[Shilohsjustice]

Came across this product, just curious if anyone has tried it for shells? Not a bad price for 8oz. Just an alternative to the Dreve, this product claims to be a 100% cure, no residue - I cure in zero oxygen environment but there may still be a few that have the residue issue here on the forum. I ordered one to try it out, easy to get ahold of and I like that it ships in a larger container.

 

[wormyrocks]

Hey - just wondering if there was any compiled knowledge on specific driver combinations, as well as dampers, crossover circuits, and tubing lengths, to make up great sounding IEM configurations. I know there are several large documents full of driver combinations in common use in commercial IEMs, but none of those contain crossover information and they frequently involve drivers not available in small quantities on DigiKey.

 

[wormyrocks]

 

My recommendation ... don't use two CI-22955 if you plan on using only one TWFK

Also, in reference to this earlier post - would there be a convenient way to incorporate another TWFK into such a design? That way you could put together a 6-driver IEM for only the cost of 2 GK per side.

 

[Shilohsjustice]

Hey - just wondering if there was any compiled knowledge on specific driver combinations, as well as dampers, crossover circuits, and tubing lengths, to make up great sounding IEM configurations. I know there are several large documents full of driver combinations in common use in commercial IEMs, but none of those contain crossover information and they frequently involve drivers not available in small quantities on DigiKey.

 

[Shilohsjustice]

@wormyrocks - there are several great examples buried through the 4000 replys here in this forum.

The above is great just because the knowles drivers are easy to get ahold of unless you are buying 100 at a time from Sonion.

 

[wormyrocks]

@wormyrocks - there are several great examples buried through the 4000 replys here in this forum.

The above is great just because the knowles drivers are easy to get ahold of unless you are buying 100 at a time from Sonion.

Yep, I've seen that and it's super useful, but I'm curious about how all those drivers are getting crossed over (especially the 4-6 driver assemblies in the last section). Are they all just connected in parallel and filtered with dampers?
 
Edit: also, I just had the idea to do faceplates by buying a pack of exotic veneer samples, CNC'ing a logo, and then inlaying it with turquoise. I posit that it would be quite inexpensive and look amazing. Has anyone done something similar?

 

[ForceMajeure]

  Yep, I've seen that and it's super useful, but I'm curious about how all those drivers are getting crossed over (especially the 4-6 driver assemblies in the last section). Are they all just connected in parallel and filtered with dampers?
 
Edit: also, I just had the idea to do faceplates by buying a pack of exotic veneer samples, CNC'ing a logo, and then inlaying it with turquoise. I posit that it would be quite inexpensive and look amazing. Has anyone done something similar?

Nice idea, It can look great,  even a black faceplate with thin turquoise veins or any other color. You can buy a ton of different gemstone beads of almost any form for cheap from china and crush them...the problem is that because the faceplate is quite thin in height ~1-2mm, it could be challenging to make the veins deep enough to old the material, also I don't know how much of a nice looking effect it will have if you have to crush the stone very thin, so they fit in the veins. IMO worth trying... 

 

[Mython]

   
Edit: also, I just had the idea to do faceplates by buying a pack of exotic veneer samples, CNC'ing a logo, and then inlaying it with turquoise. I posit that it would be quite inexpensive and look amazing. Has anyone done something similar?

 
 
If you CNC'd the female outline in the veneer, all the way through its thickness, and then CNC'd the male outline half-way through the turquoise (or mother of pearl?), then it'd be quite easy to marry the male and female components together without fiddling with individual fragments.
 
Just a thought.
 
 
As you may already be aware, the old-school way of doing marquetry is to stack layers of male/female material, alternating - e.g. m/f/m/f/m/f/m/f/m/f/m/f and fretsaw through the whole stack in one go. This requires an extremely thin blade kerf so that there aren't big glue gaps between the male and female pieces, in the completed marquetry.
 
However, if you have access to small-scale CNC machinery, then that'd probably be your easiest option, but it's good to know there are other options available, if need be.
 
As a cabinetmaker, in my younger days, I used to do a lot of work with laser-cut marquetry (this was around 1996, when this was relatively new technology in this particular application). I wasn't doing the laser-cutting - we had a third party do that task, whilst we hand-built the expensive furniture to which the marquetry would then be applied.
 
 
 
Coming back to CIEMs, I suppose another method would be to simply cut the female outline in veneer, and then just fill the outlined voids with the coloured acrylic resin you're using for the CIEM shells.
 
 
If you go ahead with your plans, then please post some pics of the finished result, as I'd like to see them

 

 

[wormyrocks]

I certainly will!
 
I have access to an Epilog CO2 laser and an Othermill. My thought process was that the easiest way to do the inlays would be to simply mill all the way through a piece of veneer and then set in an epoxy/turquoise paste. I don't imagine the faceplates actually have to be too structurally sound, and this method would allow me to do large batches at a time. It also leaves the door open for inlaying something like gold leaf.
 
My primary concern is the thickness of the veneer. The "exotic wood samples" kits on eBay are the most affordable and diverse, but they all have veneer that's something like 1/42" thick. I am not sure what the best way is (or if there is a way) to cut all the way through wood this thin. The Othermill has a 1/64" bit, but I am worried that it will simply splinter the wood. The laser cutter wouldn't have that problem, but I anticipate it leaving ugly burns all over the piece.

 

[taiden]

This may be helpful http://www.thinwoods.com/category-s/114.htm

 

[wormyrocks]

Oh awesome, yeah - I was coming to the conclusion that 1/42" was going to be way too thin no matter what.
 
Is 1/8" quite thick for a faceplate? It seems like it might add some extra bulk (although if it made the headphone thicker, it might be possible to dremel it out to make a little extra room for drivers).

 

[Mython]

  Oh awesome, yeah - I was coming to the conclusion that 1/42" was going to be way too thin no matter what.
 
Is 1/8" quite thick for a faceplate? It seems like it might add some extra bulk (although if it made the headphone thicker, it might be possible to dremel it out to make a little extra room for drivers).

 
 
!/8" is a bit thick, after it's been given a thick glossy coat of acrylic CIEM shell lacquer, but it's not an insane thickness...
 
 
I reckon you could go ahead and rout/mill 1/8" (3mm) wood, inlay it, and then easily sand the completed faceplate to something thinner, and then continue with the acrylic lacquer...

 

[Mython]

   The laser cutter wouldn't have that problem, but I anticipate it leaving ugly burns all over the piece.

 
 
Yes, it is true that lasers do leave burn marks on wood. The marquetry I used to use still looked good, but if you looked closely at it, you would be able to see a very thin dark-brown (almost black) outline around each segment of wood veneer.
 
It depends how fussy you are.

 

[wormyrocks]

Okay, here's my current workflow: I think I'll probably start with some 1/8" parts, laser cut the top, do the inlays, and then sand down the top half to get rid of the burn marks.
 
I'm no woodworker, so is there any of these or these that you would recommend as being forgiving, nice-looking with a turquoise inlay (we're making bright blue shells) and not prone to burning too much? I also know that some oily woods offgas badly under a laser, so I'll look that up too.

 

[Mython]

  .... I'll probably start with some 1/8" parts, laser cut the top, do the inlays, and then sand down the top half to get rid of the burn marks.
 

 
Unfortunately the laser burn marks, although quite fine, do continue the entire depth of the cut (i.e. on the entire side-edge of the component). I don't mean to overstate this, because the burn mark is actually very fine, and not too intrusive, but, just so you know, it is all the way, not just the top surface / beginning face of the cut.
 
 

  I'm no woodworker, so is there any of these or these that you would recommend as being forgiving, nice-looking with a turquoise inlay (we're making bright blue shells) and not prone to burning too much? I also know that some oily woods offgas badly under a laser, so I'll look that up too.

 
There are many you could try, with probable success, but for a good chance of decent results, I would personally recommend you try Maple, first. I say this because it is has a nice hard-dense grain, does not split easily, has no particular oil content, etc. etc.   Incidentally, although you're probably not going to rout it, I will mention that the density of maple, with it's fine grain, also makes it an excellent candidate for routing (by relative comparison with many other woods).
 
It's just a good first option.  If you have success and you'd prefer a different colour, then great; have fun trying all sorts of exotic woods (Purpleheart, Steamed Pear, and Boxwood also have nice dense grain). But for the first try, if it were me, it'd be Maple