Introduction: The Box Radio

About: I am a 3rd year University student studying Innovative Design and Technology at University of Dundee.

Im in my 2nd year at University of Dundee studying Innovative Product Design, this semester i received a brief to design and build a radio casing. In this blog i will record how i built the final prototype radio including an exploded diagram, photos and any other relevant drawings or notes. I hope you enjoy it and have a go at making it yourself, any unclear detail please post and i will get back to you.

Step 1: Cutting and Parts List

Oak length, width, thickness and quantity
 - 180mm, 80mm, 14mm [ x2]
 - 80mm, 80mm, 14mm [ x2]
 - 231mm, 131, 12mm [ x2]
 - 80mm, 33mm, 33mm [ x4]

Pine dowel
 - 40mm, 26mm [ x2]

Radio circuit board and ariel [ x1]
 - spare wires
 - soldering iron



Step 2: Exploded View

Here is an Exploded view to help you see how all the parts will fit together. I have included a PDF because its quite difficult to read.

Step 3: Dismantling a Radio

We received this Sony radio to dismantle to use the circuit board in our radios however any radio can be dismantle but sizes can differ and you will have to size any holes etc to the correct sizing to your particular radio chip. I used precision screw drivers to take off the outer casing and get at the circuit board later i extended the different components to fit into the radio shell but until then keep it all in one piece.

Step 4: Building the Radio Body

First take your wood panels and use a router to route 7mm width and 12mm depth on each side of every piece (see pictures). Next take the four corner pieces and tape together flush and drill a 56mm hole in the very centre down 12mm on both sides, you now should have all 8 pieces ready to put together but next we need to cut the am/fm, headphone jack and ariel holes. Keep the 4 corner pieces taped together until gluing the box together and label their sides so you can tell which one goes where.

Step 5: Cutting the AM/FM Switch, Headphone Jack and Ariel Holes

Next take one of the 180mm lengths and measure 40mm in from one end to cut a 5mm by 1mm hole for the ariel. Cut a 6mm hole into the centre of a end piece for the headphone jack and then cut 7mm by 4mm square in the other for the Am/Fm switch. I found to have enough room for your fingers to place the component inside you need to cut a bigger hole through the rest of the wood. I cut a 20mm hole for all the components to about 1mm from the outside face (see pictures).

Step 6: Gluing the Radio Body Together

Layout the pieces in the correct order taking apart the corner pieces and placing them in the correct place, put glue on each edge and clamp together and leave for a few hours. After a few hours take the clamps of and sand the faces until they are flush.

Step 7: Making the Dials

Take the two pieces of dowel and use the lathe to create two knobs for the radio, turn them down to size leaving around 20mm to fit outside the hole. Next turn the inside and create a small gap to fit the plastic tuning control and volume control then sand to finish.

Step 8: Laser Cutting the Front and Back Panels

I created an autocad drawing which i then imported to illustrator i then cut the holes 26mm all the way through and a 52mm hole around 11mm from the back leaving 1mm wood for the laser cutter to cut through. Then i set up the laser cutter and etched the detail and cut the speaker grill out afterwards i sanded it.

Step 9: Extending the Circuit Board

I took this circuit board from a modern radio and desoldered the battery connection, AM/FM switch, speaker, on/off volume control, headphone jack and the ariel. I then extended all the above to a suitable length to fit into my radio and kept wires together with cable ties.

Step 10: Fitting the Circuit Board Inside the Radio

After extending everything to fit inside it was just a matter of sticking the headphone jack, Am/Fm switch into the hole as well as attaching the tuner and on/off volume control to the inside of the knobs. The ariel i attached to the radio and then soldered on so it could fit in the precise hole, the speaker i stuck to the back of the grill hole and i left the battery pack at the back.

Step 11: Finishing the Radio

With all the components in place i stuck the front panel on and screwed in the back panel so it could be easily accessible. This is the finished radio, I hope you enjoyed this instructable if there are any questions of any problem please leave a comment thanks.

By Jonny Lawrence