DIY: How to build Speaker Rings

[Chris from Washington]

This tutorial will show you how to easily make various size speaker rings.

Materials List:

• Plunge Router (I used a Sears brand, but the jig works with many different types)
• JasperJig 240 This jig makes life so much easier and gives you tons of options, it's a must have.
• 3/4 MDF
• Drill with 1/8 bit
• Jigsaw

I am by no means an expert, this was actually my first attempt and it was so easy I thought I would share.
This tutorial is using a Hybrid Audio Unity 6.5 as the speaker.

The first thing you will need to do is to get your measurements.

• The outer part of the ring, about a 1/4 inch past the speaker mount.
• The recessed area where your speaker mount sits in.
• The speaker hole itself

One thing I found with the jig, is you need to take into account the router bit. So make sure you double-check before you actually turn your router on that you're not making your hole too small.

1. This is the first cut, the outer most part of the ring. For me, I used 8 19/64. You'll want to leave yourself 2 tabs to hold the inner sections in place for now.
2. Next measure your speaker bezel/mount the thickness/height. You'll then want to adjust your router to that depth. You're not wanting to cut all the way through the MDF, just enough so your speaker will fit flush.
3. Now set your jig to the spec of your outer measurement of the speaker bezel/mount and go around again.
4. Next for me what I did was adjust the jig to cut a slight smaller circle with the same depth. I kept repeating this, adjust the jig a little less each time until the recessed area was enough to fit the bezel/mount. As shown here:
   

   

5. Now, you need to adjust your jig to cut the inner circle. Also adjust your router so it cuts all the way through the MDF. When you're finished you ring should look similar to this:

   

6. The last step is to use your jigsaw and cut out the 2 tabs from step one.

   

7. Done! Here is how it looks

   

Notes:

1. Be very careful to make sure that the guide pin on the jig has not slipped out of the jig. That happened to me, and I almost ruined my ring and would have had to start over.
2. If you found this tutorial useful, please share it with everyone you know.
3. If you see any mistakes or anything I missed, or anything that would make this easier please let me know.

Chris