Introduction: 3D Printed Retractable Earphones

Headphone cable tangle is SOOO annoying!!! don't you agree with me?

And despite the veriety of accessories which try and combat this problem, none really tackle the problem from the right angle. What we really need is a pair of decent headphones (maybe the one we already have?) with a retractable cord—a retractable cord that's well-designed and not attached to a crap pair of buds as you can find on amazon. Is that so much to ask? Does this unicorn actually exist?

WELL…. I'm a pretty busy person so had no time to check really. Soooooo instead, I decided to designe and 3D print the solution myself :)

The idea ofcourse was inspired by what already exists BUT instead of buying crappy retractable set of buds, now you can make YOUR favorite headphones a retractable ones.

Step 1: Materials and Tools:

You will need the following parts and tools for this project:

-a screwdriver
-m2 screw 4 mm long
-a scalpel / cutter
-cutting pliers
-sandpaper
-color spray
-recoil the ones you have inside measure tapes

-a 3D printer / a 3D printing service (I use my TEVO tarantula)

Step 2: 3d Print the Parts

I designed all the parts in soild-works, all attached in part format and stl fomat.

I printed the parts from PLA on my TEVO tarantula using cura as the slicer with the folowing specs:

nozzel:0.4 mm
layer hight:0.2 mm
infill density:100%
printing temprature: 200 C deg
bed temp: 45 C deg
print speed: 200 mm/s
no support
feel free to change it up, every printer has it's own personality ;)

Step 3: Sanding the 3d Pinted Parts

the parts should move one in another after we assemble them, so it's important to get the interacting surfaces to be as smooth as possible. You should use water while sanding the parts it makes things easier.

Step 4: Painting the Part

So before we get into assembling the parts together, we need to color

them with some neat metallic color spray giving them a more professional look

Step 5: Assemble All the Parts

following is avideo explaining how you should assemble all the parts.

Step 6: Try Your New Retractable Earphones

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