
Replace this with the real detail: the proportions, the reason for each metal, and where the cymbal stock comes from.
Casting the tree
The blanks are cast as a tree, which is one pour producing a cluster of mouthpiece bodies branching off a central sprue. They come off the tree rough. At that point they are all identical, and none of them are finished.
Replace this with the real process: pattern making, the moulds, pour temperature, cooling and cut off.
Machining and roughing out
Not written yet. What happens between the raw casting and the bench work.
The table and the facing curve
Not written yet. Flattening the table, cutting the curve, matching the rails and opening the tip. This is the core of the work and it deserves the longest section in the document.
Chamber, baffle and floor
Not written yet. How the internal geometry gets cut and how it gets checked.
Bite plate and finishing
Not written yet. The dental enamel bite plate, plating or polishing, and the final finish.
Playing it before it goes
Every piece gets played before it ships. If it does not do what the player described, it goes back on the bench.