[rfield00]

I have had my Westone 1's for about a year and i love theme to pieces! I really wanted to upgrade with a pair of UM56 custom sleeves but being a student could not really justify the cost. I am a dental student and having over the past 5 years we have maid various appliances out of acrylic so i thought that is would be a similar process in making custom fit sleeves for earphones. I had access to a orthodontic lab so i thought i would give it a go.
 
1.ear moulds were taken at a local opticians. i then dipped these in wax to slightly increase them in size and to smothe any irregularities. i then made a slight addition in wax to the end so anything i trimmed would not be on the fit surface.

 
 
2.I cast the moulds in pourable silicone 
 
3.To make the sleeves removable i took a rubber insert from an old pair of comply tips and placed them onto my earphones. i blocked the tip with wax to prevent acrylic entering
 
4.I then fabricated the sleeves in self cure acrylic, powder monomer mix

 
 
5.once set i removed them from the mould
 
6.I finished with pumice and a final high polish

 
I am very pleased with the result, i don't know how they compare to the real thing but they are far more comfy than the comply tips and i feel a get a richer base
 

 

[JackKontney]

Quite a project, very impressive. The increased bass indicates you likely have a full seal.
 
You had your molds taken by an optician???
 

 

[Rmccullo]

Too cool! Probably the best homemade one I've seen yet

 

[rfield00]

yeah my local optician also has an audiologist in store so they were taken by them. do you think if i extended the acrylic further into the external ear the isolation would be even better?
 
 there is a cheeper way of doing this, before casting in acrylic i did a mock up with a putty silicone. just insert your earphones as normal then insert putty round your ear. very good isolation but quite heavy in ear. you can buy similar material online http://www.diyearplugsonline.com/buynow.htm