Introduction: Steampunk Bluetooth Headset

Last halloween I dressed up in an old fashioned manor with my cell phone in a pocket keychain. The chain was too short for the phone to reach my ear. This left me with the option of un-hook the phone every time I had to use it, make a unreasonable long chain or; mod a bluetooth headset to match the outfit :)

Materials:

  • BT-headset
  • Screws'n'nuts
  • Two plates of metal (or plastic)
  • glue-gun / super-glue
  • Electrical tape
  • Wire
  • Drill
  • Magnets

Disclaimer: These materials are not tested nor designed for longer skin contact so beware of any rash or itching!

Step 1: Layout of the Headset

I acquired a cheap headset on Ebay, opened it and located the necessary buttons.



Luckily the answer/call button was located roughly at the center of the piece. (saved me the hassle of relocate it and solder..)

Step 2: The Casing

A while back i found these metal tags at a thrift store. As you can see they're like an instant steampunk addition!

I decided on three screws to hold the piece together, one in the front and two at the back.

Step 3: Making Holes for the Speaker

Since I'm a bit lazy I roughly dotted out the holes freehand and drilled.

Step 4: Fitting the Headset in the Casing

First of all I had to insulate the circuit board with tape to prevent short circuit.

Then I fitted the circuit board so that the answer button would match the hole in the metal tag and applied a reasonable amount of glue.

Step 5: Put It All Together

I used the nuts to fixate the plates.
When I had tightened the nuts I cut the top of the remaining screwes off.

Step 6: Hook It Up to the Ear

As I mentioned before I am quite lazy so I wanted a fast and flexible solution for the attachment of the earpiece.
I had some tiny, flat and strong magnets laying around so I came up with a nice way of hang the head set on the ear.
The magnets were simply glued on with superglue.

Then I continued with the wire.
This part takes some fiddling to get a nice fit on the ear.

I started with rolling the end to get maximum surface contact between the wire and the magnets.
Then I rolled the other end to make it look good.

This design is quite nice since it allows you to rotate the headset in place and wear it on left and right ear.

Step 7: Last Touch

I smeared gold paint on the sides to get an old look to it.


And that's it!

Hope you enjoyed it!



Dr. Absconditus