Max Armstrong

14 posts

Speaker Enclosure: Main Project Part 1

April 29, 2020

Final Project Part 1 2020, Student Work

While this project had some significant changes due to COVID-19, I still feel that I ended up with a good final result. While I was originally going to build a speaker enclosure in the woodshop, I ended up having to make a render and detailed construction plans instead. In this post I cover what my…

Speaker Enclosure: Main Project Part 2

April 20, 2020

Max Armstrong

Final Project Part 2 2020

See the post titled Speaker Enclosure: Main Project Part 1 for the final renders, drawing set, budget and manufacturing plans. This post is a discussion of the design process, thoughts on the semester and outlook going forward. This project has had a lot of changes in direction, but despite the quarantine forcing me to switch my…

Final Project Part 1: Speaker Enclosure

April 15, 2020

Max Armstrong

Main Project Construction Update 2020

My final project started out as a simple speaker enclosure. The challenge of this project was going to be building the internal structure of the enclosure that caused sound of a certain frequency to be emitted in a manner that caused constructive interference (bass boost). While this would have been really complex to build, the…

Aesthetic Roots: Industrialism, Bohemian Styling

April 8, 2020

Max Armstrong

Student Work, Your Aesthetic Roots 2020

I’m from Portland Oregon and as a result, my aesthetic roots run deep with hipster designs. My whole time growing up I was surrounded by a constant barrage of the bohemian, industrial and eclectic vintage styles that come from the hipster aesthetic. While I never completely prescribed to the hipster aesthetics, it was hard to…

Cabin in one day: Favorite youtube design build

April 1, 2020

Max Armstrong

Favorite Youtube design/build videos 2020

I really enjoy the timelapse videos of people working on outfitting vans to live out of, but I also hate how much time they spend talking in the videos. Here is something along the same lines but with two people just getting to work and doing something really impressive in a short amount of time.…

Design Review Part 2: Speaker Enclosure

April 1, 2020

Max Armstrong

Design Review 2020 Part 2: Timeline and Logistics, Student Work

Given all that has been going on, I was hoping to scale my project down to something more manageable that I could complete in the limited time that the wood shop is open. However, as things have appeared to be closing down more and more since Monday, it is no longer be possible to complete…

Wooden Speaker Enclosure

March 8, 2020

Max Armstrong

Design Review 2020 Part 1: Detailed Plans

This is my plan for the project going forward. I am planning on using pine wood or particle board with a veneer. The goal is to keep a fairly natural look for the project. The speaker shown below is trapezoidal in shape and features three separate chambers: a stereo left sealed , center ported…

Speaker Enclosure: 5 Design / Build Constraints

March 4, 2020

Max Armstrong

Top 5 Constraints 2020

Constraint 1: Cost of remaining materials Because I already have most of the materials from last year when I started thinking about doing this project, I don’t have a ton left to purchase. The three main things that I need are: power connectors ($14), bluetooth amplifier ($35) and wood (the cost is going to…

Main Project Aesthetics

February 26, 2020

Max Armstrong

Main Project Aesthetic 2020: plans and alternatives, Student Work

Building off of last weeks post, I have an update to share on the materials that I’m going to be using for this project. I have two 6 1/2″ midbass woofers, two 2 1/2″ tweeters, a 200 watt power supply that I’m hoping to pair in parallel with a sealed battery I had from a…

Main Project Inspirations: Woodworking & Speaker Enclosures

February 21, 2020

Max Armstrong

Main Project Inspirations 2020, Student Work

I’ve been making speaker enclosures for a long time now. The first one that I started with was a project with my dad back in high school. Since then I have been making speaker enclosures / boomboxes out of antique suitcases. This was an aesthetic that I really enjoyed, but recently I’ve grown a bit…

Upcycle Final Report 2020: Camera Bag Planter

February 11, 2020

Max Armstrong

Student Work, Upcycle Final Report 2020, zw 2020

Abstract The upcycle project is intended to get our feet wet in creative thinking. Its purpose is to create something artistic or functional or both out of unwanted materials. This means creating the project out of as many reused materials as possible, and trying to eliminate the need for purchasing parts or supplies. I started…

Upcycle Progress: Wine Bottle Terrariums

February 8, 2020

Max Armstrong

Student Work, Upcycle progress 2019, zw 2020

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The progress for the upcycle project is going well. I have collected all of my needed wine bottles (plus quite a few extra) and have already begun trying to score the bottles with the glass cutter. If this technique doesn’t work, I have also seen videos of people dipping a length of twine in acetone,…

Upcycle Inspiration: Terrariums

January 29, 2020

Max Armstrong

Student Work

My inspiration for the upcycle project started with the abundance of old wine bottles that I have sitting in my apartment (as a form of trashy decoration). This means that I took the material first approach. My ideas started with light fixtures and maybe making the wine bottles into something of a chandelier. I thought…

Aesthetic Explorations: Indoor Plants

January 22, 2020

Max Armstrong

Aesthetic Explorations 2020, zw 2020

Image courtesy of [1] The indoor plant aesthetic is one that is closely related to a few different interior design aesthetics. It can be found complimenting aesthetics such as modern, bohemian rustic and even industrial designs. Indoor plants and the aesthetic that they usually create can also even mix with minimalism, just not all…