Why?

Everything started with editing an episode of nerddorf radio. We use a SE1000A from sE Electronics that I bought from reddogmusic here in Edinburgh. And it is a great mic, especially now that it is on offer. We have a lot of problems because we are using just one mic to record the four of us. And therefore the mic is picking up everything in the room and in front of the window.

So I decided that it is time to reconsider the setup. More mics mounted on stands, if possible mounted on the table. Instead of one mic mounted on a tripod standing on a ironing board standing in front of the sofa. The problem with that is the costs attached.

• 3x SE1000A -£ 69.99
• 4x Rode shock mounts – £55
• 4x Beyerdynamic stands – £50
• 4x Standard pop shields – £19.99
• 3x 3m XLR cables – £9.99

This comes to £739 and 90 pence. Well that is impossible. Because I haven’t talked about the compressor/limiter, the headphones and the amplifier. Oh and I almost forgot the hardware backup recorder that I wanted for a long time.

There must be a different solution. Did I not just see an epilog laser cutter somewhere around here.

What?

After searching the web I found I should start with the shock mount. I found some nice solutions for shotgun mics but I found nothing satisfying  my requirements.

So I booted windows for the only reason that is still valid, to start up autodesk’s inventor. I based the design loosely on the nested suspended cylinder design that Rode is using but tailored to the SE1000A and suitable for laser cutting. The dimensions of the mic are below.

The design is shown below consists basically of two rings, four inner and four other posts as well as the mount so I can mount it on the stand with a M6 bolt. The last thing you need to know is that I had a lot of 6mm material around. Therefore all the dimensions are set accordingly.

Here is the Corel Draw file that I used to cut the parts. You can see that all you need in addition to the lasered parts is:

• a couple of rubber bands (nothing special)
• 1 M4 bolt, 15mm thread
• 1 M4 washer, and
• 1 M4 hex nut

I added one modification in Corel Draw, the logo plate, but you don’t need that. I recommend using MDF, because PMMA (Acrylic) makes noises if you don’t glue it. Using MDF will not need that, it is more or less self adjusting.

How?

1. Download the Corel Draw file from here (local) or here and open it.

2. Put the material in your cutter. Use the vector grid. Focus!

3 .Laser your parts.

4. Assemble the inner ring. Keep the mic stops on one end.

5. Bolt the mount on the other ring and put the other posts in it.

6. Put the inner ring in the outer.

7. Wrap the rubber bands around the other top posts and stretch it over the inner ones. Use a symmetrical order. And repeat with the bottom.

8. Done!

Final Notes

I removed the build in shock mount from the SE1000A because it is useless and adds a lot of weight. But unscrewing the bolts will loosen the inner securing rings as well. So you have to open the mic on the bottom and take them out. If you don’t take them out they might shorten the circuit on the inside. So be careful.

I hope you like it. And I will design a adjustable table mount too, as soon as I find the time. Feel free to use and/or improve the thing.

If you make any improvements please leave a link in the comments. I am looking forward to it.

J

Today I got to play with a 310 from zCorp. Nice tool I have to say. This is a powder binder system based monochrome 3D printer. That means that powder is filled in a hole layer by layer and a inkjet nozzle basically paints the appropriate cross section on it and therefore the powder is glued together. So you can form almost any object. But there are some problems with the thing, one It takes ages to dry. I have some rather small part about 30 x 50 x 5 mm but even after an hour drying the first part I touched crumbled directly. Second a resolution of 300 dpi, yeah you wish I might make so validation parts to see what it can do depending on the feature ( I am going to post them later). And last but not least the whole powder thing is a bloody mess. It takes ages to free your parts form the excessive powder masses while avoiding damaging your part on one hand and not letting the used powder fall back in the feeder.

Well I am going to test some of the other systems. Because I will need flexible parts at the end anyway. I am also going to try shapeways a dutch 3D printing social thing.

I keep you posted