diymic.com

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Re: diymic.com

Postby obutcher » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:43 am

Alastair Reynolds wrote:it's a pretty inexpensive lesson in construction for new comers . Better to make a mistake on a budget kit than a more expensive one .


This is exactly why I'm getting one. I've made tons of leads and fixed the odd internal connection here and there, but never constructed a mic from scratch before. I'm looking forward to it!

I can easily pick them up from Manning if other people would find it easier to grab theirs from Surry Hills.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Tue Feb 14, 2012 12:49 pm

waitup wrote:I've got a set of those 87 boards from Group DIY on the way. I think I'll replace the output transformer with a Cinemag and maybe grab a Peluso capsule or something.

Cheap way to get an unfinished enclosure that fits the boards, as far as I'm concerned.

Now.... what colour to paint it?

Nick.


Exactly! I'm going to grab a CM-2480, 87 clone boards and look into a replacement capsule. Peluso K87 or beeneez K67 (the more expensive option) could be good. But will check the stock capsule first.
What about powder coating Nick? Have you been down that road at all? Perhaps too costly to bother?

Greg and Alastair, you are a river to your people.

Owen, I could be interested in your offer of pickup. Surry Hills would be more convenient for me. I'll Pm you closer to the delivery time.
Otherwise I'll need to organise postage to Kangaroo Valley.

Manning, many thanks for organising the buy.

Peace to all.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alastair Reynolds » Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:05 pm

All sounds like good fun, but I should point out, Greg is the River, I am merely a tributary with much still to learn :)
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:08 pm

Alastair Reynolds wrote:All sounds like good fun, but I should point out, Greg is the River, I am merely a tributary with much still to learn


Alastair, your modesty overwhelms my sense of proportion. :)
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Re: diymic.com

Postby waitup » Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:54 pm

Ben M wrote:What about powder coating Nick? Have you been down that road at all? Perhaps too costly to bother?


I've had boxes powdercoated before, but unless you're doing large quantities then it's not really financially viable because they usually have a set up fee. I buy them powder coated from the states now.

If you're not wildly fussy about colour, you can sometimes sweet talk them into sticking your job through with someone else's of a similar colour though...
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Hookemeister » Tue Feb 14, 2012 4:59 pm

What about powder coating Nick? Have you been down that road at all? Perhaps too costly to bother?

Hi Ben

Most cost effective finish is hammertone paint. If you use the silver/grey colour it will give that cheap chinese mic a real vintage look.

Best part about hammertone paint is, if you get a chip in the paint, it's very easy to touch up.

It's available in spray packs and brush on.

I use the brush on variety and add a little Penetrol to it. It improves the the paints ability to bond to the metal.

Penetrol is also excellent for refurbishing old vintage gear that's been affected by rust.

1: Get rid of any flaky rust and surface rust,
2: Give it a light sand and make sure the metalwork is clean and dry.
3: Apply the Pentrol as a primer. This will neutralise the rust and give you a solid surface to paint on.
4: Allow 24 hours for the Penetrol to dry then apply 2-3 coats of hammertone paint and that old rusty enclosure will look like the day it left the factory.

Because the hammertone paint has a motley finish it hides a lot of imperfections in the metalwork.

The bad news... Penetrol is expensive... but like Vegemite or Tabasco sauce, a little bit goes a long way.

If your a serious DIY'er then Penetrol and hammertone paint will be your friend for life. Ideal for all those projects where you're buiding FX pedals, DI box's, pre's etc.

Penetrol and hammertone paint are available at most large hardware stores... Bunnings, Mitre 10, etc
The hammertone paint I use is made by White Knight and called Rust Guard - Hammered Finish

But I digress... getting back to mic... make sure you you wipe it down with white spirits before painting to remove any protective oily coating that's been applied to it. Then give it a light sand with a very fine emery paper.

Finally, don't paint the top and bottom edges of the casing or the bottom of the inside rim of the securing ring, as you want to maintain continuity of earthing thru the entire casing.

Oh yeah... Don't paint the headbasket... Doh!

That's the way I'd finish the mic.

Hope this helps.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Manning » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:49 am

If Greg is the river and Alastair is the tributary (although this is widely disputed), I have a bad feeling that makes me the leak at the back of the toilet.

Anyway, given everyone still seems very keen, I've gone ahead and place the order today.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:04 pm

Ok for your bemusement
I have four nos neumann km84 transformers to sell to the first 4 people that want hem for this build
( actually i have more but you never know when i will regret unloading them )

so $50 each nos neumann
I have no idea how they will run in this mic but if its a km 84 type circuit bound to be better then the chinese jobby

so no warranties on how good or bad they will be .. curiously mine look about the same size and type as the ones neumann use in their u87 as well so headroom is probably ok as well

that is.. 4 only
$50 each
first in best dressed
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Manning » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:14 pm

I'm in for one.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:24 pm

I'm down for one. If it doesn't work out for this mic then it will be a good backup for my km84's.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alastair Reynolds » Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:00 pm

I;ll take one too.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:07 pm

3 down 1 to go
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ausrock » Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:47 pm

Manning,

PM'd.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alistair » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:30 pm

If no-one has beaten me to the punch, I'd love to take the last tx Rick. I'll send you a PM.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:31 pm

Hookemeister wrote:
What about powder coating Nick? Have you been down that road at all? Perhaps too costly to bother?

Hi Ben

Most cost effective finish is hammertone paint. If you use the silver/grey colour it will give that cheap chinese mic a real vintage look.

Best part about hammertone paint is, if you get a chip in the paint, it's very easy to touch up.

It's available in spray packs and brush on.

I use the brush on variety and add a little Penetrol to it. It improves the the paints ability to bond to the metal.

Penetrol is also excellent for refurbishing old vintage gear that's been affected by rust.

1: Get rid of any flaky rust and surface rust,
2: Give it a light sand and make sure the metalwork is clean and dry.
3: Apply the Pentrol as a primer. This will neutralise the rust and give you a solid surface to paint on.
4: Allow 24 hours for the Penetrol to dry then apply 2-3 coats of hammertone paint and that old rusty enclosure will look like the day it left the factory.

Because the hammertone paint has a motley finish it hides a lot of imperfections in the metalwork.

The bad news... Penetrol is expensive... but like Vegemite or Tabasco sauce, a little bit goes a long way.

If your a serious DIY'er then Penetrol and hammertone paint will be your friend for life. Ideal for all those projects where you're buiding FX pedals, DI box's, pre's etc.

Penetrol and hammertone paint are available at most large hardware stores... Bunnings, Mitre 10, etc
The hammertone paint I use is made by White Knight and called Rust Guard - Hammered Finish

But I digress... getting back to mic... make sure you you wipe it down with white spirits before painting to remove any protective oily coating that's been applied to it. Then give it a light sand with a very fine emery paper.

Finally, don't paint the top and bottom edges of the casing or the bottom of the inside rim of the securing ring, as you want to maintain continuity of earthing thru the entire casing.

Oh yeah... Don't paint the headbasket... Doh!

That's the way I'd finish the mic.

Hope this helps.


Fantastic Greg. Another great hookemeister tip.
I'll give this a go and report back.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:47 pm

okay alister and owen both hit me up a the same time for the last trannie
so f@#$ it you can both have one
the catch is now i just have to find the bloody things

alister r
manning
ben
owen
alister

thats 5 .. close enough to 4 but there will be no more
i will dig them out in the next couple of days and work backwards
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Re: diymic.com

Postby obutcher » Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:35 pm

Nice one Rick! I'm pretty excited about this build... what I'm going to do with it seems to be evolving relative to the length of the thread. Keep the ideas coming fellas!
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alistair » Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:07 pm

Thanks Rick, you're a champ. Looking forward to it!
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:11 pm

I love a happy ending. :)
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Re: diymic.com

Postby waitup » Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:28 pm

How did I miss this? Oh well, I think I've got more than my fair share of Rick's iron!
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:19 pm

bv107.JPG
the things i find ...!
ok well i found the 4 trannies that i started my part of the the thread with , they are here and the first three easy , the last one owen and alister can duke it out for it and nick can hold his breath a while
knowing i reckon i have at least two more but probably 5 more so when i find them out they go
dunno where they are just yet but i think i will probably find them before too long

but i did find a long missing gold nugget !

so all up i am $200 ( for the trannies ) and $100 for the nugget better off then i was this morning

looking good 2012
looking good :)
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:22 pm

gold capsule material anybody ?
nuggety.JPG
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alistair » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:30 pm

I have a feeling we suffer from the same filing system Rick- chuck it in a box and be done with it.

Owen- online rock paper scissors? We can each PM Rick with our move, and he can let us know the winner?
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:34 pm

The things ya find eh!
Now... where did I put that suitcase of $100 bills I stashed years ago? :-?

Alistair wrote:Owen- online rock paper scissors? We can each PM Rick with our move, and he can let us know the winner?


What a great idea Alistair.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:36 pm

oh i wish my problem was just boxes , its more like chuck it in a box on a shelf then wonder which box which shelf which location, which decade
and why i remember i have it but cannot think which nicompoop thought i needed it in the first place !

paper scissors rock sounds perfect , although i will find the others in due coarse
its just the simplicity of it all
aint that simple
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alistair » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:40 pm

Last time I did a good clean up of my tech area I found a box full of boxes. Lord knows why I chose to keep them, but I can tell you I completely forgot about them and bought a stack of boxes for postage in that time.

I seem to remember one of the guys (Andy?) finding a V72 under the couch when he cleaned up too. Unfortunately I've never had that experience.

Rick, I've Pm'd my rock paper scissors.
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Re: diymic.com

Postby rick » Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:46 pm

Some of the things i find in my lot stun me , i didnt mention the microphones i found this afternoon but funnily enough it was no big deal because i knew they were somewhere

the nugget however i thought was a long goner , there is another bigger missing one so
i found some hope as well :)


as for paper scissors rock , alister is already in with his play ..
owen..?

somedays .. you guys crack me up
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Alastair Reynolds » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:10 pm

I had a find like that last year,just before integrate.poking around in a drawer in the parts cabinet looking for IC sockets and found a bunch of Motorola mfe-3001 fets.Those are the rocking horse sh*t rare fets in the front end of BIG-1 limiters. I,ve looked at that set of drawers for the last 15 years and never found them before. In the meantime I'd scoured the land and every transmitter site I visited hoping to find even just 1 spare but never did and there they were all the time,less than 10 feet from me.So in the interests of good sportsmanship and karma I gave some to Joe Malone and Rob Squire to repair the units they had and had been trying to find fets for for ages.:-)
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Re: diymic.com

Postby Ben M » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:49 pm

Alastair Reynolds wrote: Motorola mfe-3001 fets. Those are the rocking horse sh*t rare fets in the front end of BIG-1 limiters.


I imported a mfe-3001 from a Florida electronics company about 4 years ago for one of my Big 1's. Cost was around $200 for the FET. It was very hard to locate but it finally arrived in a package that resembled a jewellery box.

I love these stories of people finding things they'd forgotten about or came across... I just wish it would happen to me too. :(
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Re: diymic.com

Postby waitup » Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:48 pm

Rick no stress if you can't find the iron. I've got a cardboard box somewhere with more iron than South Australia. Pretty sure there's some mic output in there.

On that note. Who's the Aus importer for cinemag?
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