Plans/Blueprints for Grado Woodies?

From my research, height and type of wood doesnt make a difference to the sound of a grado. The differences seem to come from the type of grill you use to cover the hole. Different grids and materials there make a bigger difference than the wood type.

You should be shooting for a 2" inner diameter hole saw and 2.5" diameter for the outer hole. The 2" allows the driver to be shimmed in with a small bit of electrical tape and the 2.5" OD allows the wall thickness to sturdier and resist too much resonance.

And from what has been found recently, there is a good difference depending on the wood used. I went from plastic shells to 3/4" thick Oak chambers with fairly open metal grilles and noticed a great change over the stock plastic shells. The grille won't make a ton of difference, as long as you don't restrict the flow as much as the stock grille. Moving from no grille to the metal I am using now didn't yield and perceptible changes to me.

I am currently working on my second revision with 5/4 (closer to 1.1" in reality) thick South American Mahogany. It is noticably heavier than the oak and I am hoping it sounds better too. It definately looks better right now. I am currently working on getting a nice mirror finish while keeping the grain pattern intact.

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Originally Posted by sharkz 

I am currently working on getting a nice mirror finish while keeping the grain pattern intact.

Although I have not done it, People making wood pens use micromesh sandpaper on a lathe. From pics it seems they can get nearly mirror finishes *before* applying any sort of varnish.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will have to look into that. Its a lot harder than it sounds because working with a ring, there are two small segments where the grain runs parallel (the edges) and two where it runs perpendicualr (the ends). There is a space in between that I am currently trying to figure out how to sand exactly.

My next plan if all doesn't go well is to just start over and sand one of my other pairs of rings (I have 2 more pairs for now, capacity to make at least 10 more pairs) much less from the start. I think I may have overworked the pair I am now. I figure I will take what I have cut and just briefly sand them with some really fine grit paper.

I think your confusing my dimensions. A 2.5" outer diameter still allows the cup to fit in the gimbal with a small amount of adjustment. I used cut off finishing nails the same size as the original pins to keep my chambers attached the to gimbals, others have glued their chambers to the gimbals, however then there is no adjustment possible other than bending the headband when using glue.

The 2" inner diameter cut allows the bottom portion (with the driver inside it) to be inserted into the wooden cup with a small amount of shimming (I can use less than one wrapping of tape inside to shim things tightly).

Using the 2.5" and 2" combination, you are left with a 1/2" of material, or 1/4" wall thickness which isn't too flimsy, nor is it overkill. Plus these sizes allow things to attach into the gimabls, as noted above.

The 5/4" measurement refers the the unmilled thickness of the board. A 5/4" board is in reality closer to 1.1" thick when you buy it. Wood is sold in measurements before cutting, finishing, etc that happens before you actually buy the wood. After working things down sanding, I am down to about 1" thick which is still almost 3x deeper than the original plastic outer cup.

And feel free to call me Gary. Mr. Sharkz technically would be my father.....