FrenchHornMouthpieces

Project French Horn Mouthpieces
3D-printing my own mouthpieces
Status	In progress
Contact	Oops
Last Update	2025-04-18

Introduction

I am wanting to experiment a bit with 3D printing and want a somewhat "real" project. I play French Horn (in Bataafs Symfonieorkest) and have two metal mouthpieces which I use, one of them my "regular" mouthpiece, the other which I use less frequently which is not so good for high range notes.

Resources

Jane Kass has already created STL models of French Horn mouthpieces. I've tried printing one and now need to figure out how to edit it to make it into something which fits my French Horn.

Next Steps

I need to measure the printed mouthpiece, the existing mouthpieces, and the French Horn lead pipe. Most of these measurements are now below.

I will try cutting the existing print down for length. I tried cutting the existing print down, partially for curiosity about what the barrel would be looking like. Having compared the measurements with the thickness of the PLA print I think I may need to go for a minimal-thickness barrel in my plastic mouthpiece but am somewhat worried about pressure of pressing on the mouthpiece as I play may distort or shave off layers of plastic as it is forced into the lead pipe.

I will try editing the STL (possibly in Blender?) to taper the barrel of the mouthpiece. This may turn out to cutting back to the profile of the mouthpiece, editing that, then "lathe" rotating it.

Measurements

These measurements are based on my horn (Yamaha 664) and existing mouthpieces. If there are two numbers, it reflects a difference between the mouthpieces.

Mouthpiece length	64.6, 66.8 mm
Mouthpiece rim exterior diameter	25.5 mm
Exterior diameter bore	7.6 mm
Leadpipe interior diameter	8.00 mm
Mouthpiece outside lead pipe	48.3, 52.8 mm
STL model
Mouthpiece rim exterior diameter	25.6 mm
Exterior diameter bore	9.3 mm
Mouthpiece length	94 mm (approximately)