NewTooth

done

3D-printed housing that gives a vintage radio Bluetooth audio for a birthday gift.

Project Overview

This project was a birthday gift to a cousin of mine, and the goal was to give new life to an old radio with Bluetooth. He had a vintage radio in the basement, and needed a way to play songs from his phone. Instead of just having a Bluetooth-to-FM transmitter sitting next to it, I wanted to make it something interesting. A couple Amazon orders and a 3D print later, we were in business.

Bill of Materials

Materials

~0.5kg Wood PLA — $22
FM transmitter — $26
AC to 12V adapter — $10
Black plastic sheet (for the speaker backing)

Tools

Solidworks (housing design)
3D printer
Dremel
Soldering iron
Wire cutters
Superglue

Build / Process

This project was super simple, only 3 parts: the housing, transmitter, and adapter. I based the radio housing in Solidworks off of a vintage radio I found on a Google search. A black sheet of plastic is glued behind the slots to look like the radio's speaker, and gluing it on allows for a simple single-color print. Once the housing is printed, the FM transmitter press-fits into the front mating feature, and the AC adapter connects to the plug for the transmitter inside the box.