# easy and cheap speaker rings with only a drill + $4.99



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Hello friends, it's time to play, "The I'm cheap, lazy, dropped out of automotive engineering school after getting 3 ASE certifications then switching my major to interior design, suck at woodworking tools, and have an obsession with severely under priced tools of low quality game!"

Ok, so what we've done here--by we i mean myself and the people i pretend to hang out with when I'm up at 2am at my garage i rent out in an industrial yard by a river in Seattle--is make a speaker ring for my Dayton mids without using anything except a drill and hole saw kit from harbor freight. The hole saw kit is the 18 piece that has various sizes that get very large, for $4.99!!! How? Follow these easy-to-complete steps, color inside the lines, make happy trees, and you'll have some great speaker rings!


MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. Drill
2. Hole Saw Kit
3. Ring Material
4. Scrap wood
5. C-clamp/s
6. Led Zeppelin BBC sessions to play while you work

Step I 
Get your materials, i used bullet-proof polycarbonate for the rings because i have lots of scraps, it's fun, strong, and for fiberglassing i find it easier to hot-glue dowels to. Oh yeah, it also didn't require me cutting a piece of MDF off of my backing sheet most importantly; re-read intro statement about laziness if necessary. Put them on your work bench, or broken subwoofer you haven't gotten around to fixing in this case. Put the scrap wood down, and then put the ring material over it, ill call it MDF for ease even though that's not what i'm using. Clamp them together with some C-clamps, they cost only a few doubloons at harbor freight so it's no problem if you don't have any yet. 








Step II 
Find a saw that fits around the whole top of your driver, for this case i found one that would slide over it and fit perfectly flush with the edges. If you're going to be making a trim ring as well then use a bigger saw. If you want it to turn out wrong, use a peacock. 








Step III
Now find a saw that fits around the inside of the driver, you're shooting for the nearest size to the largest part of the spider/basket. Remember, it's easier to sand away something then summon mystical wood-breathing dragons to add what you cut off in your stupidity. Be careful not to let the teeth touch your surround, they are sharp teeth. Hence the words, "teeth" and "saw".








Step IV
Trace the larger ring onto the MDF for the ring. The reason for this is because somebody will say you need to on a forum for some dumb reason, so it's better to avoid future flame wars and arguments. To trace a circle, place the saw on the MDF and use a magic marker to trace it's edge. A magic marker is a sharpie that you likely stole from a soundman, teacher, fellow worker, mechanic, or government authority so it cost you nothing. Otherwise it's just a sharpie. We want the MAGIC part here, it's very important. Now, put the SMALL--VERY IMPORTANT HERE--hole saw on the drill. Once again, SMALL SAW FIRST! What was that you asked? SMALL FIRST! Wait, did you say call a hurst? No, I said SMALL FIRST! Then, cut a hole leaving room for the width of the larger saw around it. How to cut a hole with these things? Pull the trigger and push.
[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2783905540_4ae9685961.jpg?v=0]
Step V
Now you have one hole cut, keep that bad boy clamped down! If for any reason you think it's slid, moved, or you didn't listen to me in hoping i would spank you--it takes more than that, sorry--just take the saw with the drill bit out of the drill, put it in the hole and if it fits, it's still aligned. Now, put the BIG SAW ON...you get the idea of the order of importance right? Using the same pilot hole from your first cut, simply cut the larger hole now. This will cut your ring right out! Now you also have a small circle of MDF or in my case polycarbonate, the combo of magic marker and slave-made harbor freight tools have turned it into a precious good luck charm. That said, put it on a necklace. If you only used a sharpie instead of magic marker, get rid of it ASAP because its now carrying the Ebola virus.








Step VI
Test fit. It fits. Word. Props to me....err you. 









Step VII
Put a crazy scary picture of yourself on this forum using your speaker ring as a monocle. This is absolutely necessary. 








I hope you enjoyed this session kids, the J Jones method of speaker ring creation!


----------



## Jopop (Jun 23, 2008)

I've been doing this for a long time, good tutorial 

PS WTF, we have exactly the same hole saw kit  Try cutting metal with it 





(PS: don't cut metal with it)


----------



## TallTexan (Dec 14, 2007)

I've got the same set as well. Just be very very careful when cutting larger holes in thicker material. The problem I've had is with the saw binding on the edges of the circle. If your drill is powerful enough it will give your wrist a good twisting. I take it very slow and only mild pressure downwards and let the tool do its job and not rush things. Also, start slowly with the cut so the saw doesn't grab one section and do the twist.

Do the twist and shout... oh yea..


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Yeah another thing i noticed is that if your drill has an auto-stop style--when you let off the trigger it stops instead of coasting to a stop--the spinning inertia of the saw since it's so wide can loosen up the chuck even enough for it to fall out! This of course assumes your using a quick release chuck not a key style


----------



## James Bang (Jul 25, 2007)

Do i see a vaporizor?

Anyhow, this would work well with small drivers. Nice entertaining tutorial.


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Nope...no vaporizer...i think you see the base of my weller soldering station? Or....motorcycle helmet....or my face....


----------



## POLKAT (Jan 10, 2007)

Thank you for the tutorial.

I am gonna use this method when I get to installing my 3" mids.


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Good to see! Make sure to follow the directions exactly, not posting some weird picture with your ring will mess them up for sure


----------



## sandman661 (Aug 12, 2008)

looks like there is a roach next to the orange lighter though...


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Hahaha no roach...thats actually a tip for my butane torch....which i use to weld acrylic together with. At least that's why i bought it. It more of....melts acrylic together slightly and strong enough to break at the worst possible moment when you're almost done with your project. Seriously....i'm amazed though. It took me a couple minutes to find what you were looking for in the picture. You are amazing


----------



## POLKAT (Jan 10, 2007)

elvisjer said:


> Good to see! Make sure to follow the directions exactly, not posting some weird picture with your ring will mess them up for sure


Noted.

It's gonna be a little while. I am starting my install this weekend beginning with wiring. I will start an install thread showing how someone with absolutely no talent for fabrication makes it look like he at least tried really hard . :blush:


----------



## 86mr2 (Apr 29, 2005)

One thing I have done to try to limit binding is to drill one or a few holes that intersect the circle the hole saw is cutting. These holes need to be on the waste side of the hole! The idea is to give the cuttings somewhere to go besides packing around the saw and getting hot.


----------



## Foglght (Aug 2, 2007)

These are interesting!

http://www.holepro.com/xcart/catalog/index.html


----------



## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

Foglght said:


> These are interesting!
> 
> http://www.holepro.com/xcart/catalog/index.html


I saw that tool online also. there are generic version of that without the plastic shroud on ebay...for under $20 i plan to pick up one and try it out.


----------



## falkenbd (Aug 16, 2008)

Nice looking rings, I like using a router better, but on plexi I think the hole-saw would be a lot less messy. (no melting)


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

If i had a router, i wouldnt need a cheap way to cut them out  Here's the holesaws but a lot cheaper...and probably not quite as good http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97194


----------



## lyttleviet (Sep 11, 2008)

Sweet... This seems like an easier method.


----------



## BLD MOVS (Sep 23, 2007)

lol! elvisjer do you do standup?


----------



## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

BLD MOVS said:


> lol! elvisjer do you do standup?




Was thinking the exact same thing


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Honestly, i really want to do standup  The hardest part about it is getting the courage to find an amateur comedy night, you always hear horror stories about those things! Im in Seattle really close to downtown so there HAS to be some around me, but i cant get the courage to do it. Thanks for the confidence building compliments though  Honestly though, when your wood working skills are like mine you HAVE to be good at comedy to make people laugh at something else


----------



## BLD MOVS (Sep 23, 2007)

elvisjer said:


> Honestly, i really want to do standup  The hardest part about it is getting the courage to find an amateur comedy night, you always hear horror stories about those things! Im in Seattle really close to downtown so there HAS to be some around me, but i cant get the courage to do it. Thanks for the confidence building compliments though  Honestly though, when your wood working skills are like mine you HAVE to be good at comedy to make people laugh at something else


You are hilarious. Once you get the courage PM me. I'll come to Seattle and laugh at you all night.


----------



## XC-C30 (Jul 24, 2007)

elvisjer said:


> Honestly, i really want to do standup  The hardest part about it is getting the courage to find an amateur comedy night, you always hear horror stories about those things! Im in Seattle really close to downtown so there HAS to be some around me, but i cant get the courage to do it. Thanks for the confidence building compliments though  Honestly though, *when your wood working skills are like mine* you HAVE to be good at comedy to make people laugh at something else


GaY  And probably unintentional


----------



## lostdaytomorrow (Jan 26, 2007)

You are one funny mother ****er.


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Oh trust me, if i was making gay inneundo you would definateley know it  I grew up in a family with a dad who was a preacher from texas but went to a public liberal school in Seattle...i have both extremes covered when it comes to gay jokes


----------



## Zog4182 (Sep 30, 2008)

This looks great! I'm checking out Harbor Freight after work today.


----------



## ColoradoClark (Sep 7, 2008)

elvisjer said:


> Honestly, i really want to do standup  The hardest part about it is getting the courage to find an amateur comedy night, you always hear horror stories about those things! Im in Seattle really close to downtown so there HAS to be some around me, but i cant get the courage to do it. Thanks for the confidence building compliments though  Honestly though, when your wood working skills are like mine you HAVE to be good at comedy to make people laugh at something else


A friend of mine did a standup class here in Denver, at one of the local comedy clubs. You should check out the Seattle clubs and see if any of them offer something similar, 'cause you ARE that funny! GO for it! Great instructions, too -- If I can get through my install this weekend, I'll post a monocle-centric self portrait.


----------



## ColoradoClark (Sep 7, 2008)

Has anybody seen hole saws for 6.5 or 7 inch holes? Do they exist?


----------



## TheDavel (Sep 8, 2006)

^ they do exist but can be dangerous... it is highly reccomended that you have a drilpress and that the material is completley secured.


----------



## elvisjer (May 13, 2008)

Yes they exist, i borrowed one from a friend and my wrists will never let me forget that. I have a high torque Milwaukee 16v cordless that i used pushing through 1/2" mdf. When the teeth of the hole saw bit after the drill bit it snapped my wrist an instant 45 degrees in the most un-natural of fashion. The worst part i guess is that i thought since i knew that would happen i tried it again expecting the twist...well it happened again, twist and all. That's when you feel REALLY cool.


----------



## ColoradoClark (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks for the posts, guys. I'm not big fan of bending digits or appendages at unnatural angles (broke a toe doing that last month...), so I guess I'll just attack the 1" MDF with a regular saw. I've got a jigsaw that'll do the trick --- and enough prowess with that tool to be glad that nobody will be able to actually SEE the spacers once my installation is done.


----------



## drufuss (Mar 13, 2009)

oooooh snap!!! the led leppelin bbc sessions, unfreakin believable!!!:rockon:

"the rain song" (the song remains the same album), might be the greatest track EVER!!!!


----------



## tsheehan7 (Feb 17, 2009)

That last picture of you is reminciscent of Weird Al Yankovic. I would incorporate that into any standup routine you might be writing.


----------

