The 3D printer works and I’ve actually managed to print a couple of things but no design of mine yet. So, this weekend, I worked on my own printing project.
I have Bose QuietComfort QC 15 headphones. I love them, best headphones I’ve ever had. They’re getting a little bit long in the tooth though. I’ve had to change the pads and wire a number of times in the last 5 or 6 years. A month ago, it became necessary to replace the ear pads:
Totally DONE!
Long story short. I couldn’t get original parts and therefore had to get knockoffs from Amazon. They are actually quite a bit less expensive but they simply do not fit. The pads are much smaller than the original ones and can’t hook in the earphones. I don’t understand why they can sell these as QC15 replacement pads.
I could have used scotch tape or glue to make them fit but this would not be aesthetically pleasing. Since I have a 3D printer though, why not use that? How about I print a small base for the pad that would extend the area of the pad so that it fits in the pad receptacle.
I did it this weekend. It was actually quite simple. I used OpenScad and created a 3D structure built through the difference of two ovals. The ovals were measured using a digital caliper.
Here’s the model for it:
//Parameters
mm=1;
outside_dia_long= 88 * mm;
outside_dia_short= 69.3 * mm;
height= 1.4 * mm;
width= 9.2 * mm;
outside_r_long=outside_dia_long / 2;
scale_val = outside_dia_short / outside_dia_long;
inside_r_long=outside_r_long - width;
difference() {
scale (v=[scale_val,1,1]) cylinder(h = height, r=outside_r_long);
scale (v=[scale_val,1,1]) cylinder(h = height, r=inside_r_long);
}
Printing it took about 20 minutes (per pad extension) and here’s what it looks like:
So I’m quite happy with the result. I probably could have done something using a piece of wood and some sawing, cutting and sanding…but the 3D printer allows me to go from a very physical to a more abstract world where I can express things mathematically (at which I am a little better).
Hopefully, this is just a start. I’ll get more familiar with the technology and print more impressive stuff in the future. Again though, very very happy about the result.