SR60-Mod
Mar 30, 2011 at 8:44 PM Post #2,671 of 5,004
Last up, what I think are my favorites, the Padauk. These were very hard to take good pictures of and don't look nearly as orange in person.

 

 
I am curious to know what everyone thinks of the different woods. Let me know what you think!
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 8:48 PM Post #2,672 of 5,004
From the pics alone, leopard wins hands down. Lot of effort there man - hope the driver gets to you reall soon. Fine cans need to sound... something!
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 8:51 PM Post #2,673 of 5,004
 
hope that includes others.......... my hands are hurting from the slaps 
wink_face.gif


That definitely includes you.  By the way, I had a good day at the drill press today.  I figured a neat little way to get a little more out of this wondrous little machine.
 

 
This may not look like much but it's choc full of potential.  With a little thought going in, it's possible to bevel the shells a bit, not as well as with a lathe but enough to do some interesting things.  The logic of the mushroom top, which everybody associates with the GS1000, goes back to the SR325.  The whole reason for that particular design was to go larger, in the second shell, while fitting the gimbal and the primary shell.  As all of the Grados are adopting that look (with a bunch of plastic versions of the SR325), there's more involved than creating a trademark look for the Grado brand.  There's the attempt to get more real estate within the existing gimbal space.
 
Anyway, I've figured out how to so this with the drill press.  It won't be as pretty as with a lathe, but it works.  For example, even though the tight tolerances between the inner and the gimbal requires the secondary or outer shell to begin at 2 1/8" but stop short at around 2 3/8" (just 1/4" further, it's possible to have an O.D. of 3" as long as you drop back to 2 1/4" (2 1/8" produces a shell just too fragile and wafer thin) when you get to the gimbal.  I figured out how to do this with nothing but hole saws and a little bit of sanding.
 
Here's what you want to do:
 
1. Set up the outside border of the O.D. to the width you want.  In this case, 3 inches.
 
2. Start the I.D. and bore in a bit but don't go all the way through.  Just get it started.  I like to use 1 5/8".
 
3. Since I also do a double grip, I put in a groove at 2", to give the inner something to fit into.  I go as deep as I want the inner to go.  I have notches on my hole saw but I also stop and check, using a driverless cup.  I work the inner in to see how far it will go in as well as to doublecheck the fit.
 
4. Having already established a deep groove/border at 3 inches, I now go to my other hole saws to use them to "sculpt" or "carve" may way to the 2 1/4" OD of what will be the bridge to the inner shell.  This is the part that will have to pass through the gimbal.  I want it to be small enough to thread the needle, so to speak.  I whittle away at it by using a succession of smaller hole saws.  With each of these, I measure how far down to stop the cut, then I use each size to cut away wood so that the half of the shell closest to the inner is shaved to 2 1/4".
 
I don't know if this hammerhead/mushroom top provides any noticeable benefits in sound, but I'm willing to give it a try.
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 9:14 PM Post #2,675 of 5,004
Thanks for the kind words all. The Leopardwood has two things going for it: it is dense (heavier than the other two woods) and it looks great. The biggest disappointment is that my grain patterns don't match totally. I also really like the Padauk too. Still need to see how the other woods turn out though.....
 
And while the picture party is going on, I figured I would include pictures of my modded "flats". It is really hard to get good pictures of them due to the foams open cell spacing. They are dyed Sennheiser pads, with a 1.3" diameter hole and .2" radial slits at 8 points. These are my favorite pads for now.
 

 
Mar 30, 2011 at 9:20 PM Post #2,676 of 5,004
Thanks Bill. Good to hear a confirmation on them.

Turns out removing all the excess glue in mine last time they were open did nothing, the little left in there got hard as a rock again and now I have to re-heat them to open them up. Now that the hole ported magnet plate has been brought up, I'm worried about it. I'll post some pics up tomorrow of how my little mod to them turns out.
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 10:14 PM Post #2,678 of 5,004


Quote:
Thanks! That's exactly what I needed, now I know how I should make mine look. So it's not a liquid form? It's like a dime sized piece of foil?
 


The foil holds onto some putty like stuff-the actual dynamat-its very gooey and I would think without the foil it would be a real pain in the ass to work with...so a member here had extra and sent me 4 dime size pieces so I could do two sets, it comes in a sheet the size of like a sheet of paper and he just put a dime down on the foil backing traced around it four times so a 1 by 4  was made and I cut them out round using his trace outline...I have a pic here some where:
 

 
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 10:17 PM Post #2,679 of 5,004
sharkz--dude the leopardwood is it, bummer I just had to turn in my license or I'd be over to barter with ya...need any JBL's?? I got lots of them...
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 10:34 PM Post #2,680 of 5,004


Quote:
 

That definitely includes you.  By the way, I had a good day at the drill press today.  I figured a neat little way to get a little more out of this wondrous little machine.
 

 
This may not look like much but it's choc full of potential.  With a little thought going in, it's possible to bevel the shells a bit, not as well as with a lathe but enough to do some interesting things.  The logic of the mushroom top, which everybody associates with the GS1000, goes back to the SR325.  The whole reason for that particular design was to go larger, in the second shell, while fitting the gimbal and the primary shell.  As all of the Grados are adopting that look (with a bunch of plastic versions of the SR325), there's more involved than creating a trademark look for the Grado brand.  There's the attempt to get more real estate within the existing gimbal space.
 
Anyway, I've figured out how to so this with the drill press.  It won't be as pretty as with a lathe, but it works.  For example, even though the tight tolerances between the inner and the gimbal requires the secondary or outer shell to begin at 2 1/8" but stop short at around 2 3/8" (just 1/4" further, it's possible to have an O.D. of 3" as long as you drop back to 2 1/4" (2 1/8" produces a shell just too fragile and wafer thin) when you get to the gimbal.  I figured out how to do this with nothing but hole saws and a little bit of sanding.
 
Here's what you want to do:
 
1. Set up the outside border of the O.D. to the width you want.  In this case, 3 inches.
 
2. Start the I.D. and bore in a bit but don't go all the way through.  Just get it started.  I like to use 1 5/8".
 
3. Since I also do a double grip, I put in a groove at 2", to give the inner something to fit into.  I go as deep as I want the inner to go.  I have notches on my hole saw but I also stop and check, using a driverless cup.  I work the inner in to see how far it will go in as well as to doublecheck the fit.
 
4. Having already established a deep groove/border at 3 inches, I now go to my other hole saws to use them to "sculpt" or "carve" may way to the 2 1/4" OD of what will be the bridge to the inner shell.  This is the part that will have to pass through the gimbal.  I want it to be small enough to thread the needle, so to speak.  I whittle away at it by using a succession of smaller hole saws.  With each of these, I measure how far down to stop the cut, then I use each size to cut away wood so that the half of the shell closest to the inner is shaved to 2 1/4".
 
I don't know if this hammerhead/mushroom top provides any noticeable benefits in sound, but I'm willing to give it a try.


 As always thanks for posting your latest creation. This has opened up my mind a little as I was trying to figure out what way I could achieve the cup in your hand with only hole saws. I like the grado look but with a twist.
 
       Holy wood batman you figured it out.........
 
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 11:02 PM Post #2,681 of 5,004
Quote:
sharkz--dude the leopardwood is it, bummer I just had to turn in my license or I'd be over to barter with ya...need any JBL's?? I got lots of them...


Hey, I'm not in it for the money or glory, just because I like doing it. I'm meeting with a younger College-fier tomorrow to give him a pair of one of my early Mahagony cups. I know what it was like to be in college and barely being able to afford to eat (or drink). I've had a lot of people help me out here, so I am more than glad to make up for it.
 
Once I get my drill press working, let me see what I can work up and maybe I can get some cups sent your way.
 
I like the Leopardwood too, but there's just something about the Padauk cups that draws me in. Plus there's still the Bloodwood and Bubinga, both nicely figured red-ish woods too.....
 
 
Mar 30, 2011 at 11:27 PM Post #2,683 of 5,004
Thanks eclein! I'll just have to fiddle with the Dynamat and make it work out when I receive it from Bill. :) Btw nice Grados sharkz and great new creation Bill!
gs1000.gif

 
 
Mar 31, 2011 at 7:57 AM Post #2,684 of 5,004
Dynamat is easier to apply than to remove. And quantatity is also important. I found it the hard way the first time I used that stuff on a driver - too much of it and patiently testing the how much to remove. Do it right and do the reverse the way I did it!
 
Mar 31, 2011 at 9:25 AM Post #2,685 of 5,004
Quote:
sharkz +1 leopardwood
 
made me wish I had another pair of grados to mod and put leopard wood on!


 
Now you know how I feel, I have 1 pair of Grado's now and three nice pairs of cups, soon to be five. I really need to step it up and grab a pair of 125's or 225's. I think that will be my next step after I get a Little Dot, which will hopefully be soon.
 
 
 

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