In May Basingstoke MakerSpace held our fifth annual “solder day”. This year was building a Bluetooth Speaker Kit. Members and non-members came along and built a solder kit (first come first served).  They learnt how to solder and build something.

This event was on Tuesday 19 May 2026 and started at 7:30pm.  It was open to the public (non-members contributed £5 for the kit).  We have some soldering irons, however if you are coming please bring your own and a pair of clippers.

Each person making the kit was given some extra items: 15 M3 washers; a CR1220 battery; and access to a jig for the LEDs.

There were a limited number of jigs so participants shared them.

The instructions are at: bluetooth-04
A ZIP file with the SVG for the LED jig is at: bt-jig-01
(for some reason this website won’t allow a SVG file)

If you want to make you own jig: load the SVG to your laser control software; ensure output will be 76mm wide; cut two from 3mm ply; and glue them together to make a 6mm thick version.

A video showing Alex building the kit (before the instructions were written) can be seen at:

A video of Steve building the kit (after the instructions were written) can be seen at: