u/premtech

TL;DR: A free, open-source browser app for designing your own sax mouthpiece and downloading a 3D-printable STL. No account, no install.

Some of you might remember my silly/dumb two-reed mouthpiece post. Building that one got me curious about the rest of the design, so I've been working on something hopefully more useful. For context, I'm just an amateur saxophonist with a 3D printer, not a mouthpiece maker.

Introducing OpenSaxMouthpiece.org

It's a free web app for designing your own sax mouthpiece and downloading it as a 3D-printable STL or OpenSCAD file. It all runs in your browser, with nothing to install.

Starting designs

Every horn (soprano, alto, tenor, bari) has a basic preset. Its dimensions were measured from Windy City Woodwinds' free "64" models on Thingiverse (big thanks to WCW for sharing those) and rebuilt from scratch as an adjustable design.

Each preset also comes with three variations, each built around a different style of mouthpiece. Choose your starter:

• 🔥 Flamma: round chamber, smooth scooped baffle, a closer tip; slim body with a full beak
• 🌿 Silva: square chamber, rollover baffle with grooves running along it, the most open tip; boxy body with a flat beak
• 🌊 Unda: horseshoe chamber, flat dimpled baffle, a close tip and short facing; soft body with a spiral shank

That's four starting designs per horn. Pick one, then make it yours. The 3D model updates live as you change settings, and you can compare two designs side by side. When you've made something you like, the Share button copies a link to your exact design: no upload, no sign-up. Anyone who opens it gets your mouthpiece with all your settings.

What you can adjust

• Facing: tip opening, facing length, and the curve itself
• Chamber: size, shape (round, square, or horseshoe), and width
• Baffle: height, shape, where it starts and drops off, and an optional texture (grooves along or across, or dimples)
• Fit: cork diameter and grip, with small test rings you print first to check the fit
• Outside shape: body size, beak, and shoulder. You can drag points on the side profile to reshape it.
• Extras: a matching printable ligature and cap, plus engraved text or an image

Under the hood

The mouthpiece is a parametric OpenSCAD model, and the site runs OpenSCAD right in your browser. Every slider is a setting in that model, and the same file builds the STL you download. If you'd rather skip the app, download your design as a .scad file and open it in desktop OpenSCAD, where you can tweak it with the Customizer or edit the code directly. The whole generator is in the GitHub repo if you want to see how it's built or improve it.

A few things to be upfront about

• It's free and will stay that way. No account, no ads, nothing to buy. The code is open source (GPL) on GitHub. There's a Ko-fi if you want to chip in, and that's it.
• Your designs stay with you. They live in your browser, in files you download, or in share links, and they're never saved on a server. The site does send anonymous usage and error reports so I can see what breaks and how it's used. You can turn reporting off in ⚙ Settings.
• The code is AI-written. I directed the design and did all the testing and printing, but Claude wrote the code.
• No promises about sound. The site explains what each setting physically does. What it does to your sound is for you to find out.

Printing

My test prints were all done on an FDM printer at fine layer heights. Resin should work too, but I haven't tried it. The site includes a printing guide (test the cork fit, print, check the table on glass, play-test) and a check card with the tip opening and facing numbers to measure your print against.

Safety

This is something you put in your mouth. Material safety, curing, cleaning, and printing practices are on you to research and decide for yourself. Not every filament or resin is suitable for mouth contact, so do your homework on whatever you use.

The designs and software are provided as-is, with no warranty. What you print and put in your mouth is your call and your responsibility, and I take no liability for how it's printed or used.

On the horizon

Depending on interest, I'd like to add more instruments: clarinet, bass sax, and whatever else people ask for. If there's one you'd like to see, or other features you want, say so in the comments.

What I'd love from you

• Share your designs. Hit Share and paste the link in the comments, so others can open your mouthpiece, try it, tweak it, or print it. I'd love to see what shapes people come up with.
• Try it and let me know what you think. I worked hard to make it intuitive, so if anything's confusing, I want to hear about it.
• If you print one, post a photo and tell us how it plays next to your usual piece.
• Bug reports and ideas are welcome here or as GitHub issues.

Thanks for reading. I can't wait to see what people make with it!

I had a dumb idea that I hadn't seen done before (probably for good reason). What if there were 2 reeds on a mouthpiece? Crazy thought, I know.

After a bit of back and forth with [insert ai of choice here], I vibe coded it into a full parametrized scad. You can adjust it and do what you want with it here. It's currently set up for an alto.

As far as play-ability goes, it's.... different. It does play but is very squeaky. Maybe someone else can make better use of it... or it's a fundamentally flawed design that should be trashed.

Either way, it's fun to experiment. I may iterate on the idea more. I'd love to know if any of you have ideas to make it more useful/playable.

Edit: Sound Clip - Be warned, loud squeak followed by a poor excuse of a scale. I hope someone else prints this and makes it sound much better.