My Favorite Waste of Time . . .

[MicMaven]

Occasionally, when I cannot sleep, I find myself in the workshop making something I don’t need, but it is good therapy and takes my mind off matters keeping me awake. I am retired and, while do not miss my old job, I do miss being productive.

Handheld Condenser Project No. 62024B -

This model is constructed with a new, unmarked $14 Shure Beta 57a microphone handle, a $3 grill, an electret circuit board, and $10 condenser capsule, all purchased on eBay.com sometime ago and just collecting dust in my parts closet. The capsule mount is a hand-cut PVC pipe fitting shaped to suit the purpose. The capsule is mounted on toothpicks set in holes I drilled in the PVC bit, affixed for all time with with excessive globs of CA glue. The last image depicts one of my little watchmaking desk vices which are very useful in this type of project. Every man needs at least one vice, eh?

That’s it. Nothing fancy and certainly no big deal, but it sounds OK and provides a low cost, yet effective, microphone with computer speech recognition software and (with 10dB attenuation) with an amateur radio transceiver. The photos tell the rest of the story. As always, it is gratifying to enjoy that sweet sense of personal satisfaction derived from a successful home-brewed project. A man needs a hobby, right? // James

(PS - I cannot decide which grille I like better. )

 

[pmfalcman]

Toothpicks! Of course! Great, simple solution.

I've been toying with an idea of making front address mics in BM-800 bodies. And for lamentable lack of a 3D printer I was dreaming up some complicated constructions.
Silly me. Toothpicks, matches - ready-made, slightly vibration dampening supports.
Thank you

 

[MicMaven]

Toothpicks! Of course! Great, simple solution. ........Toothpicks, matches - ready-made, slightly vibration dampening supports. Thank you

I have a similar notion of using stiff wire, like stiff 12 or 14 gauge copper wire and drilling holes in the base and a PVC ring, which would be more stiff and secure.

Another notion I once used was a foam foot made from a lavalier size pop filter. I ran the wires from the capsule to the board through the foam and let the capsule sort of float in the middle of the head basket. Worked a treat. See photos.

I made an end-address model with a bit of flat aluminum bar stock and a 25mm PVC pipe hanger that can be glued or screwed to the bar stock. This works well and can be sized to fit the space. See Photos.

Crazy, eh? Thanks for the kind words - James.

 

[pmfalcman]

Same here with wires. But only as an (abandoned) idea - I wanted something that dampens vibrations. Or at least does not conduct them as metal does. So toothpicks/matches feel better.
Set in large holes, in a rubbery base, filled with silicone, for additional dampening.

The PVC clamp is great too!
Funny I didn't think of it having already used such clamps to hold my mics on a lenght of a tree stump in "tree ears" array. And for other, experimental placements. And to hold my OPICs in BM-700 bodies (large clamps) in ORTF array. Mainly ORTF, that is, for they can easily be rotated to different positionings.
Piece of 20x30 mm, two drilled holes, two screws, two large pipe clamps, washers and you have a very flexible mic mount. Stiff but flexible
Lousy dampening though. But I found a solution for this - I don't kick the stand. Works like a charm.

Crazy? Naah

 

[k brown]

Toothpicks!

Great minds . . .

 

[rock soderstrom]

The PVC clamp is great too!

 

[k brown]

View attachment 140632

I agree it's handy, but way too much surface area in the immediate vicinity of the diaphragm for my money.