Tilac
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2010
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Hello everybody! A friend of mine recently gave me his old AKG K240m that were in poor shape, and only the drivers were salvageable. So after a bit of thought and even more careful extraction I pulled out the drivers to make my own cans! I'm using an old headband from a 1950's headphone set. They need a bit of TLC, but will give then an interesting look I will think. Here's the process I've used so far. It may change or be redone entirely, depending on suggestions made by you or if I can see a better way.
Step 1: I started out with a puck in the rough size of the final diameter of the original AKG cans. The hole drilled in the middle is approximately the size of the driver. I'll need to make it a bit larger on the lathe afterwards. For now it will just be useful for mounting it to a chuck.
Step 2: I then turn it to final diameter twice. Once for the lip that the pads will fit over, and a second time for the actual diameter you will see.
Step 3: I endface each side on the lathe till I get the thickness I want to achieve. One face is flat, while the other is inset a bit like shown in the picture. The reason for the inset is the way the original AKG driver is make and fits. With out it the driver would stick way to far out or be too close to my ear. That wouldn't be comfortable or sound nice!
Step 4: I didn't really like the original wood I was working with, a nice south African mahogany. I changed it to Ziricote, a much denser wood with a very unique grain. I also angled the one tenon the ear bad sits on, making it fit around better.
Step 5: I then turn down another recess, this one for another tenon. This one will be so the headband arms can fit around it. I do plan on making the tenon hollow so the headphones are technically an open type. It will be interesting to see how it may change it compared the original semi-open design by AKG. ( the reason this wood seems darker is due to it being coated in a sealer coat of tung oil )
Step 1: I started out with a puck in the rough size of the final diameter of the original AKG cans. The hole drilled in the middle is approximately the size of the driver. I'll need to make it a bit larger on the lathe afterwards. For now it will just be useful for mounting it to a chuck.
Step 2: I then turn it to final diameter twice. Once for the lip that the pads will fit over, and a second time for the actual diameter you will see.
Step 3: I endface each side on the lathe till I get the thickness I want to achieve. One face is flat, while the other is inset a bit like shown in the picture. The reason for the inset is the way the original AKG driver is make and fits. With out it the driver would stick way to far out or be too close to my ear. That wouldn't be comfortable or sound nice!
Step 4: I didn't really like the original wood I was working with, a nice south African mahogany. I changed it to Ziricote, a much denser wood with a very unique grain. I also angled the one tenon the ear bad sits on, making it fit around better.
Step 5: I then turn down another recess, this one for another tenon. This one will be so the headband arms can fit around it. I do plan on making the tenon hollow so the headphones are technically an open type. It will be interesting to see how it may change it compared the original semi-open design by AKG. ( the reason this wood seems darker is due to it being coated in a sealer coat of tung oil )
