Steampunk Headphones

Cost: Nada. Difficulty: only finding the parts and figuring out how to attach them.

This owes much to the Jackhammer headphones entry. I made a pair of those, complete with acorn nuts bolted to the plastic of the earmuffs to make them look more industrial. Did not do the trick.

I then thought of making headphones from scratch, or at least making earmuffs from scratch and putting in the cheap speakers later. Here is the result of that venture...

Step 1: The stuff I used.

I'm not going to take them apart and document every piece, but I'll go into the stuff I made them out of.

For the headband, I used, of all things, a steel water hose that would normally be attached to a toilet (it was new, not used), and snaked a steel rod through the braided hose, to be bent to fit my head later.

Comments

[Elnxida]

"Moooom, it's looking at me!!!" would be better suited if you let the periscope swivel, like attached to a rod-ball-socket contraption. And might I suggest sneaking a mic in there? One of the big, overly puffy ones that make you want to eat it like cotton candy? This way, you can use it with phones, while retaining the steampunky look. I'm going to try making this when I get the materials.

BTW, to save space, I like the hair. It speaks out to people, like "I'm different, in a good way, so get over it." If anyone berates you on your hair, compliment their individuality.

[mechaninja]

I have neon blue hair. Unatural colors aren't bad.

[tuckerton296]

 im makeing that this, but i am going to put a mic on the otherend, or prehaps instead of the eye

[LkArio]

I think you should replace the cables, those thin ones will surely break after a while.

[The Ideanator]

You should tell that to some companies that charge you buckets for something that breaks within months. Stupid SkCd FMJ's.

[old_bass_masta]

 I agree with that skullcandy comment.

[The Ideanator]

You had a pair that did that?

[old_bass_masta]

yup. the original full metal jackets, as well as my $150 skullcrushers.
ridiculous, however they still work, just the exposed wire is annoying.

[The Ideanator]

Well, after my $80 pair of FMJs started going bad(one ear somehow gotclogged, so I cracked it open and blew compressed air through theeartube piece and glued it back together) it was terribly annoying.after my fix, the wire right at the ear started breaking so I putsuperglue on it to temporarily stop the breaking, but that made itworse. with all the fixing I did, i bet they would not give me the freewarrenty, so I was going to run some really high power through them toblow the bud, but I dont know anyone that has an amp.

In the end, I just cut them up for the slider and the plated plug.

[that guy chaz]

i have a pair of really old headphones like these! but mine are bout 60 years old.....

[The Ideanator]

Oh my, I have a pair that are probably half as old now that I think about it. They have superb sound, about 10-18kHz with no wavering and probably on up above 20k as well, and I use them every day.

[corey_caffeine]

do they still make sours?

[illumin]

is the metal band uncomfortable? seems like it would be.

[WurlitzerGirl]

Hey, I think pink hair is awesome! Mine hasn't been an unnatural color in a while... I should do that again soon...

[SureShot]

Cool headphones! I love this steampunk stuff.

[urban1413]

what sort of machine did you use to make the earmuff part of the headset?

[frogmeetcog]

the can parts are indeed altoids tins, with holes punched through with a nail and hammer, and for the foamy things I cut two octagons out of a sheet of 1cm thick black foam with scissors, and stuffed them inside.

[Father Christmas]

um, one of the photo notes said he used Altoids tins.

[frogmeetcog]

Also since I posted this I found some rubber channel-shaped bumpers that I cut to the cirumferance of the tins and padded the edges that contacted my noggin. Much comfier now. Okay I shall have to postify more pics because the black plastic 3.5mm jack is now encased in something metallic too. The modding never ceases!

[frogmeetcog]

Jeepers, I looked different with hair on my head and none on my face. The braided steel hose does grab hair with gusto. I have a strip of bicycle innertube wrapped around the topmost section right now until I can get my hands on some leather. I recently found out that the threaded thingy at the end of that hose is a standard compression fitting, thus I was able to find a brass (yay!) elbow that screwed right in there. I am thinking about putting something funky/punky/insane in the other end of said elbow... I wonder if that keychain laserpointer will fit? "resistance is futile, and furthermore quite uncooth, lad!" (steamborg)

[Guy.Fawkes]

You're going to want to put a Tygon or other clear plastic tube over the steel braid, unless your head is both hairless and abrasion-proof.

[benhudson]

Very nice Instructable, and I assure you that it will soon form part of my latest project. Steampunk + Jackhammer = Steamhammer :)
For those of us who live in the UK, where Altoids are seldom seen (saw them one ages ago - would buy their entire stock if I saw them again), what tins make adequate substitutes? I'm thinking shoe polish, ring-pull tuna cans... any ideas?

[Rev. Redmond Farrier]

Seldom do you see such simplicity turn out such wonderful results! I have been trying to figure out how to make a pair of these for myself. After seeing your instructable I realized that I was overcomplicating the process. (which I have a tendency to do) I will have to build mine using your plans (with a little modification so as to not be a total rip off of your design).

For those reading this who want an older brassier look, you can burn the tins in a fire, clean the soot off with fine sandpaper and steel wool. Then cover it in gold spraypaint and distress it with steel wool. You get something like this, http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/7863/pict0009pp9xn8.jpg
You could also use brass braided hose.

[frogmeetcog]

My good sir, it is already 8:30PM, but you have still made my day. I was trying to think of how to put more brass items on these (quite the nifty looking alloy it is) but of course with China presently clamoring for copper and brass to make into things, prices of said commodities are through the roof. But now I can make steel resemble brass WHILE burning something, you say? Joyous news!

[Gerjan]

This looks really cool, I'm new to steampunk but somehow I feel inspired now! :D

[srilyk]

I love the use of altoids tins. Great job!

[Doctor What]

I'm wanting to get into steampunk, so I'll start off with these!

[Doctor What]

BTW, the hair looks great.

[lupinesoul]

Awesome. I have two questions: 1. For the Altoids, did you use 2 bottoms, 2 tops, or mixed? 2. Did you paint over them or anything?

[Doctor What]

It looks like two bottoms of the sours altoids.

[abadfart]

very nice i got to make some of thees

[NetReaper]

This is nice for steampunk, though i prefer to make my headphones out of a crystal radio

[shooby]

Yeah, I'd like to see more brass, less aluminum-altoids tin's while great more this, have direct modern day connotations. Good job though

[frogmeetcog]

Put a magnet on one of those tins-they are steel, though very thin. I sanded off the expiration dates and Altoids logos, for a much less 21st century effect. Copper and brass prices are through the roof, dude. I will have to scavenge some construction sites for brass and/or copper if I want to use some!

[TheMadTinker]

You could just electroplate the things; heck, just toss the tins in a bath of white vinegar with a couple dollars worth of pennies and in a few days you'll have some nice copper cans.

[shooby]

Not sure where you are located so I won't recommend particular stores, but in larger art/craft stores you can buy really thin copper sheet, 4"x6" approx., for less than US$5. Might be an option. Otherwise, look for spray paint with a 'hammered metal' finish, comes out really well when sprayed on metal.

[prototype2213]

u could add a padded headband by taking a peice of padding and attaching it to the metal headband

[AceFace]

A bit more to the actual inner design would be nice, but I think I could do it in some time anyway. I like the use of available parts. I got a bright idea to run the wire through the bendable hose and run it out one headphone instead of both. I can even think of putting a microphone out one side. I can play games like halo and still look like a punk... a STEAMPUNK! I mean, you can't hel but look like a bad-ass in these. Really!

[jaysbob]

those look extremely uncomfortable. still neat idea.

[neogeek]

After lurking for close to a year. This is the first one I have commented on. Nice mod! Looking forward to seeing how you covered your Zen.