Originally Posted By: rockstar_not
Matt the issue with 3D printing anything that needs to be smooth is that no 3D technique is inherently smooth and needs post processing. I. Was responsible for 3D printing of custom earpieces for hearing aids and hearing protection using light cured acrylics and the smoothing technique was quite complicated and was just external surfaces. A mouthpiece would need the internal surfaces quite smooth, yes?

Oh, absolutely. Inside and especially outside (the rim, where it meets the lips). But I've been mentioning prototyping only. If I had a few minutes with a new mouthpiece shape, I could put up with a rough surface long enough to see if the design worked.

Just to give you a quick example, most people don't know that trumpet maker Vincent Bach made his mouthpieces with a hole of .27" because he expected the user to ream it out. I've taken a mouthpiece all the way from 27 to 17 (wider) in increments of .01 to feel the effect. It's huge. I like mine around .22. But once you get there, going down to .21 ruins the mouthpiece. It works like that, and there are a dozen such places you can adjust. I'm sure you can see the appeal of printing inexpensive prototypes to experiment on. My mouthpieces aren't the inexpensive store Bachs, either.

BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.