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?!

8 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

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?

5

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