*Update 5/7*Project log - Disassembling the Grado RS1 & Modding and Thunderpants Mod(with pics)

[Todd R]

rubbing the cups with mineral oil will remove the old stuck on bits of ear cushion (good for the wood too)

 

[Mercuttio]

The NOS pair I had a few years ago had that issue too, and a gentle toothbrush with water did the trick as well. 
 
Quote:

rubbing the cups with mineral oil will remove the old stuck on bits of ear cushion (good for the wood too)

 

 

[schwallman]

ok, finally have internet but i dont have alot of pictures available at my in laws.
 
here is an hf2 driver taken out of the cup. Same idea when taking them apart. I removed all the glue from the top and had to slip the razor in between the wood and plastic to break the glue apart.

 
here is the driver taken out of the cup
 

 
and then i sanded them down and smoothed out a few nicks in the wood. i liked they way they looked unfinished but I eventually stained them again. Still thinking of sanding them down again though.
 

 

[mlantinen]

Balls!  That was an ordeal.  1st driver took about 3-4 hours from first scraping/prying/peeling of the top layer of glue to popping out the driver.  
 
I bought one of those dremel flex shaft attachments (I've always wanted one of those anyway) and also bought attachments 7134 Diamond Point and 106 Engraving Cutter.  This worked quite well except that being so close to the plastic driver it would melt the plastic and re-freeze so that it was tough to dig out the plastic bits.  I also used the exacto tool pictured to scrape in between dremeling.  Feels good to have one out but still have one more to go.  
 
Anyone know if we can upload multiple photos at one time?  Stinks uploading one at a time.
 

 

[schwallman]

Doesn't it make you feel sick?

 

[schwallman]

Here is the reason the hf2 didnt come out the way I expected.

 
and here is the rs1 restained. atill want to lightly sand again . They do not look grainy or as shiny in person.

 

[mlantinen]

 
 
Quote:

Doesn't it make you feel sick?

Yeah, I feel like I'm violating a unicorn or something.  The legendary RS1 being prodded and scraped especially an RS1 of some vintage, but I look at it like a makeover for this pair.  If I ever got my hands on a first run set I wouldn't touch it unless I had to.  
 
Yeah, bummer about the HF2.  Did you order a new part or did you fabricate something?

 

[mlantinen]

The second one is out and took only about 20-30 minutes.  Much faster when you know how much pressure you can use and I think the trick is to use the exacto scraper to dig as deep as possible and then use the dremel diamond tip to clean and dig alittle more in between using the scraper.  I would dig the scraper in and wiggle it back and forth like an old fashion can opener style to dig out the glue and the wood.  The cups are fairly robust.  
 
Now I have to figure out what exactly I want to do with the cups before I recable them.  I'm heavily leaning toward sanding and re-staining.  
 
Anyone know what kind of wood the cups are made from?
 
Also the second bolt holding in the cups was much looser than the other one.  I didn't chip this one up.  
 

 

[schwallman]

I'm having a set of driver cups made. I want to have the metal refinished since they were awful looking.

The rs1 cups are mahagony. I used a fine sand paper block on mine. I didn't want to ruin the lettering.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

Yeah, I feel like I'm violating a unicorn or something.  The legendary RS1 being prodded and scraped especially an RS1 of some vintage, but I look at it like a makeover for this pair.  If I ever got my hands on a first run set I wouldn't touch it unless I had to.  
 
Yeah, bummer about the HF2.  Did you order a new part or did you fabricate something?

 

[schwallman]

Speak of the devil..
Quote:

 

 

 

[schwallman]

I think a good sanding around the rim and some practice applying some wood glue, you shouldn't notice the marks from cutting the drivers out. I have yet to glue mine back in but they still pop in and out nicely so I'm not sure i will. Since i didn't plan to sell them anyway I'm not to worried about doing it either.

 
Quote:

The second one is out and took only about 20-30 minutes.  Much faster when you know how much pressure you can use and I think the trick is to use the exacto scraper to dig as deep as possible and then use the dremel diamond tip to clean and dig alittle more in between using the scraper.  I would dig the scraper in and wiggle it back and forth like an old fashion can opener style to dig out the glue and the wood.  The cups are fairly robust.  
 
Now I have to figure out what exactly I want to do with the cups before I recable them.  I'm heavily leaning toward sanding and re-staining.  
 
Anyone know what kind of wood the cups are made from?
 
Also the second bolt holding in the cups was much looser than the other one.  I didn't chip this one up.  
 

 

 

[mlantinen]

Alright now I'm getting pretty excited. The hard part is done and now I'm scheming.  
 
1) Going to sand and refinish the cups.  Think I'm going to try Minwax Red Mahogany stain and then let them soak in Scarlet Red Rit Dye followed by a shiny clear coat finish.  
2) Pop out the screens and replace with a nice fine copper mesh of some sort.
3) Going to build new rodlock blocks out of Mahogany.
4) Moving the RS1 badges up to the rodlock blocks and attaching them.
5) Recabling of course, but still not sure what wire I'm going to use.
6) I may or may not refinish the gimbals that hold the cups in place.  
7) Also going to remove the other cheesecloth screen and buff both faces of the driver.  I started with one driver already.  I'm going to be sanding then using Novus #2.  I think the drivers a gorgeous to look at, so I'm not going to replace the cheesecloth.
8) I'm keeping the beautiful condition headband the way it is even though I've got an itch to build another one of a lighter tan color.  
 
@Bill- Hey those look pretty nice.  
 
 
Before: You can see alot of residue from the glue.

 
After alittle sanding so far.  I need to get some fine grit tomorrow so I haven't polished with the Novus yet.

 

[kite7]

@mlantinen
 
Did you say you had pink RS1 drivers? It seems like it's the white fabric that turned a little pink from what I see in the pictures

 

[mlantinen]

@kite7- To me the actual drivers themselves look pink.  I have a good pic of pinks from a pair of SR200 and it looks similar.  I guess I'm not 100% sure.  See for yourselves.
 
They're not as pink but they look pink to me. The SR200's were taken in a photobooth so the lighting is better.  The RS1's were taken on the fly.  Ha, I'm glad you asked me...this is a great side by side.

 
Also, changed the title to project log, since that's what it's turned in to.