U47-style bodies - who can make one?

[Moby]

It would be way cheaper to just add some L channel to the existing design, which would also give people more flexibility on their mic innards.
Some people like PCB, some like point-to-point.

I agree, leave it as before.  ;D
About metric dimensions, I asked about because it's easier to me, but if it takes too much of your time there is no problem to have as you already prepared. I just want to check approximately prices in my area and to do during this year 

 

[Nora]

thumbs !

1 vote for flat mounting posts.

Even if you would add these L brackets some pcb's still won't fit so I suggest everyone gets his own custom L brackets.
that's the least we can do

gr
arno

 

[natek]

Yes dont go crazy making extra mounting options most important is the body itself. it is easy enough to replace the internals with something custom if needed later. besides adding extra bends etc. is upping the cost. Lets continue with the original plan and not over shoot adding too many "wants" on this otherwise it will never happen!

 

[bradb]

I'm at clubhouse in upstate NY, great studio, great engineer (D.Goodwin) and great gear. [Just want to throw out a recommendation] We're snowed in at the moment.. 

Just got bass sounds and I have a moment with this longbody (I think) U47.

Ok, So, going from Seavote's drawing here are some dimensions (from his red numbers).

1. 4.45cm (screen face)
2. 1.6cm (Dome height.  approx, this one is a bit dented, but this is the max height)
3. 1.5cm?? (radius, this one is hard to measure, especially with this dome)
4. 0.65cm (width of vert basket rails)
5. 0.3cm (center of screw to bottom rim of headbasket, screws are 0.5cm in diam)
6. 1.65cm (base of headbasket)

Regarding the capsule height, I can't take this mic apart. BUT the most reliable/best measurement I could get was from the bottom of the screen face to the bottom of the capsule.  it is 2cm.  Just doing some math, from my measurements that would (3.175 from dale's M7), so from the base of the front screen to the top of the capsule MINUS the total height matches the eyeballing im doing for the top of the capsule to the dome.

Other measurements not called out:
Top headbasket "halo" rail width, 0.4cm.
From the bottom of the headbasket to the place where the bottom base meets (basically the tube length).  this is 14.65cm.
The pattern switch window is 0.7cm tall x 1.7cm wide (max), i'd say the radius is about 0.25cm

The screening is as follows:
front layer, 0.25cm square
finer middle layer, 0.05cm
inside layer 0.2cm

Let me know what you think, i'll be here until Monday!

 

[FerrariT]

Moby,

Yes, I will send you files as soon as I have tweaked a few things.

Just a couple things left on the design I want to improve a little.

Also, putting together the dimensional drawings always takes a solid day or two of work.

Thanks for your patience.

do you plan to upload these to the groupdiy ?
in one hand your willing to fork over the design to a chinese manufacture for a steep discount.
on the other you wouldn't want another company to just take the design.

imho.
does anyone not think that a company could just do the same measurements in house?
how long as the u47 been around again? 

just food for thought!

skylar i tried to find your old thread in the "drawing board" with no success ...

nice!

 

[Moby]

do you plan to upload these to the groupdiy ?
in one hand your willing to fork over the design to a chinese manufacture for a steep discount.
on the other you wouldn't want another company to just take the design.

imho.
does anyone not think that a company could just do the same measurements in house?
how long as the u47 been around again?  Wink

It's not up to me to answer to this but since I see my name there I will add some comment...  8)
I don't know what Skylar planned to do with his work but I asked for the plans because I would like to make a good manufacturing price for all of us. I'm looking in to this like Skylar's intellectual property because it's not clone it's a U47 inspired mic body , so I I ever receive those drawings they will stay forever in my Disk and nowhere else will be distributed  I like to say this in public because now I have responsibility. Also, sending plans to China will probably end with some uncontrolled production and we will probably pay the prototype and beta versions for somebody's upcoming profit  :-\ Yes, that company can do the similar drawings based on the U47 but let them do it... And I hope we will not allow them to steal this one  ;D

 

[mitsos]

Skylar,

Thanks for checking into that.. Like I said, if it won't work, I'll shut up about it!

Can I make another suggestion (I didn't mean I would shut up completely!! ) ??  Would it be easier to fit L brackets if the holes for mounting the L-brackets were both oblong and perhaps a bit longer?

 

[seavote]

brad thanks for the measurememnts

 

[Skylar]

Everyone,

I plan to give out my drawings next week...probably Monday.
I just wanted to spend some time working with the parts to get them as close to "final" as possible before distribution.
Usually, a commercial product design takes months to develop; here we've only spent days!
...a bit quicker than what I am use to.

I will probably want to alter the design of the head basket with these new figures from bradb before we pull the trigger on manufacturing.

So, whatever I release on Monday will probably not be final. Rather, just a reference design with which to get ballpark prices.



I don't really like the idea of us doing all of the beta design and testing for someone else's profit, as Moby said. This is why I have always shyed away from China...it's like the wild, wild west over there. There are no rules! No business ethics! I don't intend to offend anyone by saying that, but there is truth to what I say.

I'm kind of wary of publishing these designs publicly simply because I don't want some company making a bunch of money off of something that I just want to share with DIY'ers. This is an issue that crops up repeatedly on this forum!
Hopefully, we can get this thing made, providing a quality solution for those who want this type of mic body for a reasonable price.
No one's trying to make money here.
So, I will gladly share the design with any forum member who wants to quote the design with a machine shop, and get some bodies made for all of us!

BUT, I am kind of a perfectionist, so I want to hammer out all of the details of the design before I "release it to the wild," as it were. 

So, I just ask that everyone be patient; this is definitely not "vaporware."

 

[mitsos]

Skylar,

thanks for all your hard work, and thanks to everyone else who has been helping out with measurements etc. This will be such a great help to us all.

 

[Moby]

Skylar, I'm too lazy to read all the posts from beginning, so I'm not sure did somebody asked the same. It's about head basket. I see that original is made from two rings and they are connected (soldered) with two side rods. I'm not sure how good is that idea but it saves the material and it's maybe easier to do... maybe, because I'm not sure  how solder places can be chromed after  :-\
I drew this roughly just to visualize what I'm talking about. It's not in scale 

 

[FerrariT]

Everyone,

I plan to give out my drawings next week...probably Monday.
I just wanted to spend some time working with the parts to get them as close to "final" as possible before distribution.
Usually, a commercial product design takes months to develop; here we've only spent days!
...a bit quicker than what I am use to.

I will probably want to alter the design of the head basket with these new figures from bradb before we pull the trigger on manufacturing.

So, whatever I release on Monday will probably not be final. Rather, just a reference design with which to get ballpark prices.



I don't really like the idea of us doing all of the beta design and testing for someone else's profit, as Moby said. This is why I have always shyed away from China...it's like the wild, wild west over there. There are no rules! No business ethics! I don't intend to offend anyone by saying that, but there is truth to what I say.

I'm kind of wary of publishing these designs publicly simply because I don't want some company making a bunch of money off of something that I just want to share with DIY'ers. This is an issue that crops up repeatedly on this forum!
Hopefully, we can get this thing made, providing a quality solution for those who want this type of mic body for a reasonable price.
No one's trying to make money here.
So, I will gladly share the design with any forum member who wants to quote the design with a machine shop, and get some bodies made for all of us!

BUT, I am kind of a perfectionist, so I want to hammer out all of the details of the design before I "release it to the wild," as it were. 

So, I just ask that everyone be patient; this is definitely not "vaporware."

Sounds good.

May I suggest then, that there be seperate runs/orders per continent?
I asked for the schematics, simply for this reason alone.
Because if the bodies are to be machined half way across the globe, Lead time, and shipping prices ...

I'd rather just look locally (united States), with china nixed in my mind the prices will be inflated regardless.
Hopefully I won't offend anyone with the post.

 

[bradb]

Skylar,
How are my dimensions looking in your design?

 

[mitsos]

May I suggest then, that there be seperate runs/orders per continent?
I asked for the schematics, simply for this reason alone.
Because if the bodies are to be machined half way across the globe, Lead time, and shipping prices ...

I'd rather just look locally (united States), with china nixed in my mind the prices will be inflated regardless.
Hopefully I won't offend anyone with the post.

I think that is why Skylar is giving the design to members here. I'd too would like to make mine locally, even if it is a bit more expensive, just to avoid possible import hassles.  Besides it could get crazy expensive shipping these all over the globe. I think those who could get real estimates from shops local to them should do so. To be fair, we should also be prepared to order some for other members who don't have access to manufacturing (this would also make it cheaper for those involved).  We can compare costs, lead times, etc and come to a conclusion as to what the best way is for those involved. 

 

[Martin B. Kantola]

Besides it could get crazy expensive shipping these all over the globe. I think those who could get real estimates from shops local to them should do so.

A couple of things to considers, these are neither heavy nor large items to ship even across the globe. If they are machined not completely by hand but directly from the drawings, the cost will without doubt be lower per unit if the numbers is larger, no?

Had a couple of custom aluminum metal bodies machined at a local shop once. The cost was ridiculous, I will never go there again.

Martin

 

[Skylar]

I have had the same experience as Martin.

In quantities lower than 20 or so, expect to pay 3-10 times as much as quantities of 100+

Of course if anyone wants to use their local shop for just themselves, that's up to them!
But it will be expensive!

The cost of shipping these even around the globe would be a bargain compared to doing one-offs/two-offs locally.


Here's an example of an aluminum part that was quoted for me recently:

Aluminum part (larger and more complex than the mic body)

quantity = 250, price $128.34 ea

quantity = 1, price $548.76 ea


Going by this, we can expect that if the mic body assembly is $100 in quantities of 100,

then one-offs could easily cost you $500!

I'm pretty sure that shipping from the US to ANYWHERE would be much less than the $400 difference
in these two quotes/estimations.

 

[natek]

Skylar,

Very good point. U have a good handle on this I think before letting the project turn to a free forall to get there own quotes it should go thru one person to get a large quote for everyone. If at that point If it is nesissary to share the specs publicly then so be it but having it out in everyones possesion unless they talk to you or have a valid reason to have the prints it seems a better way to protect the work you have done and still keep everyone happy with a body to use of good design quality. I can understand everyone wants to have the design to do with as they please but that is putting alot of trust on everyone to keep this to themselves. 

 

[Buttercup]

Hi All!

Sorry to chime in so late in the day but

 

[Moby]

Yes, price depends on quantity  ;D Skylar (and other guys) are we talking about aluminum or copper mat nickel bodies? As far I know original is copper mat nickel..

 

[Skylar]

Skylar, I'm too lazy to read all the posts from beginning, so I'm not sure did somebody asked the same. It's about head basket. I see that original is made from two rings and they are connected (soldered) with two side rods. I'm not sure how good is that idea but it saves the material and it's maybe easier to do... maybe, because I'm not sure  how solder places can be chromed after  :-\
I drew this roughly just to visualize what I'm talking about. It's not in scale 

The original may have been brazed or welded together. I tend to speculate that they were not soldered, BUT I could be wrong.
If we construct them like this: true, the cost of material would be cheaper, but the cost of labor might make this part more expensive.
It seems to me that a one-piece part would be stronger and more dimensionally stable/accurate...easier to machine with tight tolerance consistency.


DOES ANYONE HAVE PHOTOS OF THE INSIDE OF THE ORIGINAL U47 HEAD BASKET?
THIS WOULD REALLY HELP!


Now, here's a good question.
Do we want to finish the head basket with chrome or matte/sandblasted nickel?
I've seen originals in both flavors.
Maybe we could do half/half.