Hi Kit,
In the US at least, almost, if not all, mouthpieces are made of C360
free-cutting brass rod. It has 2.5-3.7% lead content. I've never seen or
heard of any situation where that caused a problem but I don't believe
in tempting fate so all our mouthpieces are plated. We usually use gold
for the rim and silver on the cup but all silver is also good. We can
also make delrin rims to further reduce potential lead exposure.
Of the alloys you mention, CZ121 is the most nearly equivalent to C360.
It has 58% brass and 3% lead and it's machinability index is 90
(C360=100). The other alloys you mention contain about 1.2% lead and
have a machinability rating of 30. Non-starters, I think.
The common alloy for sheet metal here in the US is C260 cartridge brass.
While it's lead-free, the rim on most sheet metal mouthpieces is a
turned piece that is soldered on. More lead! In any case, it's no
problem to plate a sheet metal mouthpiece. Alloys other than the most
common ones can be expensive and hard to get (think 5000lb minimum
order) and I don't see any advantage. Everybody uses C360 because it has
proven to be the best alloy to work with.
Good luck with your mouthpiece project.
Bob Osmun
www.osmun.com
PS-Mr. Austin's opinion notwithstanding, I doubt if any of us is too
keen to have "a big spinning ribbon of razor wire" coming off our lathe!
Kit Wolf wrote:
I've recently been dabbling in making mouthpieces for natural horns, and I
noticed that the only grades of brass that seem readily available for
turning (e.g. CZ121, CZ114 / CW614 and CW721) both contain lead. CZ121
contains about 4%; CZ114 contains about 1%.
Although this isn't a great problem for me - I can use sheet metal - does
anybody know what metals/alloys are generally used to make mouthpieces,
and whether or not it's worth worrying about leaded brass from a safety
perspective? I have several old mouthpieces where the plating is wearing
thin, or that were simply left unplated from the outset.
Kit
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