gonzothegreat
Super Member
A few months ago I was at my favorite thrift and noticed a pair of Yamaha cans on the shelf. Immediately grabbed them and noted how heavy they were. Unfortunately the inner headband with the fabric insert was broken beyond repair. Bought them and waited for my brain to spit out a new headband design. After many cups of coffee I think I found an easy fix.
Find a cheap three ring binder with a thin black plastic cover. The material I used was slightly thicker than the original but still flexible enough to easily conform to my noggin. Remove the original broken headband from the YHs and tape it up so you have an unbroken pattern to trace onto a piece of paper. Cut out the template and use that to trace a new band onto the binder cover. You *could* use the original band for this but since its curved the task is far easier if you transfer it to paper first. The ends are a bit tricky - don't bother tracing the notches and screw hole. Just square them off and add a bit of length to the ends. Cut out the new headband and hopefully it will be reasonably close to the original.
This last part is where the magic happens. I was in a hurry and didn't want to dig up my cordless drill so I used my soldering iron to melt the side notches and screw hole. Surprisingly it worked great! The next part is also a nailbiter - use the upper cylinder of the soldering iron (not the tip) on the lowest heat possible to slightly melt the plastic so you can bend it to a close approximation of the original end tabs. On my first attempt it got too hot and melted through but thinking quickly I jammed the melted parts together and let it cool which formed a reasonably good bond.
I'll eventually cut out the middle section and add some fabric but for now this works nicely. Pics to come later.
Find a cheap three ring binder with a thin black plastic cover. The material I used was slightly thicker than the original but still flexible enough to easily conform to my noggin. Remove the original broken headband from the YHs and tape it up so you have an unbroken pattern to trace onto a piece of paper. Cut out the template and use that to trace a new band onto the binder cover. You *could* use the original band for this but since its curved the task is far easier if you transfer it to paper first. The ends are a bit tricky - don't bother tracing the notches and screw hole. Just square them off and add a bit of length to the ends. Cut out the new headband and hopefully it will be reasonably close to the original.
This last part is where the magic happens. I was in a hurry and didn't want to dig up my cordless drill so I used my soldering iron to melt the side notches and screw hole. Surprisingly it worked great! The next part is also a nailbiter - use the upper cylinder of the soldering iron (not the tip) on the lowest heat possible to slightly melt the plastic so you can bend it to a close approximation of the original end tabs. On my first attempt it got too hot and melted through but thinking quickly I jammed the melted parts together and let it cool which formed a reasonably good bond.
I'll eventually cut out the middle section and add some fabric but for now this works nicely. Pics to come later.
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