[grill]

Hey Everyone,
 
Earlier today, I discovered a pair of Bose QC2s I received as a present when I was a kid. I hadn't touched a Bose product in nearly 10 years, so I figured I'd give them a shot and see how they stood up to my other headphones / iems (Beyerdynamic DT990s, VSONIC GR07, etc.). I also figured they might be nice to have for a few upcoming flights for their noise-cancelling properties.

As soon as I unpackaged them, I realized *why* I hadn't touched them since 2006 - the headband is broken in a couple places (see here for a picture). The cans themselves work fine; I just can't *wear* them.

So, I'd like to go about repairing them. I know Bose offers a $99 replacement plan, but I'm not interested in it. I'd rather fix them in a manner that will actually solve this admitted defect. Any ideas?

 

[grill]

Nothing huh? Weird. I thought there would be an engineer or two here. Anyway, I spoke with one of my engineer friends about this issue yesterday. He suggested I explore the following potential solutions:

1.) 3D-print the broken piece
Pros: Relatively easy, cheap, can (probably) do it myself
Cons: Print plastic may be too brittle for long-term use, may require a few tries to get it right

2.) Get a machine shop to make the necessary pieces from aluminum
Pros: Will be much more durable than Bose's original solution, should still be pretty cheap
Cons: Can't do it myself, it might be difficult to machine the pieces correctly due to curves and slots

Any other thoughts on this? I'm trying to get a durable fix in place for less than $80 USD