IKEA Blanda Bamboo Bowl Speakers

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Hi all,
I was hoping I could get some advice on routing. I’m looking to build a pair of speakers with the IKEA blanda bamboo bowls.

Now I’ll be the first to admit I’m somewhat challenged when it comes to wood working ( and that’s been somewhat kind). :(

I’ve just got a plunge/fixed router and have a jasper speaker jig. Where I’m struggling is working out, how to cut out the speaker hole/recess given Its a bowl.
Should I build some sort of box around it with a hole in it level with the bowl bottom?

If anyone has built a blanda speaker (I’m using the large 11inch ones in bamboo) before or could offer some advice how best to router out a hole and recess for the 5inch driver that would be great.

Sorry for noob question but any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks Guys
 

PRR

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Joined 2003
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You plan two for a full sphere?

You want a round hole on a curved surface??

I'd look for a 5" hole-saw and go from the inside. Then hold the outside to a sander until I had enough flat to set the speaker rim. (Is sanding bamboo bad?) Sorry this does not use your router.

I suppose you could box it out until it looks like the flat surface your speaker-router probably expects. But that may get into more involved woodworking.

You could just slap a flat bamboo cutting-board on the bowl top, first routing that for a speaker. The internal volume may still be adequate. The look will be very different.

Putting a speaker in a sphere gets into some wacky acoustics. For a Five on an Eleven, not as much as with a point-source. Anyway this is clearly about the looks.
 
In my built I used just a hole saw to cut a driver diameter hole into the bowl. Then added bracing to inside for the driver to mount to. Turned out pretty well:
629371d1502186670-et-build-ripole-sub-ss-10f-8424-a-dgewp42-jpg
 
In my built I used just a hole saw to cut a driver diameter hole into the bowl. Then added bracing to inside for the driver to mount to. Turned out pretty well:
629371d1502186670-et-build-ripole-sub-ss-10f-8424-a-dgewp42-jpg



Hi Mayuri
Great job well done look great and love the stands. Thanks for providing info.

Few questions if I may? How did you find cutting through the bowl with hole saw, did it go through ok, splinter etc? I’ve never worked with it but know Bamboo is dam hard and seemingly prone to splinter.

How/what did you line and/or fill the speaker with for dampening etc?

The stands did you just put some sort of threaded insert into the bowl? How did you attach stand?

Thanks heaps mate
 
Hey mate,

Didn't have a problem with splinters, but the bamboo was damn hard to cut through. It's a war of attrition even with a good saw.

I actually used only felt and wool inside the cabinet for damping. The ready enclosures are surprisingly solid and inert. I used high-strengh construction epoxy and cut two extra bowls for internal braces. So, two spheres are made of 3 bowls each actually.

I got lazy with stands and just put a hole in the bottom (there's a cup-like internal brace within so actually airtight). Just some elastic glue to the hole, rod in, support until dry. Threaded insert would have been better, so I recommend it.

Here's my build thread:
ET Build: Ripole sub & SS 10F/8424
 
I used another IKEA set (bathroom set / 2 flowerpots in order to make a small bathroom / sleepingroom radio.

- Had 2 full range speakers laying around
- cheap power supply from uncle ali(express) (5.5 euro) 12 volt 2 ampere
- 16 euro car radio on Wish including FM, USB, Bluetooth and ... remote control :)
- universal fm antena (glue strip) 2 euro aliexpress

results:
full range speaker in flowerpot with doorknob stand
1.jpg


just some damping and a small 5 mm triplex rear plate
5.jpg


End product
9.jpg


rear view
11.jpg


plan to use some varnish when I'm doing some other projects to match the colors of the triplex and the bamboo however works fine looks fine to :)
10.jpg


optional 2 extra speakers possible as the radio has 4 speaker outs, there is also 2 rca's if you want to add active subwoofer(s)

Sound quality is surprisingly good considering the cheap materials used.
 
Very cool to see the car stereo in there. Reminds me of a big party I went to at the home of one of the Doobie Brothers. Given he had a full out recording studio built above the garage and the neighborhood was filled with Ferrari's and such I was really expecting some amazing sound system in the main house. What a surprise when it turned out to be a Nakamichi car stereo!
 
I built speakers using the Ikea Blanda bowls (20cm diameter). After cutting the hole with a handsaw (slightly smaller than needed), I taped some sandpaper on the table and sanded till the hole had the correct diameter.
Just make sure not to apply to much pressure. I also sanded the top edge of the bowl to remove the rounding and thus have a larger glueing area before glueing the two halves.

The woodwork only (cutting and sanding) took me less than two hours for both speakers.
 

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I did this as well a few years ago.
In my opinion an absolute must is to use leaad-bitumen on all of the inside of the bowls. It makes such a huge difference for the good.
I used 5mm thick bitumen cut into 3x3cm pieces or so and put as much against the inner walls as could fit. Was quite a nice box (after also stuffing with wool) after this, not so much before in my opinion. I did it without bitumen in the beginning and later applied the bitume through the driver hole so there was a clear before and after.
 
I am considering doing something similar. So I have a couple of questions if anyone is interested in answering.

The bamboo bowl I am considering using has complaints that it separates when soaked in water. I worry that the glue isn't great. Is there something I can do to reinforce structural integrity (wood hardener or something)? How should I paint the outside? Should I dampen and brace internally? If so, how?
 
I am considering doing something similar. So I have a couple of questions if anyone is interested in answering.

The bamboo bowl I am considering using has complaints that it separates when soaked in water. I worry that the glue isn't great. Is there something I can do to reinforce structural integrity (wood hardener or something)? How should I paint the outside? Should I dampen and brace internally? If so, how?

Yes you should dampen and brace internally. Though I dampened mine with leadbitumen lining the inside of the bowl and fully stuffed it with wool. This made a significant audible difference.
 
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