Barrel Speaker

Intro: Barrel Speaker

Regular Saturday morning at town's car boot sale/market, my friend noticed nice wee barrel as he was looking something nice to make a saving money bank. I've had to change his mind :) Cost me only £5.

I have decided to make amplified speaker out of it.

STEP 1: Parts

Next stage was to plan and collect necessary parts to make it look and perform properly.

Stereo unit had been taken from iPhone docking station. It's embarrassing unit had no bluetooth connection.

Bigger speakers were selected instead of original ones to meet the diameter of the barrel.

Wee rubber feet were needed in order to keep barrel steady. I took them from pc 2.1 sound system sub woofer that was no longer in use.

I was pleased to see that the speaker grill (mesh) was exactly same size as needed. I thought it would look nicer if I cover them with black fabric which I took from other speakers. Yea.. I have plenty of those lying about...

STEP 2: Other Bits and Pieces

Some rings used from vintage Russian Zenit camera as well as spare jeans' buttons.

Power switch had been replaced with toggle switch which has led light in it, unfortunately unit voltage was 6V only and it wasn't enough to make it glow properly. It was decided to replace original blue led with bigger red led bulb, which I thought would look better with varnished wood surface when speaker was complete.

For up/down volume control buttons I have used Diesel perfume spray caps as well as some springs and other plastic and rubber bits.

STEP 3: Polishing and Drilling Holes

As the barrel was sitting god knows where for some time, it had signs of rust so it had to sanded.

Then I've had to plan where holes had to be drilled. Had to think of the main stereo unit layout inside barrel. Holes drilled for speakers, for air to come out, power switch, led bulb, AC and aux lead outputs, 4 rubber feet and volume control buttons. 13 holes altogether.

STEP 4: Varnishing

As they say - "preparation is the key!" I agree. The barrel had to be varnished before continuing. Metal parts had been covered with masking tape. Spanish mahogany color varnish used to make surface nice and shiny. 3 layers applied altogether and left overnight to dry after each time.

STEP 5: "The Inside Job"

The main stereo unit inside barrel had been fitted using very tiny screws. Prior to screwing, wee holes were made using the awl. It took me a while till I figured out how to make AC and aux outputs to stay in place. I used piece of metal plate with two holes in it and a pair of screws to hold it tight.

STEP 6: Volume Control Buttons

Volume control buttons had to be accessible from outside the barrel and it was quite tough job to do.

As mentioned earlier on, volume buttons had been made out of spray caps, springs, plastic and rubber pieces that had been put in place and glued together. The volume control buttons had been fitted using screws and a small metal plate. Toggle switch and led bulb were also put in place.

STEP 7: Speakers

Before speakers were fitted, one final test had been carried out to ensure everything worked ok.

Speakers' corners had to be cut down to fit the barrel. Holes for screws were made using awl. Wires connected, and speakers fitted.

STEP 8: Grilles (covers)

As mentioned before, I was lucky to have grilles that exactly matched the diameter of the barrel. Grilles were covered using black fabric to have a nice finish. Unfortunately I had no black (no more nails) glue at present so I used silicone glue instead. Once I buy the right glue I will repeat this step as some white marks are visible.

STEP 9: Job Done!

I was pleased with the result. Everything worked as expected. The final look was amazing :)

Thanks for looking :)

Comments

[Codesbro10]

would this effect the sound, having it in a keg

[Steinzel]

Nice!

[BikeHacker]

Insanely cool. Looks a little steampunkish.

[PowellMade]

If you hooked this up to a comedy show, you would have a barrel of laughs!

Nice looking make!! Neat instructable!!

[samalert]

Please correct me here. I am really looking for few days designing my own speaker, but i have not collected much information and i do not feel comfortable. I have read many ibles and have seen that for any speaker mod there has to be a old speaker (which i currently dont have). That includes SPEAKER + AMPLIFIER. Now if i have to work from scratch i have to buy SPEAKER + Amplifier wont the cost of these be equivalent to a brand new speaker ?

[244 Jake]

Hi there, this is really about having a cool looking speaker, that sounds good. If want super speakers at push the limits of power in a small space, quick and easy, no brainier to install, no math. Buy a set of Bose sound links. Super sound. Wait a minute! This is about building something way cool to look at, easy way to show, "I can make things with my hands that work."

I'm looking for a two bigger wood barrels for twin 10 inch speakers...

Best Regards,

- Big Jake

[samalert]

Correct but what i am able to get from above ible is. You had a previous working speaker, its just that you hosed it in different case with addition of knobs and switch. I do not have a old speaker i want to work from bottom up.

[spylock]

Very nice,where did you get your keg,if you dont mind my asking,and if you do,its still a really great piece of work.

[Bowtie41]

Intro says he got it at car boot sale(flea market in US).I just did some looking,and you can find good some nice on ebay.Look up wood barrel(or keg) bank to start.

[spylock]

Thanks,I had three antique nail kegs slightly larger,but I left them out where they could be seen,and they got ripped off,I hate a thief.

[Michael C]

A whiskey aging barrel.....no! The sweet nectar of the god for...Music. J/k great idea.

[244 Jake]

Dear Michael,

I see you have a mind's eye for reusing without destroying the minds eye of the beast. KISS.

Big Jake

[Porda]

This looks great! Awesome work.

[Lionike]

Wow! This looks amazing!

Especially those spare parts from the camera and the perfume spray caps.

[carmien]

did you wire the speakers out of phase?

[stunami]

I have to do this!

[mtairymd]

I love it. Great work!

[ornarvaezjr]

Nice!! Great lil' project to do with my grandson!!!

[drakovitch]

Greate work!

[yacine-dz]

men this was great good job