The tools used are pretty basic. I used a lathe with a rough gouge, a straight chisel, an angled chisel and a parting tool to turn the cups, and a hand saw to finish separatiing the pieces. The lathe is definitely the tool that takes the most getting used to, and is probably the most dangerous. I've broken a gouge turning a maple burl bowl, and seeing pieces of metal flying around isn't fun. So I'd definitely suggest finding someone to show you the basics if you can. But it's also the tool that allows you to be creative, and turing really is a lot of fun. I used a drill press with a 1 5/8" diameter forstner bit for the outer hole and a 2" diameter forstner bit for the inner hole, and some smaller bits for the cup mounting holes and cable opening. A table saw or router is nice to take the corners of the square blank, which makes it easier on the chisels and your arms. And some clamps are necessary to hold the cups for drilling... We've used double-sided tape and sand paper on the ends of the clamps to secure the cups with minimal pressure. But beyond that it's just having fun and being creative with the shapes carved on the lathe and being careful centering the bits on the drill press. The 1 5/8" hole needs to be centered because it's the one you see, and the 2" diameter hole in particular is critical because you're left with chamber walls that are less than 1/8" thick, so being off at all can cause major problems down the road.
Other people have done write-ups on doing wood cups without a lathe, and I'll leave it to them to explain how it's done. I was lucky enough to have an amazing craftsman in the family who showed me how to use a lathe. Then my luck continued, finding an amazing deal on craigslist for a used lathe and a friend kind enough to give up a corner of his shop to set the lathe up. And then the folks followed up with a birthday gift of a nice set of turning chisels. So along the way I've gotten a lot of help... But it's been a very rewarding journey. I've turned a number of bowls, and my next project will likely be legs for an end table I've had bouncing around in my head for a while.
All of the cups I've done have been deeper than stock. I can't say how much the increase in chamber size or the choice of wood has to do with the change in sound, but each time I've done it, there has been definite improvement. Because you can get 2 or 3 sets of cups out of a single 3"x3"x12" blank, you can experiment and figure out what sounds best. Just measure up the stock cups you take off to make sure everything will fit, adjust the depth of the chamber and anything else you want to that won't affect how they go back together and have fun.
Other people have done write-ups on doing wood cups without a lathe, and I'll leave it to them to explain how it's done. I was lucky enough to have an amazing craftsman in the family who showed me how to use a lathe. Then my luck continued, finding an amazing deal on craigslist for a used lathe and a friend kind enough to give up a corner of his shop to set the lathe up. And then the folks followed up with a birthday gift of a nice set of turning chisels. So along the way I've gotten a lot of help... But it's been a very rewarding journey. I've turned a number of bowls, and my next project will likely be legs for an end table I've had bouncing around in my head for a while.
All of the cups I've done have been deeper than stock. I can't say how much the increase in chamber size or the choice of wood has to do with the change in sound, but each time I've done it, there has been definite improvement. Because you can get 2 or 3 sets of cups out of a single 3"x3"x12" blank, you can experiment and figure out what sounds best. Just measure up the stock cups you take off to make sure everything will fit, adjust the depth of the chamber and anything else you want to that won't affect how they go back together and have fun.
