Styrofoam Plate Loud Speaker

Hello my name is Frank Davis. I love this project and I thought it would be interesting to share with everyone how it works and how it build it. If you have any questions when building just post them below and I will be glad to help. I know this project is nothing new and has already been done before but I think my version is a little more detailed and precise then some of the others out there. Have fun!

Step 1 Materials

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg210/Frankanthony1/Paper.jpg

Styrofoam Plate - Better resonance is the reason for choosing styrofoam, paper and plastic plates have a much duller sound. But feel free to play around with different types of materials.

Construction Paper - This is used as the coil and also to "mount" the speaker. I had previously used printer paper but found it wasn't sturdy enough for my liking.

Styrofoam Square - I just cut this out of an old styrofoam presentation board, it is used as the stand or base of the speaker. Material is not of high importance here just make sure it is sturdy as this will be supporting the entire structure, including the magnet.

Scissors - Used for cutting and shaping construction paper. Make sure you use sharp scissors to make your cuts perfect as it will directly effect the balance of your speaker (which directly effects the loudness of your speaker).

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg210/Frankanthony1/Magnetandcoil.jpg

Wire - This is crucial guys! Make sure you get 32 awg enameled wire, 30 awg will not work as easily (I will explain later). The best place to get this is Ebay in my opinion because I ordered 300 feet for 5$ (free shipping). This is used as the coil.

Magnet - Again this is very important also. The strength of the magnet you choose will decipher the loudness of your speaker. I find it is much easier to use a circular magnet for this project because I can't even imagine trying to build a square voice coil. Again Ebay is the best place for magnets, I always use neodymium magnets as they are the strongest available. The magnet I choose was 20$ and has a pull force of 150lbs. So please be very careful with these magnets if you choose to use them, they will destroy or computer or laptop with no problem, and can also break fingers very easily.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg210/Frankanthony1/Glue.jpg

Super Glue - The most useful resource on the planet. I use super glue when I don't want to wait for Elmers glue to dry but with much patience it will work just as well. Although with super glue one mistake probably means you have start over again from the beginning as it eats through Styrofoam like acid.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg210/Frankanthony1/Elmers.jpg

Elmers glue - For this entire project I am going to highly recommend using this because it just turns out much better. Remember patience is virtue.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg210/Frankanthony1/35mm.jpg

3.5mm Jack - This is how we are going to send the speaker music. Find an old pair of headphones and strip the leads down. Also if they look greenish or redish after you strip off the plastic it may also be enameled. If that is the case you will have to find some light sandpaper or a lighter and make sure you have bare metal exposed on both leads. The one I choose was actually from an old speaker of speakers and was a Tri-conductor.  

Comments

[marcgr]

I hear you on the Elmers. I've had good luck with "Elmers Ultimate" glue on styrofoam. It's about 6 times more expensive than regular Elmers, and it requires 24 hours to fully cure, but it's really strong on expanded foams.

What about hot glue? If you have an expensive glue gun you can get a head that lays down a flat strip of glue instead of a bead.

[ynze]

Nice project! I made speakers out of paper sheets, but your version makes _much_ more noise :-)