Cutting the Holes
What we need to do is cut and drill holes in your brand new mannequin head. The ears will mount into the dummy head from the inside and stick through the two holes you cut in the side of the head. We'll use three bolts to secure each ear. The bolt hole patterns are included with the cutout template below, and are designed to match up with prepunched holes in my silicone ears.
If you're using a pair of my silicone ears, download and print the following cutout document on 8.5" x 11" paper. Make sure the dimensions match what is stated after you print it out:
In this section you will use the following parts:
- Pencil
- Cutout.pdf file
- Scissors or razor
- Drill with 3/16" bit
- Dremmel tool or jig-saw
- 1/8" x 1 1/4" pan head bolts (qty. 6)
- 1" fender washers (qty. 6)
- Hex nuts (qty. 6)
- Silicone Ears with canals & mics inserted
For demonstration purposes, the pictures to the left will show the ears being mounted into a piece of cardboard. However, the process is the same for the actual mannequin head, with the exception that your head may have ears already on it.
Use scissors or a razor to cut the large grey ear holes out of the paper template. Throw away the grey pieces you removed from the template. We will use the template with the hole in it to draw our cutout holes on the dummy head.
If your dummy head doesn't have naturally located ears, take some time to figure out where to put the ears. Locate the ears in the same place on each side of the head. Take note of the vertical location relative to the nose. You'll find that ears are generally level with the nose. They're also generally in the middle of the head when looking from the side.
If your mannequin head already has ears, chances are that they're fairly close to a natural location on the head. Just put the cutout around those ears and you can trace around them.
Punch through the bolt holes as well and mark their location.
Use a dremmel tool or a jig-saw to cut the large ear holes out of your dummy head.
Insert the ear assembly into the hole from the inside of the head and use three 1/8" bolts at least 1 1/4" long to secure it in place.
Use the fender washers and hex nuts to press the ear against the inside wall of the head so that the ear is secured. Tighten the nuts enough so that the ear protrudes sufficiently out of the hole, but is not deformed.
Complete installation for the other ear in the same way. Make sure you don't disrupt the position of the ear canal. Do a final check on the canal insertion before moving on.
