All Metal Bolt Earbuds

Here is an Instructable on how I made a pair of Hollow Bolt Earbuds.  I call them earbolts.

There is a fair amount of skill necessary with a power drill, Dremel motor tool, soldering iron, and hand tools to perform this build described. I am only describing my method of making this, which is easiest for me. If you feel you need a drill press to drill a hole instead of by hand, then by all means do what you think is easy and safe for you.  Some of the practices I do in this Instructable may be tricky, risky, and dangerous when proper safety practices are not adhered to. USE COMMON SENSE!  Wear eye protection and hearing protection when using a Dremel, drill or other power tools.  With that out of the way, HAPPY BUILDING:)

 

Step 1: Materials list

A pair of broken earbuds, or old earbuds, of the small in-ear type that have a silicone seal.
From them, we get a 1/4" earphone jack, wire, and 2 speaker elements.

Electrical tape

4 Grade m5 bolts, with a head diameter of a little more than your speaker outer diameter.  Around 1" long.

Friction tape (optional)

Solder

Super glue

1 pack Sugru (Moldable silicone).  Sugru.com  (good stuff to have anyway)

2 steel nails, slightly bigger than the hole you drill for the sound hole.  I used 8 Penny nails, and 3'16" bit.

For tools, here is what helps to have on hand:

Dremel, and cutoff wheels

Hand drill, or drill press

Soldering iron

Vise

Scissors

Wire stripper (optional)

Various common hand tools

Volt Ohm Milliammeter (VOM)

An assortment of common drill bit sizes, including a 5/8", 5/16", (the drill bits I used)

Small eyeglass repair screwdriver, regular tip

Hammer  (ball peen is best, but any will do)

Comments

[Gato Nipon]

wouldn't sanding the bolt's edges to a more round shape more confortable ???

[FriendOfHumanity]

Hey,
I've just found this, I really like it.
What a great and original Instructable.
Well done Sir.

[kevinhannan]

I wear hearing-aids and am somewhat familiar with ear-phone technology/law - the ear-buds in this project look too long and any accident or malicious push of those nut-buds will damage the wearers ear, canal and possibly the ear-drum. If you look at commercial ear-buds you will see they are deliberately short and curved, not relatively sharp edges of a nut. This is the first time I've ever advised caution on a project and I'd be worried to make these.

[golddigger1559]

i agree that their to long and sharp, im gonna try to improve on this.

[Hom3rSimpson]

I wasn't going to look to far into this project, but after reading this comment I had a look. You're right, they look painful (audio engineer here). I would advise against as well, at least advise that you consider some serious revisions if you are going to attempt this.

[solomonhorses]

My pair are really comfortable.

[Green Silver]

Don't they feel very heavy when you got them in? Have you thought of making these with nylon nuts and bolts, an earphone it all about weight and comfort.

[solomonhorses]

Nylon bolts would make sweet earbuds for sure! I like making hardcore metal stuff, but thats just me. If you make a pair of nylon ones, I would love to see them! The metal bolts are hollow, and custom fit, so they are pretty light and comfortable.

[rimar2000]

Very interesting: original, well designed, well done. Those little workks are difficult to do.

[solomonhorses]

Thank you for the kind words, and thank you for the patch! :)

[projectsugru]

wow, impressive, very thorough ible and lovely use of sugru :)

[notingkool]

Great earphones!! i was wondering if i can make ones but with a bullet shell (like 9mm or 7,62nato cutted).
It's really hard solder that speakers, what solder do you use? 30w?

[solomonhorses]

That is a great idea! It would be a great resonant chamber too, I bet. I use 70/30 tin silver solder, for good conductivity. But the lead free solders work fine too, and I recommend always doing RoHS compliant lead free projects. Rosin core, of course. And any weller or radioshack 25 watt iron works fine. Just tin the wires first, to solder the speaker. Hope that helps.

[notingkool]

thanks, because i burn a couple of speaker before, jajajaja. Now i have a 30 watt iron and i will buy some 70/30 solder, maybe 1mm o 1,5mm.
I have a broken panasonic earphones. Probably i use them.
When i finish them i will upload a photo.
(sorry for my english, i don't speak it very well)
bye.

[solomonhorses]

Sounds great!!! I look forward to some pictures of that! :)

[notingkool]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33485983/P4159452.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33485983/P4159457.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/33485983/P4159456.JPG
5 min ago...hahaha
i just cut the shell. Tomorrow i will solder the speaker and glue it to the shell and see if work.

[lothar1511]

nice but don't wear in the winter

[Weisen197]

LOL

[FrenchFrog]

Very creative and a great way to recycle!

[Boost]

Very cool and original. Nicely done!