Dial Gauge For Measuring Tip Opening of Woodwind Mouthpieces

Dial-Type Gauge to Measure the Tip Openings of Woodwind Mouthpieces

This gauge was made from inexpensive parts but is highly accurate and very easy to make! I spent less than $20 and about 20 minutes to fabricate everything. (OK, that's not counting the hour or so to measure everything and realizing that normal drill bits, HSS, and titanium-coated bits don't do anything to stainless steel! I now have a very expensive set of cobalt drill bits). I'd be happy to make one for you or you can get the parts at Harbor Freight (prices have gone up slightly since I did this). If you'd like information on how to make one of your own, please email me.

Since this version, I have experimented with a 6 inch aluminum rafter square as well as a combination square/ruler. The rafter square was quite big but the combination square worked out perfect and I have posted some pics of it here also. I discovered that Harbor Freight has a digital dial that has a 1/2 inch travel (plenty for measuring mouthpiece tips) and it reads in both SAE and metric. It also has a zero button for instant calibration instead of nudging the dial. I hope to soon have a local machine shop fabricate in bulk quantities a suitable aluminum square just for the dial gauge that will be compact, accurate, and affordable. Then I will combine the new aluminum square with the digital dial gauge for a highly accurate, yet low cost means of measuring mouthpiece tip openings. If you would like to pre-order these from me, please email me. The cost will be $40 (hopefully!) plus shipping , and shipping should be around $5.00 within the continental U.S.

Click on any picture to see a full-sized version.