Introduction: Slidebeye Radio- Penney

This is Penney. She is part of the Slidebeye radio family. She is sleek, made of cardboard and wood. A no frills kinda gal. If she’s not your cuppa tea that’s quite all right, there is a whole family, Dave, Robert, Levi and Patricia. All you have to do is look into the grill design and the slidebeyes can see whom your meant to be with. What kind of objects you see decides what radio you should get. Simple.
The way the Slidebeye radios are designed is something to phone home about. The lid slides smoothly to the left to revel the spin dial controls safely hidden inside. You can close it again and have the music playing like your own personal music box. Penney is perfect for those who want to have things their own way as you can draw on her all you like with pens and pencils. You can be the designer. When you have decided its time to go your separate ways Penney is made of cardboard so no need to feel guilty, just recycle her. Slidebeye radios are unique, quirky and for the individual.
Slidebeye Radio- lets turn it up.

Step 1: Materials

So you have decided you would like to make a Slidebeye Radio. Here is what you will need.

Materials

• Wood block - min of 40mm x 40 mm x 100mm
• 2mm single flute cardboard -2x A2 sheets
• Dowel -8 mm di- 40mm
• Ball bearing -15mm di (outside) 8 mm di (inside)
• Old radio (one you don’t mind destroying) – circuitry (excluding batteries) must be within 80mmx20mmx62mm or Sony ICF-S22
• 1 mm ply wood- A4 sheet
• Double sided tape
• Solder
• Multi core electrical wires
• Battery case
• Cutting template
• Fabric – 150 mm square
*Super glue
*Hot glue

Tools

• Laser cutter (optional)
• Electrical sander
• Hack Saw
• Glue
• Scalpel
• Adobe illustrator
• Drill press
• Angled vice
• Soldering iron
• Hand drill
• Patience
• Band Saw
*Hot glue Gun
*Pencil

The first thing to do is to make a plan figure out how you are going to get all your materials and when you can access machinery. I found the ball bearing at a bike shop and I got my wood from scraps in the workshop at Uni.

Step 2: Pivot Piece

 The first part you want to make is the central pivot of the radio that holds the top speaker box the base controls. I call this the swivel piece. It is like the spine of the radio and connects the speaker to the electronics in the base.
i) Cut the block to the correct length on the Band saw.
ii) Mark out the angle at which you will be cutting on the wood and clap carefully.
iii) Cut the wood with a hacksaw or a handsaw.
iv) Measure the center of the 2 faces that you have just cut and the using the angled clamp use the drill press to drill a hole in each. On the top piece drill a hole to snuggly fit the bearing and on the bottom piece a hole to fit the dowel.
v) Take the dowel and using the drill press drill a hole through the center wide enough to fit some wires.
vi) Using double-sided tape around the outside of the bearing fit the bearing into the wood block. Fit the Dowel into the center of the bearing.
vii) Take the hand drill and drill through the center of the holes you created to reach the outside of the block so the wires can get through.
viii) Pat yourself on the back you have made the first part.

Step 3: Laser Cutting

Now it is time to make the casing for your radio out of cardboard. I cut mine out using the laser cutter but I am sure it could work just as well if you took the template and cut it out using a scalpel.

HOT TIP: Just remember not to cut through the lines that are for folding. The template has also been specifically designed for a 2mm thick material so keep that in mind when sourcing your materials.

Step 4: Electronics

 Put your hacking cap on because you need to re-wire some electronics. These following instruction are basses around the Sony ICF-S22 radio that I used
i) Disassemble your old radio.
ii) Extend the wires connecting the tuning, Volume and AM/FM switch.
iii) Add in an ON/OFF button by adapting the connection to the volume control.
iv) Add in a new battery casing
v) Re-wire the speaker through the wooden swivel piece.
vi) Check everything is working A-O-K.

HOT TIP: Be careful when you are de-soldering not to detach the metallic stickers that connect the solder to the board. But if you do it is not the end off the world, trace the green lines back on the boards to find the nearest connection and solder it there. Right as rain.

Step 5: Finishing Off Template

Finish off the templates. Here you will need to fold up the box templates that you cut out and then, cut into them places for the tabs to sit and also cut out the holes for the electronics to fit through.
i) Cut inserts for tabs by marking where the tab rests with a pencil then cutting along the fold with a scalpel. 
ii) Find the center of dials and cut hole for buttons and dials to fit though using an had powered drill being careful not to rip the cardboard.

Step 6: Assemble Radio

 Assemble the Radio.
a) Top speaker casing.
i) Glue in fabric to cover the back of the grill plate design with hot glue.
ii) Fold and glue in speaker.
iii) Glue sides together and glue box to swivel piece.

b) Base controls casing.
i) Fix all switches and dials to the casing with glue and folded card tabs.
ii) Fold and glue sides together and glue box to swivel piece.

c) Put the 2 halves together and you are done!

HOT TIP: Super glue, despite being super, can be quite toxic. So be careful not to get the fumes near to your eyes and glue with some super ventilation. :