Book Speakers

The purpose of this project was to create a pair of unintrusive bookshelf speakers that blend right into the contents of your bookshelf.

Tools and Materials:

6-8 hard back books, about 1 1/4 inches thick each

2 speakers, 3 inches in diameter

Hot glue gun

jigsaw

drill

paintbrush

2 or more clamps

small board

pencil

box cutter

goggles

First, you need to figure out the basic internal layout of your speakers. I decided on a simple rectangular cavity, to make it easier to cut out. Make the cavity a little wider than the speaker is, so you have some room for error. It is much easier to build up a little glue than to cut out a small sliver from the cavity.  Draw the design of the speaker cavity on the book that will be in the middle. Clamp the book down, drill a pilot hole in one corner of the cavity, and cut out your design using the jigsaw.

On the outside books, you can't just saw strait through. Trace the shape of the cavity from the center book onto the cover of the outside book that will be touching the center book. Saw through the book, except for the outside cover. Then do this for the book on the other side. When all the books are put together, there should be a fully enclosed rectangular cavity inside the stack of books.

Near the spine of the books, where you cut out, there will still be a fairly thick layer of paper. This paper will block the sound if not removed. To remove it, fold the covers of the book out and together, and fasten them there so they do not get in the way. Clamp the book down, and, using the jigsaw, cut most of the way to the binding, but not all the way through. Cut a slit in the paper between the pages and the cover with a box cutter, and also with the box cutter, finish cutting out the layer of paper at the front of the speaker cavity.

There is still an unbroken layer of thin cardboard between the speaker and the outside. Using a safety pin, or something similar, poke lots of holes in the spine of the books.

Now the speaker needs to be fixed to the books. Start by fixing the speaker to the middle book. I did this with hot glue- lots of it. Be sure not to get the glue on the cone of the speaker.

Cut a thin strip of paper out of one of the book, behind the cavity, for the wires to go out of. Spread a thin layer of glue between the covers of each book. Tightly clamp the books together, and leave them for a few hours.

Unclamp the books. They should be attached at the covers, but you should still be able to open the books. Open the outside books, and put more glue on the speaker, fixing it even more tightly to the inside of the books. Paint a thin layer of glue on the inside of speaker cavity.

Drill a large hole in the back of the books and to the speaker cavity, and paint the inside of the hole with glue. Once it is dry, put the speakers on a bookshelf, plug them into your stereo, and enjoy!