Overnight Sensations build questions

[Mondo]

I'm building a pair of Overnight Sensations out of a 3/4" edge glued pine panel. I know this is probably not the best material, but I had some laying around and it'll look really nice once it's stained, plus I seem to be highly reactive to MDF dust. Is there anything special I should do to the wood since it's a soft wood? It is free of knots and voids.

How should I stuff them? I have some 1.5" thick egg crate foam, the black packing material kind. My wife probably has some polyfill type of stuff laying around too, though.

Thanks!

[Wolf]

Paul says, "Play with stuffing until they sound BIG!" I don't think he lined them.

As to the Pine boards, You may have to mass-load them on the inside with a damping sheet of considerable mass to keep resonances down. Rubber sport-floor tile might work well. Other than that, you can look into 'wood hardener' products. I would advise putting that on the inside too, as you might not be able to stain after it's applied.
Later,
Wolf

[patrickm]

i've done these twice in 3/4" edge-glued pine from the home depot shelving section, and they work fine. like wolf said, just play with the stuffing until you think it sounds good. putting a thin brace or two across the cabinet might help.. just a 3/8" or 1/2" dowel would work, i think. also, be careful with the newer stuff at the depot... they've switched some of the .75" denser pine boards for some .62" lower-density wood. the difference is pretty significant. i think the big panels tend to still be the thicker ones around here. they also have a big edge-glued hardwood panel...

while you may sacrifice a little bit, they do look really good finished, (especially if you do a 45 degree joint on the top corners so you don't see the end grain). i tend to prefer the minwax polyshades on the pine. the cherry is my personal favorite, but i also really like the classic oak for a light color and the bombay mohagany for a dark one. the walnut is tough to get dark. if you search the gallery board for the 3CR-AL threat, that took 7 coats of it, and it didn't get noticeably darker after about 3-4.