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Make a cardboard phonograph (record player) kind of....
Do you have some old records and no player for them? Well, this is a very low tech record player you can make just for fun. It needs no electricity or electronics.
And it isn't actually practical to listen to music because you have to crank it by hand. But it really is a fun project to make. You can get those old records on it and have some fun reminiscing.
I also have a video tutorial showing you how to make this project. It's at the bottom of the page.
I had so much fun making this project. Somebody found one of my favorite records in a thrift store. They bought it and gifted it to me. Well.... I don't have a record player so I thought it might be fun to make one.
You won't be listening to records long term on this cardboard project. But you will be able to play and hear the music! ( A second part of this tutorial is coming where I actually add a motor!) That part is all done and I will be posting it soon.
Quick snippet of playing it:
It's motorized in this one:
Let's Get started
Materials and Tools:
2 sheets of foamboard - You can use cardboard instead
1 sewing needle or thin pin
several large rubber bands or a length of string
about 1 foot of wooden dowel ( 1/4 inch diameter)
Hot glue and gun, or just about any kind of glue
Some large paper for the cone, shelf paper, construction paper, poster board or something similar. You can tape together printer sheets.
1 record
Some Building tips if you are going to make a phonograph like this:
Two things are the most important. First off you want the turntable to spin as smoothly and evenly as possible. This will give you the best sound. It is tricky to do by hand but if you can get it very smooth it will sound ok. It will be fun and a little bit amazing to hear the music.
Secondly the cone is important. Make the biggest paper cone you can make. The bigger the cone the louder the music. I was initially worried about the construction of the cone and tried to make cones with as little tape as possible. My thinking was that the tape would muffle the sound. This doesn't seem to be the case. Using tape to assemble the cone doesn't seem to have much of an effect on the sound quality and volume.
About the needles I used.
This is the most important part of the whole project.
But you have a lot of flexibility. I tried the phonograph with several different sized sewing needles and they all worked. Some sizes were a little bit better than others. But you can probably use any size sewing needle or pin.
This is how you should place the needle in the cone. It is near the tip of the cone, placed at a forward angle and only sticking out the bottom a little bit.
Taping a penny to the cone might prove helpful. It weighs the needle down a bit. It doesn't have to be near the pin. Just somewhere on the cone. I experimented with this and my penny helped when it was about at the mid point of the length of the cone.
The heart of the phonograph is these two pulleys. The one on the left is the hand crank that you turn. And the one on the right is the one the record sits on.
Each pulley is made of four foamboard circles. The two inner circles are 4 inches in diameter and the outer circles are 5 inches in diameter. The wooden dowel acts as the axle and it is 1/4 inch in diameter.
Here is a look at the pulley installation. This way it rotates smoothly and easily.
And here is the stand. It it a good idea to make the stand as a separate object not attached to the rest of the record player. This is so you can move it around to support the size horn that you make.
The horn paper might prove to be a challenge for you. I have this roll of paper that is very large. It is about 28 inches wide. I use it as a backdrop for stop motion animations. Use the largest paper you have, shape it into a cone, add the pin and give it a try! If it isn't loud enough you can tape together four or more sheets of printer paper and give that a try. It should work better.
About where to put the needle on the record. Having a horn and separate stand allows you to move the needle around and place it anywhere on the record. I find that this location works well. It is just past the halfway point on the record. A record spins in a clockwise direction.
And that's it! Enjoy your record player. And if you make one be sure to send me a pic!! I will email you a certificate of contribution.
