About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

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martinik
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About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by martinik »

Hi.

There are two mouthpiece files in Github:

WARBL_mouthpiece_6.0_mm.stl
WARBL_mouthpiece_7.0_mm.stl

The most significant differences seem to be inside the mouthpiece. The 7mm version has a separate tube leading to a hole in the sealed chamber, and the 6mm one has an open chamber and a hole in the leak tube. So, the 6mm version has a larger air volume.

I'm wondering, how does it affect playing? What are the differences?

Also, is there any specific reason why the breath sensor air tube (the hole in the case of the 6mm version) branches off of the bottom plane of the main air tube and not the top plane (the green mark in the image) or at least a side plane?
mouthpiece-cross_section_question.png
mouthpiece-cross_section_question.png (123.65 KiB) Viewed 1227 times
Currently, there seems to be some risk that saliva on its way to the leakage vent hole will seep into the "sensor hole" and a larger saliva drop could block the airflow to the sensor. On the other hand, assuming that we play the instrument tilted down a bit, gravity should do its work and the moisture will eventually flow out of the sensor hole and leak out as expected. Still, wouldn't it be safer to let the saliva flow freely on the bottom plane of the tube and directly to the vent hole, without ever reaching the "sensor hole", if it was mounted away from the "saliva flow"?
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Re: About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by admin »

All great questions. I'll begin with the caveat that any of my assumptions below may be totally wrong, so feel free to correct me :).

First, apologies for the naming convention-- the "mm" in both names were just to indicate to the manufacturer that both files have units of mm, as STL files apparently don't have the units embedded. The two files are version 6 and version 7. The newer one (7) has smooth tubes for the passages instead of sharp internal angles. I use the Multijet Fusion process, which involves laser sintering a bed of nylon powder, and the excess powder has to be cleared from the interior afterward. With version 6 it was difficult to clear all of the powder from the interior, and it was more difficult to clean generally. With version 7 it's pretty easy to clear the powder with compressed air, and the vapor smoothing process is more effective. Also, 7 does have a smaller internal volume, which could speed response time a tiny amount. I'm doubtful that it would be noticeable :).

One of my primary goals was to make the route for moisture to get to the sensor as difficult as possible, hence the relatively "tortuous" path to the sensor. It seemed that having the connection to the sensor where you've shown it in green would be a more direct route, especially if the player is holding the instrument down at an angle, as I've shown. With the instrument in a normal playing position, the moisture actually has to travel upward to enter the sensor connection.

Also (this part is definitely conjecture on my part), I felt that because the airflow is directed toward the area you marked in green, more condensation would occur there, so there would be more liquid on the outside of the bend, and that liquid would be forced by the airflow around the outside of the bend and out the "nozzle".

Finally, I wanted to make the mouthpiece as quiet as possible, and I was afraid that a hole on the outside of the bend would result in an acute angle and act like a fipple, causing a whistle. The air velocity is also higher on the outside of the bend, so I wanted to interrupt the airflow as little as possible there (again to reduce noise). Having the hole on the inside of the bend results in a relatively quiet obtuse angle.

Hopefully that makes sense!
mouthpiece-diagram.jpg
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Andrew Mowry
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martinik
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Re: About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by martinik »

Thank you, your explanations sound very reasonable. It's especially interesting to know that some design reasons were made for manufacturing purposes.
This also makes me wonder which version would be better for printing on an FDM printer. V6.0 seems less risky because it does not have that long internal tube.
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Re: About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by admin »

Just to confuse things a bit more, I just uploaded another version (8), which I made a few weeks ago but didn't get around to uploading. The only difference from 7 is that the little "nozzle" is a bit longer to try to help moisture drip away rather than down the side of the mouthpiece/WARBL, which it sometimes does. It does seem better to me.

In terms of FDM and v. 6 vs. 7, I'm not sure which would be best. My hunch is that 7 would be okay and it is definitely easier to clean. One reason I ended up choosing nylon (after lots of prototypes in different materials) is that you can boil the nylon ones to sterilize them. I'm very new to 3D printing, but it's pretty amazing what you can do! A mouthpiece like this would (I think) be close to impossible with injection molding.
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Re: About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by Gubbledenut »

Thanks Andrew..will try printing up a V8 in PLA to see how it works
martinik
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Re: About the mouthpiece STL files in the GitHub repository

Post by martinik »

V8 looks nice. In my head, I have been having an idea to add some kind of a small shelf with a sponge under the dripping hole, so that all the moisture gets collected and I can squeeze it out whenever I want, instead of letting it drip.
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