Making Speaker Cabinets: MDF, Plywood, or Wood?

[JonW]

Wiping it off, especially if you use a wet rag as is often recommended, will make it soak into the wood and it's a bear to sand it enough so you can stain it. The best method I've found, taught to me by an ancient cabinetmaker, is don't touch it at first. Wait until it dries to a gooey consistency, kinda like chewing gum, and then scrape it off with a very sharp chisel held perpendicular to the wood.

Interesting idea- letting it dry some. I'll try that next time I'm up to my elbows in glue. And do you mean to scrape it off with a chisel running _parallel_ to the wood or did you really mean perpendicular?

Jon's a bit extreme and uses epoxy. Yes the HDF is for mass and the fact that it's very nice to machine..

E gad- epoxy? Thanks.

Correct, technically it's not void free, but in comparison to standard ply it's close enough to be called void free.

Yeah, I'm happy with this stuff so far. Seems quite solid, much better than the Home Depot stuff, it's cheap, pleasant to work with... My shelves with it are coming out OK. And I think it will be OK for the upcoming speaker project. Now if I only had more time to actually do these things...

[JonMarsh]

Now if I only had more time to actually do these things...

Ah yes.... the bane of sweat equity....

[cjd]

I have no truck. I haul 4x8 sheets on a Yakima (roof rack) on my "compact" car. I won't go over 25mph that way though! :lol:

Stick with the Titebond II - it's one of the best for this type of construction. The Elmers equivalent is also good. You can use white Elmers and get the same bond strength and twice the "wet" time. The different types are not always "better" but are more about differences - as in, some are better for outdoor use, some are more waterproof, etc. Urethane glues (like Gorilla, though the Elmers version is better and half the price!) are waterproof and will actually stick wet, plus will "foam" fill small voids. They're less ideal for this type of construction.

Epoxy is actually not gaining anything other than work time and waterproof-ness. Good PVA glue is still stronger than the materials it's joining almost every time.

And, the trick about not wiping the glue is spot on.

C

[JonW]

Ah yes.... the bane of sweat equity....

Yeah. Wow. It took me 5 months to get my sub built. And these stereo shelves are going on 2 months. But I'm really happy with the results of both. Maybe the Modula MT's will go quicker.

I have no truck. I haul 4x8 sheets on a Yakima (roof rack) on my "compact" car. I won't go over 25mph that way though! :lol:

Wow. Not sure if I'm impressed or think you're crazy.

Stick with the Titebond II - it's one of the best for this type of construction. The Elmers equivalent is also good. You can use white Elmers and get the same bond strength and twice the "wet" time. The different types are not always "better" but are more about differences - as in, some are better for outdoor use, some are more waterproof, etc. Urethane glues (like Gorilla, though the Elmers version is better and half the price!) are waterproof and will actually stick wet, plus will "foam" fill small voids. They're less ideal for this type of construction.

Epoxy is actually not gaining anything other than work time and waterproof-ness. Good PVA glue is still stronger than the materials it's joining almost every time.

And, the trick about not wiping the glue is spot on.

C

Thanks for the glue tips. And yeah, I'll try not wiping the glue next time. I'm going to try some sanding of the wiped glue tonight (on my shelves) and see if it will come out OK. I never realized how good these regular wood glues are until I started using them. Very strong. I'm quite impressed.

[Dennis H]

do you mean to scrape it off with a chisel running _parallel_ to the wood or did you really mean perpendicular?

Perpendicular. You want to scrape the glue off as opposed to slicing it off. If you try to slice it, you will end up slicing some wood too. Holding the chisel perpendicular, you can press down pretty hard to get all the glue off without worrying about gouging the wood.

[Exocer]

sorry to sway the conversation, just a quick question.

Hey guys, I've got an enclosure already built using MDF. All but the front baffle is just 1 layer of 3/4" MDF thick (front is 2.25" thick). I've weighed the enclosure in at 43pounds, the amp is about 20 pounds and the driver is about 20 pounds, so Id assume it weighs in at around 80 pounds total. If I decide to double up on the walls, would I be able to use another type of wood besides MDF?

[Hdale85]

Could probably use baltic birch plywood if you can find it somewhere. It's a little priceyer then MDF and you want to get the void free stuff.

[JonW]

Perpendicular. You want to scrape the glue off as opposed to slicing it off. If you try to slice it, you will end up slicing some wood too. Holding the chisel perpendicular, you can press down pretty hard to get all the glue off without worrying about gouging the wood.

Excellent- thanks. I'll keep this in mind on the next project. Last night, working on my shelves, I tried both parallel and perpendicular. Yup, parallel gouges the wood. Perpendicular worked a little better. But I didn't have much glue to try this on. I made the mistake of wiping off most of the glue when it was wet. So that cost me 2 hours of careful sanding. Next time, I'll just let it dry and then chisel it off.

[Dennis H]

Next time, I'll just let it dry and then chisel it off.

Just don't let it dry too much. Gooey, not hard.

[JonW]

Just don't let it dry too much. Gooey, not hard.

Excllent. Thanks for the tips. The next project should go much better now.

[noah katz]

Does anyone know where to get Baltic birch in the Silicon Valley?

Jon(M), where do you get yours?

Thanks

[ThomasW]

Jon(M), where do you get yours?

Thanks

Rockler

[noah katz]

"Rockler"

I'm shocked, but they only charge their standard per-cost shipping rate, $11.99,
for over 100 lb of wood!

I called them and verified that that's the case.

I tried another online supplier yesterday, and the shipping would have been half of the cost of the wood.

Another nice thing is that their prices correspond to the thickness, i.e., about half as much for 3/8' than 3/4", where most everywhere else it's only slightly less.

Thanks, Thomas!

[Exocer]

Yeah, one would assume the shipping price would skyrocket.

[ThomasW]

Noah,

He buys it at whichever Rockler store is closest to Livermore CA, he doesn't have it delivered

[noah katz]

Thanks Thomas, but it'd cost more than $11 in gas, + the driving time.

[DennisP]

Hey, I work near Rockler in Concord, CA! My friend recommended them a few months back for tools and such, but I had no idea they also sold materials. I think I found myself a supplier for cabinet materials. (This is same one Thomas is referring to above).

-Dennis