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

[mlantinen]

@schwally, those look great.  I'll be sanding mine tonight.  I think they look pretty good the way they are too but I'll definitely be doing mine up. 

 

[schwallman]

I need one more smooth sanding job done on them and i will most likely stain them one more time. It might be the last time since I dont see the lettering staying intact for much longer if I keep sanding the cups down.

 

[mlantinen]

I went a different route tonight.  Decided to fabricate the rodlocks/rodclamps.  I made them out of a pen blank.  I'm not sure what kind of wood it is.  I've had it lying around since last year when I first had this idea.  I started out sawing them by hand using a craft miter box.  It was slow going and would have been impossible once they were too small to hold them down with the clamps.  So I decided to use my band saw and found it much easier with a quick jig.  This would be impossible without a table sander.  I used it to shape them and get them as identical as possible.  I might still tweak them alittle and I still need to do some fine sanding and then stain, etc.  
 
**Does anyone know how to pry off the old ones?  Do you just put a flathead screwdriver up in there and twist them off?
 

 

[schwallman]

I think they are just two pieces glued together. Not 100% though. Blocks look cool.

I went and got some stain tonight. I need a light sanding and then I can stain them.

 

[mlantinen]

Ok.  Broke out the lathe last night to sand the Grado's.  I lucked out and found that some soft double sided tape held on each cup while sanding.  Amazing!  The cups turned out ok with one turning out alittle nicer than the other, of course.  I think I'm going to keep the face of the cups the way they are.  I think it'll look nice, plus I didn't want to risk sanding away the lettering too much.
 
Edit: Ghetto!
 

 

[Mercuttio]

Very excited to see how this turns out in the end! I really like the look of those earcups now. What are you going to use for the grilles?

 

[mlantinen]

I'm still looking into what I'm going to use for the mesh.  I think it'll kinda depend on what color I got with for the cups and the rodlocks.  I'm still leaning toward brass or maybe a more yellow copper. 

 

[LugBug1]

good job! they look good without the front of the wood sanded, leaving the writing with the old varnish. This will show their history rather than making them look brand new when you have finished. 
 
Marvelous.

 

[schwallman]

That was a good idea to stay away from the tops. I did not have as much luck sanding and restaining. The lettering on mine is not in the best shape now.
 

 

[mlantinen]

 
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good job! they look good without the front of the wood sanded, leaving the writing with the old varnish. This will show their history rather than making them look brand new when you have finished. 
 
Marvelous.

Thanks Luggy! 
 
Also, I've got a surprise for anyone who cares.  I stopped by Woodcraft today and had a pretty good idea (inspired by another member) and picked up some awesome stuff.  I'll try to work on them tomorrow and post.  Tonight I've got other plans but honesly I'd rather work on these.    Picked up a new chuck that will fit the inside of the cups perfectly and will be much, much more stable, accurate, smooth and less dangerous.  I'm psyched out of my mind man!!!
 
 
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That was a good idea to stay away from the tops. I did not have as much luck sanding and restaining. The lettering on mine is not in the best shape now.

Well Schwally, if it makes you feel any better, I kinda screwed up one of my cups yesterday too.  Hopefully most people won't be able to see it.  The trouble is, I will be the one mostly looking at it and I know the inconsistencies are there.  Oh well.  My new idea should hide one of the inconsistencies but the other will remain. 
 
Hey, and I think you're the one that said "they're just headphones"  
 
The drivers!!!!!  That's where the magic is.  As long as the drivers stay in working order, you can play all day long with they're housings to get a satifactory if not stunning look. 
 
Once I get my lathe up and running and figure out how to turn cups, maybe I'll turn a new set for you as a replacement.  Keep your originals as to help tell the story of they're vintage but use the new ones.  Now that we know how to take them a part, it'll probably be relatively easy to switch out cups as long as we use hot glue or something similar that's easy to remove the drivers. 

 

[schwallman]

if ever done, I would gladly accept some replacement cups. If I can figure a good way to fix the lettering I would sand them off and just replace them. I think I could scan the cup and get the font and spacing right but as for carving, i couldnt do it.
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Thanks Luggy! 
 
Also, I've got a surprise for anyone who cares.  I stopped by Woodcraft today and had a pretty good idea (inspired by another member) and picked up some awesome stuff.  I'll try to work on them tomorrow and post.  Tonight I've got other plans but honesly I'd rather work on these.    Picked up a new chuck that will fit the inside of the cups perfectly and will be much, much more stable, accurate, smooth and less dangerous.  I'm psyched out of my mind man!!!
 
 
Well Schwally, if it makes you feel any better, I kinda screwed up one of my cups yesterday too.  Hopefully most people won't be able to see it.  The trouble is, I will be the one mostly looking at it and I know the inconsistencies are there.  Oh well.  My new idea should hide one of the inconsistencies but the other will remain. 
 
Hey, and I think you're the one that said "they're just headphones"  
 
The drivers!!!!!  That's where the magic is.  As long as the drivers stay in working order, you can play all day long with they're housings to get a satifactory if not stunning look. 
 
Once I get my lathe up and running and figure out how to turn cups, maybe I'll turn a new set for you as a replacement.  Keep your originals as to help tell the story of they're vintage but use the new ones.  Now that we know how to take them a part, it'll probably be relatively easy to switch out cups as long as we use hot glue or something similar that's easy to remove the drivers. 

 

 

[mlantinen]

Update: Well, I spent about 8-10 hours in my garage on Saturday  and a couple yesterday just dinkin around and it turned out be a pretty productive weekend.  Learned how to use my lathe alittle better and with the combination of an adjustable hole saw for my 1/2 HP drill press, lathe (with a small and medium size chuck), my Ryobi band saw and my Ryobi bench top sander I was able to turn a couple pieces of leopard wood into accent pieces for the ear cups.  Sorry, I didn't get any pics of me using the lathe with the lathe tools, just the lathe for sanding.  I'll be going full tilt now though, so tonight I think I'm going to try another pair to see how they turn out, so I'll likely take pics tonight. 
 
Anyway, here's pics of the intense, sweaty action.  You can see my mockup in the upper corner.  Note: This wasn't supposed to have two vertical center lines.  The right one wasn't used.
 

 
Now at this point I only went most of the way through the wood.  I didn't know what would happen once the chisel made it's way through the last bid of wood and there was a loose ring.  I envisioned the loose ring would somehow get crushed.  So I used the band saw to carefully cut around the remaining bit of wood then put it on the lathe and sanded down the outside with a little block of wood and 80 grit/320 grit/400 grit/ 600 grit.  The inside of the ring doesn't really matter as far as sanding goes since it will be inserted onto the outside edge of the RS1 cup. 
 
They still need final sanding, staining, and finishing.  Of course the second one snapped on me when I exerted alittle too much force attaching them to the lathe.  I used wood super glue and clamped them over night.  Yesterday morning it was good as new.  You can't even tell where it broke.  Also, some how the second ring is much looser than the first.  The first one fits snug but it might be better to have it alittle loose since the glue will need some space.  ??  I'm not sure yet.  I'd rather have them fit snug and using as little glue as possible in case I want to take them off.  So, I'll try to turn a new set tonight and see if I can get a snug fit for each of them. 
-Marty

 

[schwallman]

cool stuff man. I think it would be fun to have access to those tools.
 
Quote:

Update: Well, I spent about 8-10 hours in my garage on Saturday  and a couple yesterday just dinkin around and it turned out be a pretty productive weekend.  Learned how to use my lathe alittle better and with the combination of an adjustable hole saw for my 1/2 HP drill press, lathe (with a small and medium size chuck), my Ryobi band saw and my Ryobi bench top sander I was able to turn a couple pieces of leopard wood into accent pieces for the ear cups.  Sorry, I didn't get any pics of me using the lathe with the lathe tools, just the lathe for sanding.  I'll be going full tilt now though, so tonight I think I'm going to try another pair to see how they turn out, so I'll likely take pics tonight. 
 
Anyway, here's pics of the intense, sweaty action.  You can see my mockup in the upper corner.  Note: This wasn't supposed to have two vertical center lines.  The right one wasn't used.
 

 
Now at this point I only went most of the way through the wood.  I didn't know what would happen once the chisel made it's way through the last bid of wood and there was a loose ring.  I envisioned the loose ring would somehow get crushed.  So I used the band saw to carefully cut around the remaining bit of wood then put it on the lathe and sanded down the outside with a little block of wood and 80 grit/320 grit/400 grit/ 600 grit.  The inside of the ring doesn't really matter as far as sanding goes since it will be inserted onto the outside edge of the RS1 cup. 
 
They still need final sanding, staining, and finishing.  Of course the second one snapped on me when I exerted alittle too much force attaching them to the lathe.  I used wood super glue and clamped them over night.  Yesterday morning it was good as new.  You can't even tell where it broke.  Also, some how the second ring is much looser than the first.  The first one fits snug but it might be better to have it alittle loose since the glue will need some space.  ??  I'm not sure yet.  I'd rather have them fit snug and using as little glue as possible in case I want to take them off.  So, I'll try to turn a new set tonight and see if I can get a snug fit for each of them. 
-Marty

 

 

[Mercuttio]

Ohohoho. This is getting awesome looking.

 

[mlantinen]

Over lunch I picked up a some more materials.  I was able to find a Mahogany board this time that will work for both rod clasps as well as the circular accent.  So, if I want to I can go ahead and make a matching set to the Mahogany cups.  Which is very likely what I'll do tonight.  I like what i've made so far, but I might prefer to be matchy, matchy instead of have three different types of woods.  Will have to complete both sets and see which I prefer better. 
 
 
I also picked up a block of red Paduak that I should be able to garner two sets of cups from and some Paduak pen blanks that I can make rod clasps out of too.  I think Pauak will look amazing. 
 
 
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cool stuff man. I think it would be fun to have access to those tools.
 

Thanks.  Yeah, I've been dreaming of being able to do this stuff for about a year now too.  Last summer I purchased a few tools and so far this year I also purchased a few more tools.  I bought the lathe for $150 on Craiglist and I've seen better mini-lathes on Craiglist for the same price if not cheaper.  I even spotted a nice Jet mini-lathe at a pawn shop for only like $160 when they're easily $350-$450 for one of those.  Mine is too big but I jumped on the first one that I found for under $200.  Mine's an old Sears or Craftsman, I can't remember, that still runs perfectly.  My Ryobi band saw was $60 from craigslist, the 1/2 drill press only got bound up once when I was hole cutting the larger of the two cuts.  The drill press was only $50 from craigslist.  The sander I bought just last week from the Home Depot for $110 or something close.  The only thing I want now is a table saw which I'm sure I can find for under $150. 
 
However, the lathe required tools and chucks.  One chuck was $85, another was $25, the mini chisel set was $50, plus face-shield $25.So all in all, not too expensive....but spreading the purchases out definitely helps though.
 
 
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Ohohoho. This is getting awesome looking.

Thanks man.  I'm really liking it too!