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Step 3Materials
Be sure to read the end of this section where I explain alternatives and where to obtain these items.
Items for the Speaker
1 Plastic cup
4 5/16" round x 1/8" thick disk neodymium magnets
40 inches of 16 gauge enamled copper wire
Super glue (thick "gel" type works best)
Tape
Signal source with audio wire
Tools
Wire snips or heavy scissors to cut the wire
Sand paper or a sharp edge
Something pointy
AA battery (or a round object of similar thickness)
A good hook up to a signal source may be the most difficult item to obtain. If you're careful you can strip the wires out of old head phones so that your speaker can be plugged into your iPod. You can buy speaker wires that have a plug on the end and are bare on the other to plug into a radio. I used the bared ends of sound wire running out from an old TV. They don't need to be soldered to your speaker (unless you want to) as long as they are bare and you can twist/hold/tape to make a good connection.
Just about any size of plastic cup will work. And it doesn't necessarily have to be plastic. Real speakers use paper, silk, composites, etc. Experiment with paper plates, ice cream containers, Styrofoam cups... anything that is flexible and has a slight cup shape to magnify the sound.
The magnets don't have to be exactly 5/16" round or 1/8" thick. I used 8 5/16" round x 1/16" thick ring magnets. Just be sure that they are a good, powerful magnet that is smaller in diameter than the AA battery.
Enamel wire, also called magnet wire, is copper wire that is coated with a thin layer to prevent it from shorting. Buy it or strip it out of an old speaker for free. It doesn't have to be exactly 16 gauge... just a nice size to work with.
Items for the Speaker
1 Plastic cup
4 5/16" round x 1/8" thick disk neodymium magnets
40 inches of 16 gauge enamled copper wire
Super glue (thick "gel" type works best)
Tape
Signal source with audio wire
Tools
Wire snips or heavy scissors to cut the wire
Sand paper or a sharp edge
Something pointy
AA battery (or a round object of similar thickness)
A good hook up to a signal source may be the most difficult item to obtain. If you're careful you can strip the wires out of old head phones so that your speaker can be plugged into your iPod. You can buy speaker wires that have a plug on the end and are bare on the other to plug into a radio. I used the bared ends of sound wire running out from an old TV. They don't need to be soldered to your speaker (unless you want to) as long as they are bare and you can twist/hold/tape to make a good connection.
Just about any size of plastic cup will work. And it doesn't necessarily have to be plastic. Real speakers use paper, silk, composites, etc. Experiment with paper plates, ice cream containers, Styrofoam cups... anything that is flexible and has a slight cup shape to magnify the sound.
The magnets don't have to be exactly 5/16" round or 1/8" thick. I used 8 5/16" round x 1/16" thick ring magnets. Just be sure that they are a good, powerful magnet that is smaller in diameter than the AA battery.
Enamel wire, also called magnet wire, is copper wire that is coated with a thin layer to prevent it from shorting. Buy it or strip it out of an old speaker for free. It doesn't have to be exactly 16 gauge... just a nice size to work with.
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