This is a perfect gift for Christmas.

A beautiful machine that holds up to 4 GByte of listening books or music.

You can select 10 MP3 directly and 10 play lists with up to 255 files in every list.

This brings you hours of fun!

Step 1: Material

This is a project that combines different techniques from some of my other instructables.

The pointer,
The paper cone as a speaker
A clock pointer
A shoe lace as cover for the speaker wires.

Here is the materiel list:

MP3 - module
A wooden case
A paper cone
Some rings and disks cut from plywood, that fits to the speaker and the paper cone
A rotary switch with twelve positions an three layers.
A push button
A batteries holder for 3 AAA cells = 4,5 V
A clock face from an old clock
A button from a radio kit
A clock pointer
A holder for a stair rail
Some screws, glue, wax stain and some wires.

For the people in the USA: There is a similar module available at AMAZON.COM

Step 2: The MP3 Module

The MP3 module can be obtained on AMAZON or direct from the manufacturer ELV

The module has a slot for a micro SD Card that contains the MP3 files. The size of the card limits the length of the MP3 file.
So very long files can be played. That makes the module ideal for playing audio books.
The module has a build in 1W mono amplifier to connect a 8Ohm speaker direct to the module.
Additionally it is possible to connect a standard 32 Ohm stereo headphone or an external stereo amplifier to the module.

The MP3´s can be selected by simply pressing one of ten buttons.
The MP3 files must be in the order:

001-Name
002-Name
003-Name
..
010-Name

If one of the 10 buttons is pressed less than two seconds than the file is played.

Beside this the module is able to play up to ten play lists:

PLAYLST0.TXT
PLAYLST1.TXT
PLAYLST2.TXT
..
PLAYLST9.TXT

Inside of the TXT files you can list additional MP3 tracks for playing.
If there are some files named:
100-SONG
101-SONG
..
110-SONG

you can build a play list that contains only the numbers of the songs:

100;101;102;103,104;105;106;107;108;109;110;

If you press the button no. 1 more than 2 seconds the play list PLAYLST0.TXT will be played.

I decided to have one audio book in each play list, so the module gives me the option to listen to 20 audio books.
A jumper lowers the power of the build in 1 Watt amplifier to 6db. That gives a lot more batteries lifetime and it is loud enough to listen to audio books.

Step 3: The Speaker and the Case

Step by step

Drill holes for the speaker wire, the rotary switch and the push button.

Stain the cone and the case with wax stain.

Cut some rings and discs from plywood and glue them together as shown on picture one.
That gives you a speaker case.
Drill a small hole for the wire trough the rings.
Stain it with wax stain
Mount the holder for the stair rail to the speaker case. (Picture four)

Glue a wooden ring onto the cone and cut the end off.
Glue the speaker on the ring as shown on picture two.

Use a shoe lace to cover the speaker wires.

Mount the parts together.

Step 4: The Pointer

The pointer is made from a clock pointer and a knob from a radio kit.
Just file a small slot into the knob and glue the pointer to it.

Step 5: The Clock Face

Glue the clock face onto the wooden case and mount the rotary switch and the button.
The positions 1 to 10 selects a MP3 file.
The red push button starts the playback.

Step 6: The Rotary Switch

The inputs for selecting the MP3 files are arranged in a matrix. so it is not possible to select them by a rotary switch.
I used a rotary switch witch 3 layers to solve the problem.

Layer one, contact 1 to 10 is connected to one row of the push button connector of the module
Layer two, contact 1 to 10 is connected to the second row of the push button connector of the module
The common connectors of layer one and layer two are connected by the red push button.

The third layer is used as the power switch. I connected contact 1 to 10 together.

If a position 1 to 10 is selected, the third layer connects the module to power.
If position 11 and 12 is selected, the power is off.