Cigar box music player
Cigar boxes are great containers for loads of things. I had a bunch on hand after going to the local wine shops and asking for donated cigar boxes. Inspired by the Rock and Roll Speakers project in Fashioning Technology, it seemed like a good idea to have my students build their own music player embedded in a cigar box. This is a major project, taking several weeks, though it probably could be done by an individual in an afternoon without introducing many of the concepts we've worked on.
Box preparation
The boxes are pretty well made, and we found that we could sand them and coat them with spray paint. Boxes with colorful printed designs can be left unpainted. We have a vinyl cutter, so a lot of class time has gone into making custom multicolor stickers from photos. We're using the Threshold tool in Gimp to convert the image to a high contrast black and white, and then importing it to Open Office Draw to add a border. Having a border makes the sticker weeding process much easier.
Speaker insert
Using some scrap cardboard a metal ruler, utility knife, and careful measurement, we made an insert to hold the speakers and cover up the electronics. The speakers sound much better when enclosed. Just putting them inside the box improves their sound even without the cardboard insert. The speakers are secured to the cardboard with hot melt glue, and some students are making speaker grilles for further protection.
Written by Chris Connors. Read more great feeds at is source WEBSITE
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