The *NOT BORING!* Hi-Fi faff chat and sales

[Betsy]

I wanted to hear what it sounded like with my small Rel (10"sq) sub decoupled but the smallest isolation pad i could find was 380mm sq and 30+ quid so i thought i'd just make one instead.

Split a piece of oak


Made a former with some pads on the same centers as the subwoofers legs and gave it a coat of mould release solution


After 25yrs a faded Steve Pete is still hanging around my workshop


Bored some holes


Mixed some silicone and ran it through the vacuum chamber to remove the air


Poured it through the back of the oak which i had clamped to the former and ran it through a secondry vacuum to remove the air from the mould


Split the oak from the former leaving squidgy vibration absorbing rubber recesses

Covered the holes on the back (which i cast through +vents) with class o acoustic foam


...and there you go


Decoupled

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Mmmmm hhmmm interesting Betsy
You have nice workshop toys

 

[Betsy]

The machine is an old Bridgeport milling machine

 

[Mickeyspinn]

The machine is an old Bridgeport milling machine

Not envious... Woodworking machines are so yesterday!
So your a maker?

 

[Betsy]

I did a 6yr apprenticeship as a master pattern maker.. i'm probably one of the last/youngest fully time served master pattern makers in Sheffield, in hindsight i should have been a dentist or something

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Ah good stuff! I know exactly what you mean by pattern maker..... essentially the beginning of anything! My old man had a few pattern makers in the far end of his toolroom....did all the patterns for pantograph work on rubber injection mould tooling. It's a cunningly crafty business!

 

[Betsy]

You're one of the few, most folks think im in the apparel business or tailoring

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Well suppose you could do the patterns for a milliner or a shoemaker! What kinda stuff do you do? Casting stuff?

 

[Betsy]

I used to do lots for the foundry industry, making pumps, valve bodies, parts for petrochemical, exploration/off shore drilling, surgical, MOD and such, come the great outsourcing of the 90's we lost most of those customers to China.. nowadays a lot of work comes from renewables so i'm doing a bit more ceramics. I'm also 4yrs (stop/start) into a project developing a machine to automate a process which was always done by hand.
I still make patterns for hand tools for Thomas Flinn & Co, mainly their range of planes, I still make patterns for city center street furniture, planters, benches, tree grills, street signs and those brass celibrity hand prints you see in the pavement. I still do a bit of wood carving, recently some curved banisters for a staircase in a listed property.. and a bit for classic car clubs who chip in to pay for patterns for cast parts which are no longer available.. it's all good fun.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

I used to do lots for the foundry industry, making pumps, valve bodies, parts for petrochemical, exploration/off shore drilling, surgical, MOD and such, come the great outsourcing of the 90's we lost most of those customers to China.. nowadays a lot of work comes from renewables so i'm doing a bit more ceramics. I'm also 4yrs (stop/start) into a project developing a machine to automate a process which was always done by hand.
I still make patterns for hand tools for Thomas Flinn & Co, mainly their range of planes, I still make patterns for city center street furniture, planters, benches, tree grills, street signs and those brass celibrity hand prints you see in the pavement. I still do a bit of wood carving, recently some curved banisters for a staircase in a listed property.. and a bit for classic car clubs who chip in to pay for patterns for cast parts which are no longer available.. it's all good fun.

Righto! Got your skillset nailed that's all stuff I can relate too you're a rare breed....not everyone has a mind that can work inside out and back to front ! Cad cam and cnc has changed things abit since the eighties I remember my old man seeing the first CNC machines and saying that his days were numbered.....however now I actually think there's something missing in design and products nowadays and that's the human mind/skillset approach. tech approach ends up with a sameness! I'll bare you in mind Betsy