diy mic grille

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:20 pm

can anyone point me to where i can get material that would work for making a mic grille? roamed a few hardware stores and came up with nothing.

djimbe · Post by **djimbe** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:37 pm

Geometry requirements? Flat? Hemispherical?

You want some nice fine (i.e. very small holes) stainless screen, then find a place that sells French Press coffee makers. They may have replacement screens for the bottom of the press plate. This would work great for a flat screen like on an Oktava MC-012, or bent into a cylinder, like you might find on something like a Soundelux U195. I don't know how successful you'd be trying to duplicate a dome shape like on a SM58 with this kinda stuff, but it's generally very thin with tiny little holes, easy to cut and bend, and the stainless steel would hold up well to breath moisture.

One idea off the top of my head as I waste away the last work day in a short week. (c'mon studio time...)

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:41 pm

yeah nothing completely round. i want to find some to replace what's on the oktava 219. and i just got a sennheiser 421 that's missing it's grille too.

Phiz · Post by **Phiz** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:42 pm

You can get sheets of mesh with various attributes from McMaster Carr.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:10 pm

Brass mesh from McMaster-Carr works great - I use it for my stuff. You can bend & hammer it into shape over a form, then solder the edges together with regular electronics solder. A 12 per inch weave is nice heavy stuff, you can go to higher per-inch weaves for lighter stuff.

goldstar · Post by **goldstar** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:14 pm

Another possibility are replacement inlet filters for an airless paint sprayer. Go to a painting contractors supply shop, and have a look; most are round like a mic, and look a lot like the screen on an AKG c1000, with some size variations.

dayvel · Post by **dayvel** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:03 am

You can also use party-bowl sized screens from your local head shop. And, no, I'm not kidding.

the velour fog · Post by **the velour fog** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:35 am

Scodiddly wrote:Brass mesh from McMaster-Carr works great - I use it for my stuff. You can bend & hammer it into shape over a form, then solder the edges together with regular electronics solder. A 12 per inch weave is nice heavy stuff, you can go to higher per-inch weaves for lighter stuff.

so 12x12 mesh is plenty sturdy? my main concern is accidentally ordering something really flimsy. what about wire diameter? i'm looking at either .023 or .018.

Scodiddly · Post by **Scodiddly** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 4:05 pm

thegunshyboy wrote:
Scodiddly wrote:Brass mesh from McMaster-Carr works great - I use it for my stuff. You can bend & hammer it into shape over a form, then solder the edges together with regular electronics solder. A 12 per inch weave is nice heavy stuff, you can go to higher per-inch weaves for lighter stuff.
so 12x12 mesh is plenty sturdy? my main concern is accidentally ordering something really flimsy. what about wire diameter? i'm looking at either .023 or .018.

12x12 is sturdy. I've even started using a finer mesh (which has thinner wire, of course) on some of my mics. As far as wire diameter, that sounds like a new choice. I've been using .023, if that helps (luckily I'm hyper-organized after having done my taxes, so it took all of ten seconds to look that up!).

dayvel · Post by **dayvel** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:06 pm

I've been using a double layer with 20x20 on the outside and and layer of 40x40 underneath to damp the ringing of the stiffer outside layer. I like to build side-addressed mics, though, and they tend to have big-ass grill structures that want to ring like crazy.

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