Birch Wood questions

[jrouter76 10+ year member]

I never used Birch to build a box,I did a little research on the Lowes website review section and there were some not so great reviews about the quality build...sooo my question is where do you guys who use Birch purchase your wood? and what size in thickness do you use generally? lot of questions but how else can I learn?..Box will be housing 2-12 Soundown 12"Zs with an 6"Aero Port. Thanks for input.

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[kramer_212 10+ year member]

never used it im classic, and just stick with the mdf, as long as its sealed and braced right don't see why you would have a problem.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I was talking to Dave the box guy (spltuscon on here) and he told me the wood he's had the best luck with is Arauco Plywood ( Shop 23/32" 4X8 ARAUCO PLYWOOD ACX at Lowes.com ). Costs $7 more than MDF, about 20 lbs lighter and stronger. The plywood is advertised as 23/32, so even if it's slightly smaller it will still be around 3/4".

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

1000

 

[jrouter76 10+ year member]

I was talking to Dave the box guy (spltuscon on here) and he told me the wood he's had the best luck with is Arauco Plywood ( Shop 23/32" 4X8 ARAUCO PLYWOOD ACX at Lowes.com ). Costs $7 more than MDF, about 20 lbs lighter and stronger. The plywood is advertised as 23/32, so even if it's slightly smaller it will still be around 3/4".

OK I will look into that.

 

[Nut Hair Trick 10+ year member]

I've never worked with plywood before. This makes me wonder how it would handle roundover bits, say, if I used a 1"-1 1/4 bits to it. I would be afraid that the layers would splinter. Has anyone done this?

 

[psychoacoustics 10+ year member]

birch machines really nice its virtually void free dont use roofing plywood birch is like cabinet grade stuff very high quality

and besides weight and strength over MDF by leaps and bounds it :

1)takes screws .....over and over without stripping

2)makes less dust

3)isnt so damaging to your tools( bits and blades)

4)takes nails and screws to assemble without splitting like mdf

5)dont swell if it gets wet

6)can be stained and the end grain dont **** paint like mdf requiring tons of work to either seal it or coat it until it stops absorbing

 

[Nut Hair Trick 10+ year member]

birch machines really nice

So does that include taking roundovers to it? I wanna go as big as possible considering the small size of my trunk and squeezing that thing in my trunk hole will be helped with the use of roundovers. Not only that, but it just looks much nicer. I also like the idea of having much less weight in the back.

 

[sacsking916 5,000+ posts]

I wont go back to mdf //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

I get mine at lowes and I will only use baltic birch. Laminated birch is junk. Birch is stronger and lighter then mdf by leaps and bounds. Cost a tad more but why skimp on the most important part of ur substage.

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

I use baltic birch for pretty much everything. I may try using 1/4" thick for next box due to size constraints, but usually use .75.

 

[Nut Hair Trick 10+ year member]

Ok, I use titebond II for MDF. Most builds that I have seen made out of birch, the builder used that PL stuff. Would PL glue be better for birch?

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

I use titebond 3 on my birch boxes and I have never had an issue..

 

[CHEMMINS 10+ year member]

PL or TBII either or. Don't really matter. I prefer the TBII.

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

use wood glue. Pl400 and the similar are construction adhesives mostly used for gluing plywood down to form floors. It's not made to bond the 2 pieces together to hold when constant pressure is applied.