[Sewer Guy]

I do not have any molds to show you; the last castig I did was an O scale model rairoad car body (eight years ago). It was cast in 4 pieces 2 sides & 2 ends.
The mold poses no problem though. I would simply make a mold of a Senn. plug with the proper RTV, in a small box. Next cut the mold in half so it is a 2 piece mold. Install two alignment pins in one half & make holes to receive them in the other half.

Take the pins w wires soldered to them & lay them in the mold & join the two halves of the mold; then pour in the prepared mix & let it sit until fully hard & remove the mold. You now have plugs that will fit the Sennhiser 580, 585, 600, 650. A proper plastic strain relief would need to be installed on the wire prior to pouring the mix; this would produce a professionally finished plug.

During the day I am in the R & D dept. of a manufacturer of TV inspection equipment; it is not necessary to do detailed drafting for the plugs unless you want a record of the dimensions.

I am willing to cast some plugs if somone will: A. provide me with the contact information for the source of the pins, or B. send me some pins to make some test castings with.
Waiting to hear.

 

[Dwagun]

oh ok -

I was actually thinking along the lines of casting plugs with leads that people would be able to solder to - without having to mold the plugs directly onto the cable - that way people can try different to cable configurations? wouldnt that be more useful?

I have a Belden 89259 idea I wouldnt mind trying...or as a low cost solution how about some CAT-5 sennheiser replacement cables?

I dunno what do you guys think?

 

[jboehle]

Yes, a "rewireable" plug would be the best solution, if possible.

I'll take some measurements of the pins this weekend and post them.

-Jason

 

[Voodoochile]

What about a housing to accept the pins- which could be soldered to the leads. Then have a tiny setscrew in the housing to retain the pin in the housing, perhaps via the anuular cut on the flange?
You could buy extra pins for a small amount to rewire the cordset, rather than needing the whole assembly.

Alternatively, machine or cast the housing in a two-piece clamshell fashion, with a tiny stainless machine screw and nut through the center, flush, to hold the halves together. Similar to the socket end of a household extension cord, only on a tiny scale.

I suppose you need to facilitate a retention method aside from molding anyway, so this is sort of moot. Epoxy would make a good potting compound if you wanted it to be forever... passing on the setscrews.

 

[Dwagun]

I'm good with either one of voodoochile's ideas...

 

[Super-Gonzo]

Quote:

Originally posted by Voodoochile Alternatively, machine or cast the housing in a two-piece clamshell fashion, with a tiny stainless machine screw and nut through the center, flush, to hold the halves together. Similar to the socket end of a household extension cord, only on a tiny scale.

Perhaps machine it out of solid teflon? That would save the trouble of having to isolate the pin from the shell. Plus, teflon being the slippery substance that it is, should slip a little more easily into the jack, unlike the connector used on the zu's (from what I've read, they are a really tight fit.)

 

[Hajime]

Quote:

Originally posted by Super-Gonzo Perhaps machine it out of solid teflon?

I would advise against this. You want the adapter to be fairly firm as you have to push it in and pull it out. Teflon normally stretches and is usually not very hard at all. A mechanical connection is the most important thing in my mind. I would use aluminum or a hard plastic that is able to take a lot of beating.

 

[Super-Gonzo]

Quote:

Teflon normally stretches and is usually not very hard at all.

I agree, you don't want the connector falling apart in your hand!

You're not by chance thinking of foamed teflon, the type of stuff commonly used for wire insulation?

I've seen and held solid teflon blocks that seemed quite hard to me, although they may have been doped with something to increase hardness. But they were considerably bigger than one of these plugs would be, and thus wouldn't exhibit the same characteristics, so I may be talking out of my arse...

I found this online:

http://www.alro.com/plastic_product_teflon.htm

also:

http://www.thomasregister.com/olc/21916002/plastic.htm

As an alternative to teflon, nylon could be used, it seems to have a much higher rockwell hardness rating.

On the flip side, it seems logical to me that some pliability would lead to a better mechanical connection, not worse... as you could ever so slightly over-size the connector, and get some compression with the fitting.

Again, my arse may be doing the talking here... just throwing out some ideas.

 

[Hajime]

Gonzo,

Teflon is made harder by adding stronger materials like carbon and graphite. The mechanical connection comes by the adapter 'snapping' into place. I think a connector that was flexible would eventually work it's way loose. It's a neat idea, though. If you're set on teflon an easier method might be to create the adapter out of hard plastic or aluminum and build mold with a little extra room for the pins. You could then add a little teflon coating in the extra space.

 

[JohnFerrier]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hajime Teflon is made harder by adding stronger materials like carbon and graphite.

hehehe...what's the point of an insulator like Telfon, if you are going to add conductive materials like carbon and graphite? I'm not saying it's not done, just seems to defeat the purpose...


JF

 

[Voodoochile]

Lexan would be nice looking, and strong.

 

[Demolition]

Quote:

Originally posted by Voodoochile Lexan would be nice looking, and strong.

Or a high-impact acrylic polymer; excellent impact strength, environmentally stable (i.e won't rot or decay), and it's transparent (see-through connectors... very cool

).

On the other hand, I'd still prefer a two-piece plastic or metal housing, as Voodoochile suggested earlier. If it could be made in a similar fashion to a typical two-piece RCA plug, then that would be a DIYer's dream; easy to wire up initially, but no hassles down the road if you want to desolder and reuse it.

D.

 

[Glassman]

hi guys, wanna see some renders?

who would like those connectors?

 

[JohnFerrier]

What holds the pins in? I see how the wires solder to the pins. Then the pins push into the housing. But what keeps the pins inside? Heatshrink or something?

And more importantly, do you have a way to get parts made?


JF

 

[Glassman]

pins are covered in heat-shrink after solder and the hole is filled with epoxy (glue? I don't know these technical terms in english)..

I have a contact to a manufacturer, but I must discuss it first, it's not that hard to mashine such connector I think..