Telephone Handset Microphone

Step 7 Optional beautification.

If you are like myself and cut out an aluminum cover out of a much larger sheet of aluminum, then you have a small piece of conductive metal with some nasty edges. You are going to want to both cover and insulate this to prevent injury or the rare crossed wire. More importantly, you are going to want to cover it so that it does not look ugly.

To solve all of these problems at once I wove a checker board pattern out of thin strips of black and white gaffers tape.

I started with the tape stuck to the back side and folded it over and under until the whole front side of the lid was covered. Going in one direction were all of the white pieces of tape, one next to another, and in the other, the black. The pictures below might help you understand better.

This whole weaving process can be maddening. Figure out what works for you. There is no right answer. You can make any pattern you want. Just make sure that both sides and especially the edges of the lid are covered.

If you are working with a material that does not have sharp edges and is non-conductive, you may want to consider decorating your case in some manner any which way.

Punk rock!