Drill-powered “fort” speakers

Music

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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October 22nd, 2009 4

MAKE subscriber John Kelbley was doing some expansion/improvements on his kids’ “fort” and wanted to deliver music to the (unpowered) space. His solution was to use the rechargeable powerpack from an an old 12 volt Ryobi drill and use the drill body as a stand for two outdoor speakers he found on clearance. Amplification is provided by a Sonic Impact T-Amp he cased inside the gutted drill body. Love the volume control where the drill chuck used to be.

The Best Sounding Drill I’ve Ever Owned!

4 thoughts on “Drill-powered “fort” speakers”

Shadyman says:

October 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 pm

+1 for reuse of old things!
John The Drill Onwer says:

October 25th, 2009 at 7:51 pm

I actually didn’t buy anything to put the drill together other than the knob. I wanted to re-use the chuck for the knob instead, but could not get it detached. I had the speakers in my basement along with all the other parts.

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Drill-powered “fort” speakers

By Gareth Branwyn