Building a custom oboe bell

This was a project I finished a few months ago. A customer reached out and inquired about the possibility of a custom oboe bell. While custom bells are fairly common in the clarinet world, for oboes there really aren't many options. The customer was previously using a bell from an A. Robert oboe on their instrument, however this bell developed a crack that was causing a leak. Fortunately the key, ring and posts were all in excellent shape, so a new bell could be designed around these components.

The first step was to take measurements from the existing bell. Every dimension had to be measured, including the taper of the bore. This was critical for the bell to function properly, a bad measurement could result in a bell with poor response or intonation. Once measurements were taken a 3D model could be made. This model would need to contain all features of the bell, including the holes for the post and screw as well as the undercutting of the tone holes. I also added some design elements from instruments of the Classical and Romantic era to really make it stand out.

The computer model was then sent to the 3D printer. For this project I chose a lovely wood composite filament. This material has great tonal properties and looks beautiful once finished. A quick test fit of the key work confirmed that my measurements were correct.

Next, the bell had to be sanded, stained and varnished. This is the most labor intensive part of the build, requiring many coats to achieve a clean and consistent finish. If done right, the final product will look and feel just like wood! The bore and tone holes were also reamed to the proper size during this step

Finally the key was permanently installed and the pads were leveled and seated. A suction test confirmed that the pads were sealing properly. In all this project took about 3 days to go from computer model to finished product. While it certainly was a labor intensive project, it sure is pretty to look at now that it's finished!