DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

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stringerbell
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2025 6:55 am

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by stringerbell »

I have some results! As mentioned I took a sidestep into trying to make my own foam cones, and in order to do so I made a DIY hot wire foam cutter that can cut cone shapes. I tried making it work with some power adapters that I had laying around, and in the end I was able to use a 5V 2.4A Apple USB adapter to get a +-20 cm 0.4mm nichrome wire at about 200 degrees, which was enough to cut the foam. Ideally it would be a bit hotter, as now the foam was still too resistant, making the foam bend more while cutting, resulting in a rougher and uneven shapes (see pics).
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However! After doing a proof of concept with 4 head piezos and cones and cutting them off about 1mm above the rim (roughly), the results with a 3ply head are better than my original center triggered PD-120, so it's definitely something! It's getting a response all around the head, the dynamics are not bad, while some hotpsotting is there but only about a "15" difference in terms of MIDI value (much less than my PD-120). When I unplugged the center piezo and only used the 3 outer ones the result was almost the same, with less of a hotspot in the center. It's something I would consider already using as my main snare, even though I'm just getting started.

In the meantime my foam cones from Amazon arrived ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR5BLK9L?re ... uage=en-US ), and I have a nice chrome snare drum shell ready to build my actual drum.
Last edited by stringerbell on Sun Mar 09, 2025 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
stringerbell
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2025 6:55 am

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by stringerbell »

pics:
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nemo
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2022 6:55 am

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by nemo »

It's something I would consider already using as my main snare, even though I'm just getting started.
Great! Really good news! Do you notice any difference when changing polarization of the center piezo (Aka Wayne's build)?
ELEGENT DRUM
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2025 10:51 pm

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by ELEGENT DRUM »

Did you try attaching blocks of foam to a drill so you can make the cones smooth?
stringerbell
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2025 6:55 am

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by stringerbell »

ELEGENT DRUM wrote:
Tue Mar 11, 2025 7:27 am
Did you try attaching blocks of foam to a drill so you can make the cones smooth?
no i have not, but ill give it a try next time
stringerbell
Posts: 43
Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2025 6:55 am

Re: DIY: finally, 3-ply+hotspotless+positional sensing

Post by stringerbell »

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