Make Your Own Speakers Out of Mycelium

This guide will give you a step-by-step process on how to create your own mycelium speakers. Skills needed for this project include soldering, 3D printing, and mycelium growing. This project takes roughly 10 days to complete given the amount of time needed for the mycelium to grow. This project is graded at moderate difficulty.

Mycelium is “the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments (hyphae)". These structures can be placed into a mold to form a variety of shapes. Mycelium is in a variety of uses, from packaging material to fashion accessories. The list of uses for this material has a knack to grow! 🍄

Author’s Note: My goal with this guide is to give folks a starting point when it comes to creating their own mycelium-speakers. I will note where possible deviations can be made. Feel free to share your creations with me! The speakers created in this guide are “passive”, meaning that additional audio amplification may be needed.

The steps for the mycelium growth are based on the grow instructions by Ecovative for their Grow-It-Yourself Mushroom mix bag (link). If you are using a different supplier for your mycelium, please follow their instructions for growing their mycelium mix bag.

Supplies

Tools:

• Hot glue gun
• Dremel with a metal cutting wheel attachment
• Soldering iron
• 3D printer *
• Laser cutter **
• Oven
• Mixing bowl
• Baking Sheet
• Hobby knife

* It is possible to skip the 3D printing steps if you plan to make your mold using household materials, such as milk cartons or plastic bottles, and hot glue. Be sure to include the holes for the speaker, wire, and mounting components, as well as a way to remove the mold from the mycelium.

** The parts that use the laser cutting process can alternatively be created using a 3D printer or by hand.

Materials:

1x 6-32, 25in (635mm) threaded rod

16x 6-32 acorn nuts

1x 7in x 7in (178mm x 178mm), 1/8 thick (3mm), acrylic sheet *

1x 3D printer filament (preferably a bio-degradable filament such as Algix3D algae-based filament)

2x Speaker, 2in (51mm) diameter

1x 22AWG stranded wire

1x 3.5mm audio jack

1x Mycelium mix **

1x Flour (any variety) ***

1x Water ***

1x Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) for sterilization

1x Bag clip or tape

* I urge everyone reading this guide to replace the acrylic sheets with hobby wood (such as balsa) or 3D printed parts using a bio-degradable filament. The original intent of this design was to create an eco-friendly housing for electronics. The acrylic was originally used to make the prototype “eye-catching” during the original project showing.

** This project used a single “Grow-It-Yourself Mushroom” mix bag by Ecovative. Material use can vary based on the manufacturer and/or starter mix.

*** Measurements for flour and water differ for each blend. Consult the bag label for specific quantities.

Key Links

3D Printed Parts:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4958230

Ecovative Design Mycelium Mix Starter Bag:

https://grow.bio/collections/shop/products/grow-it-yourself-material

Step 1: Preparing the Mycelium

• Add water and flour to your mycelium mix bag.
• Make sure your hands are clean before prepping your mycelium. Any outside contaminants have the potential of creating a nasty, unstable grow. A good practice is to handle your mycelium with a fresh pair of sterilized gloves.
• Mix x tablespoons of flour with x cups of tap water. The specific measurements can be found on the side of the bag. *
• Fold over the top part of the bag to temporarily seal it. Give the bag a good shake to mix everything together. This should take roughly 1 minute.
• Make sure you leave the white filter patch* uncovered to allow air exchange. Seal the top of the bag using tape or bag clips.
• Place the bag in a clean area, away from direct sunlight.
• Wait 5 days.

*If you are using the “Grow-It-Yourself Mushroom” mix bag by Ecovative.

Step 2: Create Your Mycelium Mold

- Download the stl files for the mycelium speaker mold using the following Thingiverse link:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4958230

• Total print time should take 1-2 days. Note that you will need to make two molds for the left and right speakers.
• Once the parts are completed, use the hot glue gun to connect 2 of the 3 parts. This will allow you to add the mycelium after the 5 day long grow period.

Alternative approach: You can use scrap plastic, milk cartons, and hot glue to create your own unique mold. Makes sure to include space for the speaker and speaker wire as well as a way for the components to be mounted to the mycelium. Also make sure to create the mold in two parts to allow for easy separation after the mycelium has been grown.

Step 3: Adding Your Mycelium to the Mold

• 5 days should have passed since adding flour and water to your mix.
• Make sure your hands are clean before prepping your mycelium. A good practice is to handle your mycelium with a fresh pair of sterilized gloves.
• Spray your mixing bowl with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol to sterilize it. Wait for the alcohol to dry.
• Open your mycelium mix bag and add everything into the mixing bowl. The mycelium mix should be broken apart and crumbled into the mixing bowl.
• Add x tablespoons of flour to the material and mix by hand for at least a minute. The specific measurements can be found on the side of the bag*
• Sanitize the speaker mold with rubbing alcohol. Allow the rubbing alcohol to dry.
• Pack the mold with the mycelium mix and seal the final portion of the mold using a hot glue gun.
• Place your molds in a clean area, away from direct sunlight.
• Wait 5 days

Note: If you are using your own custom mold; poke holes in the cover approximately 1 inch apart. The mold provided in the link found in Step 2 already has adequately sized holes to skip this step.

*If you are using the “Grow-It-Yourself Mushroom” mix bag by Ecovative.

Step 4: Creating the Speaker Base, Faceplate, and Spacers

• Please note that these parts are not required for the final speaker assembly.
• There are multiple ways to create these parts. The pieces pictured are laser cut 1/8in thick acrylic. Since many folks don’t have a laser cutter at their disposal, I highly recommend creating these parts by hand or with a 3D printer.
• If you choose to create these parts by hand, you can use a thick piece of cardboard and a hobby knife to cut out the speaker base and faceplate. The dimensions of the base are 2.815in (71.5mm) x 3.15in (80mm). The dimensions of the faceplate are 3.15in (80mm) x 3.15in (80mm). For the spacers, you will need to cut a pre-existing 6-32 spacer at a 45-degree angle.
• If you choose to 3D print these parts, you can find the parts using the following Thingiverse link:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4958230

- Note that you will need 2x faceplates, 2x bases, and 8x spacers to complete a set of 2 speakers.

Step 5: Baking Your Mycelium Parts

• After waiting 5 more days, carefully open your molds. Make sure to not put any stress on the mycelium pieces as they are delicate in this stage.
• Place your mycelium parts on a well ventilated area. A drying rack is an ideal spot.
• Let your parts dry for 1-2 days. This process can be sped up by using a fan.
• Once dried, preheat your oven to 200°F (93°C).
• Place your mycelium parts in the oven for 30 minutes. Be careful when removing your parts after the 30 minutes, they are hot!
• Congratulations! You have finished creating the mycelium part of your mycelium speakers!

Step 6: Adding the Electronics (Part 1)

• The following actions will need to be repeated twice for the left and right speakers.
• With your soldering iron, solder two wires to the two speaker terminals. Leave enough wire length for you to adjust the position of the speaker. When creating this prototype, I used 2ft (60cm) for each speaker.
• Feed the unconnected ends of the wire through your mycelium part.

Step 7: Adding the Electronics (Part 2)

• Using your soldering iron, solder the left and right speaker wires to the 3.5mm audio jack. If your jack comes with a shield, make sure it is fed through both set of wires before you start soldering.
• Its good practice to cover the jack terminals with electrical tape or shrink wrap to ensure there won’t be an electrical short.

Step 8: Speaker Assembly

• Using a Dremel with a metal cutting wheel attachment, cut the 6-32 threaded rod into the following lengths: 1.75in (44.5mm), and 3.44in (87.25mm). You will need 4 of each of the listed lengths to complete the assembly. Always makes sure to measure twice and cut once!
• You should have all the components needed to finally assemble your mycelium speakers
• First feed the 6-32 threaded rods through the mycelium part. The shorter, 1.75in (44.5mm), rods should be in the front row and the longer, 3.44in (87.25mm), should be in the back row of the mycelium part.
• Next feed the faceplate and base through the rods. They should now be sandwiching the mycelium part.
• After, tighten the 6-32 acorn nuts at the base-end of the rods.
• Next, add the 45 degree spacers at the faceplate-end of the rods, followed by a 6-32 acorn nut.

Step 9: ​ Congratulations! You Have Made Your Own Set of Mycelium Speakers!

Go hyphae on those tunes 🍄 🎶 😎 🎶 🍄

Please note these are passive speakers, meaning that additional amplification may be needed to increase the volume of the speakers when in operation.