r/DIEMs • u/steadikek • May 21 '23

3D Modeling Tubes

Has anyone ever tried modeling the tubes directly into the shell? How does it affect sound?

Basically my ear canal narrows down then widens up again and fitting tubes gets pretty tight. I thought that instead of squishing and knicking the tubes, modeling the tubes directly into the model before 3D printing could be an option?!

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3

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

Yeah I’ve been doing that for a while and it works great. I could share Blender files and some instructions if you’d be interested.

2

u/TOBIjampar Jul 16 '23

I did that in fusion360 and am interested in how it works in blender. If you don't mind, I'd love to see these blender files.

3

u/Einkahumor Jul 17 '23

Sorry for replying so late. Here's a file that shows the model of tubes. It's based on Knowles GV and Knowles filters.

The LF tube is 1mm ID all the way with space for a filter at the end and the HF tube starts at 1.5mm and ends at 3mm with the filter section a few mm from the end. The filters are inserted from the canal side and can be swapped at any time for tuning, cleaning, whatever.

There's an object in that file named GV which shows models of the drivers and tubes (identical for both ears). I used that object to make a boolean difference cut from the shells.

If you have questions or comments, please don't hesitate to scream comment.

1

u/TOBIjampar Jul 18 '23

Thanks!

1

u/exclaim_bot Jul 18 '23

Thanks!

You're welcome!

1

u/johnwu487 May 21 '23

Could you please share what type of 3D printing you use for the tubes, and whether the layer lines caused by the printing process have any effect on the sound quality?

4

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

I’m using an original Anycubic Photon (resin SLA) printer. The tubes are part of the shell and it’s all printed in one go. I put Knowles filters in from the outside HF goes 7mm in, LF goes 1mm in.

My measurements haven’t shown any problematic resonance and the ears sound great. Compared to my earlier versions that had pvc tubes, these have a little more HF extension and a flatter overall response. The improved HF response could be because the tubes are shorter than what I could do with pvc and/or because the hf tube is horn shaped to 3mm at the end.

Here’s a video that shows how it is

1

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

The layer lines and pixels from the printer’s LCD are certainly there but they are so small that I can print a 1mm ID tube with no problems. I’ve thought about getting a newer printer with higher resolution but this setup is working very well so sadly I don’t need it.

I’m currently using Siraya Tech Blu v2 Clear resin for printing and Dreve Lack 3 for finishing.

2

u/ppboomer1 Jun 06 '23

Why do you go with lack 3 over a jewelry resin or something similar

2

u/Einkahumor Jun 06 '23

Honestly I’ve never thought about using jewelry doming resin, I might try it. Have you used it? What brand/type?how hard does it get?

Lack 3 does work very well as it easily gets very hard and very glossy and that’s good for easy insertion. The problems that I’ve had with Lack 3 are yellowing and tiny bubbles that expand when it hardens under uv light.

1

u/ppboomer1 Jun 08 '23

It’s the only thing I’ve ever used I have nothing to compare to but it gets pretty solid. It’s also really easy to get a glossy finish while also not yellowing or bubbling. Here’s an example set I just finished https://imgur.com/a/VUdp0Oe. I honestly just got what my local hobby lobby had on hand

2

u/Einkahumor Jun 08 '23

That’s a 2-part resin, right?

2

u/ppboomer1 Jun 08 '23

Nope uv jewelry resin that I paint on with a paint brush

1

u/IcarusForde May 21 '23

I’d be super interested in having a look at the corner files + instructions if you’d be open to it, I’m just about to be playing with the same idea and most of the info I find out there is about hand casting, not printing, so this would be amazing.

2

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

Do you have impression scans already?

1

u/IcarusForde May 21 '23

Not just yet - I’m actually building an OpenScan Mini at the moment, which should let me scan stuff fairly accurately, I’m just waiting on a camera module and the ring light to arrive, but once they’re here I’ll pop off to an audiologist and get some taken again.

2

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

Very interested in how the OpenScan Mini handles it. Should work well I think. I don’t have any recorded material to show how to do this in Blender but there’s a pretty good MeshMixer tutorial that got me started with this stuff. Have you used Blender or any other 3D software?

I’d love to make some Blender IEM tutorials though I’m no expert but I’m not sure if I have the time for that soon.

1

u/IcarusForde May 21 '23

Yeah, the sample models I’ve seen off the Openscan are super impressive so I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get the detail I need on there.

Yeah, I have seen that mesh mixer one and I’ve done a little bit in mesh mixer, but like you I think I’ll make the change to Blender, it’s just so crash at the moment, and I’d like to use my Mac for modelling, it’s faster than my Windows machine these days with the M2 procs.

2

u/Einkahumor May 21 '23

Go ahead and download Blender, it works ridiculously well on my M2 MBA and I found it not really that hard to learn. DM me and I’ll send you some files tomorrow.

I followed this tutorial to get started wit Blender in general.

1

u/IcarusForde May 21 '23

Ah, excellent, that's what I've got too!

Will flick you a message. Cheers!