Home-Made IEMs
Jan 6, 2020 at 11:35 AM Post #10,741 of 15,910
guys, just received all components to make a masm 7, but need a 5µF cap and 28ohm resistance for the RAB side.

Is any type will be good for this? I wanted to purchase some smd ones to fit in the shell nicely.

Thanks,

Alexandre
 
Jan 6, 2020 at 11:39 AM Post #10,742 of 15,910
I use cheap 1206 ceramic caps and 1206 resistors from ali express. You can get the resistors in 1% accuracy, which is good enough. The caps you will get only in 5%/10%, so you will have to buy a few of them and match them by using a multimeter.
 
Jan 6, 2020 at 8:41 PM Post #10,745 of 15,910
Been experimenting with using Fotofix as Lack3, and got great results. This is a 4:1 clear + blue fotoplast shell, with Fotofix on top.

6E866105-6C2B-49F7-914D-3A386C3C73C7.jpeg
C717647F-7D72-4D88-B0CC-CE9EF1068AAA.jpeg

Its much thinner than lack, and has some other advantages. It spreads quite well, so dont expect to be able to build up a shell, like you can with lack.
Well, heres what you need to know. Start by sanding your shell with a dremel sanding wheel. Clean it when you think you are done with water or hydrogen peroxide. Make sure absolutely every part of the outside of the shell has been sanded. Yes, at this moment, it will look horrid. Leave them in hydrogen peroxide for 20-30mins, and them let them dry. after this, you are ready to dress them in Fotofix. I break a Q-tip in half, shove it into the canal, and then hold it with a vice grip. coat THE ENTIRE SHELL with the fotofix, and then wait 10 minutes. Turn off the lights/make it dark, if you can. If there aren’t any bubbles, you can cure it. If there are, just take the brush, and apple a little more. Wait those 10 minutes, and repeat until satisfied.

What is so great about it, is that it doesnt seem to yellow! Anybody with Lack3 knows how frustrating the yellowing is. I can leave it in my UV “oven” as long as I want, no issue. Cures rock hard, and doesn’t peel, like lack does, when not cured enough. Very smooth surface. Unless you are a lack magician, I reccomend this stuff. Its amazing.
 
Jan 7, 2020 at 5:43 AM Post #10,746 of 15,910
Been experimenting with using Fotofix as Lack3, and got great results. This is a 4:1 clear + blue fotoplast shell, with Fotofix on top.


Its much thinner than lack, and has some other advantages. It spreads quite well, so dont expect to be able to build up a shell, like you can with lack.
Well, heres what you need to know. Start by sanding your shell with a dremel sanding wheel. Clean it when you think you are done with water or hydrogen peroxide. Make sure absolutely every part of the outside of the shell has been sanded. Yes, at this moment, it will look horrid. Leave them in hydrogen peroxide for 20-30mins, and them let them dry. after this, you are ready to dress them in Fotofix. I break a Q-tip in half, shove it into the canal, and then hold it with a vice grip. coat THE ENTIRE SHELL with the fotofix, and then wait 10 minutes. Turn off the lights/make it dark, if you can. If there aren’t any bubbles, you can cure it. If there are, just take the brush, and apple a little more. Wait those 10 minutes, and repeat until satisfied.

What is so great about it, is that it doesnt seem to yellow! Anybody with Lack3 knows how frustrating the yellowing is. I can leave it in my UV “oven” as long as I want, no issue. Cures rock hard, and doesn’t peel, like lack does, when not cured enough. Very smooth surface. Unless you are a lack magician, I reccomend this stuff. Its amazing.
that is a very interesting concept. Do you think Fotofix is skin safe?

I've noticed Lack3 sometimes diminishes over time. At the curing stage I cover the whole shell, cure it for 10 minutes, all seems perfect, but after some use I start seeing uncovered parts of IEM. Seems like varnish got removed. Only very small patches are visible, but still visible. And there are no physical evidence of scratching, hitting, etc.
 
Jan 7, 2020 at 6:01 AM Post #10,747 of 15,910
that is a very interesting concept. Do you think Fotofix is skin safe?

I've noticed Lack3 sometimes diminishes over time. At the curing stage I cover the whole shell, cure it for 10 minutes, all seems perfect, but after some use I start seeing uncovered parts of IEM. Seems like varnish got removed. Only very small patches are visible, but still visible. And there are no physical evidence of scratching, hitting, etc.
Had this problem back then. You probably just missed those spots. Missing a spot while brushing is a bigger problem than you'd think of. More often than not, you'd have space in betwern those strokes where you thought you had an overlapping coat.
 
Jan 7, 2020 at 6:08 AM Post #10,748 of 15,910
Had this problem back then. You probably just missed those spots. Missing a spot while brushing is a bigger problem than you'd think of. More often than not, you'd have space in betwern those strokes where you thought you had an overlapping coat.
I'm pretty sure I didn't miss it. While covering IEM with varnish I wear high powered head lamp so all the matt looking spaces are very clearly visible :) I noticed that sometimes during the curing these spots appear, I assume there must have been a thinner layer applied and maybe varnish shrinked/moved a bit. But after full exposure time I always check for those spots and do not find them. however after some time they start appearing. Maybe I use too thin layer of varnish.

Do you guys cover IEM with varnish once or several times? Any buffing in between if the latter? I do it only once with pretty good results (not perfect though).
 
Jan 7, 2020 at 6:29 AM Post #10,749 of 15,910
I'm pretty sure I didn't miss it. While covering IEM with varnish I wear high powered head lamp so all the matt looking spaces are very clearly visible :) I noticed that sometimes during the curing these spots appear, I assume there must have been a thinner layer applied and maybe varnish shrinked/moved a bit. But after full exposure time I always check for those spots and do not find them. however after some time they start appearing. Maybe I use too thin layer of varnish.

Do you guys cover IEM with varnish once or several times? Any buffing in between if the latter? I do it only once with pretty good results (not perfect though).

High power head light makes the matte portions look like a shiny part and fools you that its its light reflecting. That's as per my experience tho. May you send a photo of the part where there's no lacquer? I only do it once. No buffing for me since the cured lacquer already has a really nice shine. I also only cure at 3-4minutes. :)
 
Jan 7, 2020 at 10:41 AM Post #10,753 of 15,910
Jan 7, 2020 at 10:46 AM Post #10,755 of 15,910
wow that looks really good!
Thanks man! That means a lot coming from you! I remember asking you a lot of questions years back. I want to thank you so much.

Wow really nice is this dreve otoplast ? Did you 3d print it or whit a mold ?
Yep! Nope, this is with a mold. :) I made a master cast by hand.
 

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