Teenage Engineering’s 3D printing files let you make your own Ikea speaker accessories

Print your own handles, wheels, and cupholders

Republished from the Verge

Teenage Engineering launched its Ikea Frekvens line of speakers and home items earlier this year, and now the company is offering free 3D printing files so customers can create their own Ikea hacks. The Frekvens (which translates to “frequency”) line features a modular system of speaker combinations that work as a perfect base for 3D-printed accessories. Some designs feature handles, wheels, and cupholders to make the speakers even more portable and party-friendly; others let you add “chicken legs” to turn your speaker into a rooster, which is equally, if not more, important.
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The speakers, which range in price from $149 for a subwoofer model to a $69 model and a $19.99 portable option, are compatible with all of Teenage Engineering’s synths, including the OP-1 and its excellent pocket operators. The Frekvens range includes other accessories to help you put on a cool house party, like LED light panels that react to sound, a speaker base with light, and reflective raincoats. Ikea sells a separate $17 accessories set that comes with LED spotlights, but Teenage Engineering hopes that the free 3D CAD files will inspire customers to come up with their own Ikea hacks. “We want this to work as a starting point for people that are interested in 3D printing their own tools,” Teenage Engineering CEO Jesper Kouthoofd told Wired UK. “Perhaps some people will get inspired to improve our designs and then will go on to do their own.”

​The designs featured on Teenage Engineering’s site feature a range of fun ideas to get started, like a boombox with a pen holder clip or a little cannon with wheels. There are 13 hacks in all that can be installed glue-free with the help of some screws or a rubber mallet, and the site even provides filament color suggestions for that Teenage Engineering-style pop of color. My favorite design has to be the “take away” cupholder, which looks like a way more chic version of Sony’s CTK-PG10 party speaker that came with cupholders for your beer. Sony walked so Teenage Engineering could run.

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These types of files can also be printed on demand by companies like Slant 3D. This lets customers that do not have access to 3D printers get these accessories, without forcing companies to pay for tooling and inventory. Slant 3D could print accessories as they are ordered by customers. To find out more submit your project through our quoting form and an engineer will be in touch.