Enclosure Material

[joekraska]

I've encountered enclosure material comments many times in reading about speaker design, of course seeing MDF recommended again and again. I understand the reasons.

I am designing a smaller desktop enclosure for a 4" two way I'm building that will likely have an enclosure volume of only about .13 cf or so. The enclosure will be high passed at 80 hz.

I'm imagining that solid red oak or other hardwood won't have any kind of problem with this. Am I right? I would like to do some routing and decoration on the speakers that prohibits veneer.

Joe.

[Chris Roemer]

Re: Enclosure Material

I've encountered enclosure material comments many times in reading about speaker design, of course seeing MDF recommended again and again. I understand the reasons.

I am designing a smaller desktop enclosure for a 4" two way I'm building that will likely have an enclosure volume of only about .13 cf or so. The enclosure will be high passed at 80 hz.

I'm imagining that solid red oak or other hardwood won't have any kind of problem with this. Am I right? I would like to do some routing and decoration on the speakers that prohibits veneer.

Joe.

That's fine. Pieces that small are less likely to split. 5/8" should be plenty.

[mgrabow]

Re: Enclosure Material

I agree, at that size splitting is less likely and sonically wont matter. For a larger project MDF is always a safe bet

[ocdSCHACK]

Re: Enclosure Material

You should test a piece of wood first. I've had some really dense woods chip and/or burn (and burn-up blades and bits.) I tried using some 1" thick hard maple for a build once... it never got finished. So test some wood first to see how they are to work with before you make your mind-up.

[joekraska]

Re: Enclosure Material

Thanks for tip. My Grizz will handle any hardwood well enough, but I really didn't think about the router bits and my little podunk router. Hmm.

Joe.

[daver]

Re: Enclosure Material

For the router, I never use the high speed steel bits -- they burn up after one or two uses. I use carbide bits on a low-budget router, and I baby it by stepping in 1/8" to 1/4" deep each pass. The bits last quite awhile that way, and so far, my router has held up. When it goes, it will give me an excuse to get a nice one.

[philiparcario]

Re: Enclosure Material

You should test a piece of wood first. I've had some really dense woods chip and/or burn (and burn-up blades and bits.) I tried using some 1" thick hard maple for a build once... it never got finished. So test some wood first to see how they are to work with before you make your mind-up.

my avatar has a 2 inch thick solid maple baffle. 4 bits and 2 days later it was done. Done well , but very hard to do I needed 1/2 inch shaft routers

[philiparcario]

Re: Enclosure Material

photos of baffle this was a long hard job. My garage smelled of burnt bits and burnt maple!

[joekraska]

Re: Enclosure Material

my avatar has a 2 inch thick solid maple baffle

Holy crap. Did you check to see if the HW store would route it for you? Holy crap, holy crap. OMG. LOL.

Joe.

[dbe]

Re: Enclosure Material

Thanks for tip. My Grizz will handle any hardwood well enough, but I really didn't think about the router bits and my little podunk router. Hmm.

Joe.

Never rely on a router to do the whole round over. Always make a 45 degree pass with your table saw on the edges first. It saves bits, time, frustration and helps to prevent tearout on the corners of the panel. It'll save you a lot of grief.

Dave

[joekraska]

Re: Enclosure Material

Great tip! Funny how one has to be told tricks from the old school that are obvious once you hear them. ;)

Joe.

[dbe]

Re: Enclosure Material

Great tip! Funny how one has to be told tricks from the old school that are obvious once you hear them. ;)

Joe.

Joe, I'm an old school, old dude. :D

Dave