Using the Shoe Jig to Make a Shapely Mouthpiece.

The Shoe Jig is a gadget to hold a part when you are grinding or shaping to keep your hands away from moving parts. In the whistle shop, everything has a jig for safety and to make sure the pieces and parts are uniform and correctly shaped. The Shoe Jig holds a piece to grind like a shoe holds your foot...catchy name and descriptive too! This particular jig is made from pine wood plank recycled from a bedstead and has adjustments to fit and hold the whistle mouthpiece tightly. By putting the mouthpiece to be shaped in the jig, every one will be the same curve and length of cut without having to measure them all individually.

Here I am holding a complete mouthpiece, ready to grind the finishing curve on the bottom.

Shoe Jig installed into Slide Vise and mouthpiece being cut to shape with an abrasive drum.