Is regular (non-baltic) 3/4" birch ply okay to work with?

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

I want to build a box this weekend. Lowes has non-baltic birch 3/4" plywood

and they will do rip cuts for me which makes my life a lot easier.

Is this stuff okay to work with? I understand I may get a little surface chipping right?

Will that get fixed easily by a router with a rounding bit, or perhaps you could suggest an easier way?

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[audioatg 10+ year member]

NO. MDF only way to go for box builds.

 

[--Navi-- 10+ year member]

The benefit from birch is stronger and lighter, but as you know more costly. I have used the stuff from Lowes before and not had a problem short of what you mentioned with burred edges. At the same time if you are gonna spend that much money, you might as well search around and get the baltic.

 

[mrogowski 5,000+ posts]

Plywood is structurally superior to MDF so if you can secure some for fairly cheap do it.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

NO. MDF only way to go for box builds.

If you don't know, don't speak.

 

[orangecounty1 10+ year member]

itll be fine.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

NO. MDF only way to go for box builds.

im guessing you have never used it.

dont knock it till you try it, the pros greatly outweigh the cons (of being a little more expensive)

as as far as the chipped edges, there is a way to arrange your cuts so that the chipped edges are inside the box.

or the roundover bit will do the job as well.

you looking to stain it? - or just carpet or anything like that?

 

[mcbuggin 10+ year member]

around hear then birch ply is 1 dollar more than mdf so I think that is the way i'll go so if the cost isn't much more then go with the birch jmo

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

im guessing you have never used it.
dont knock it till you try it, the pros greatly outweigh the cons (of being a little more expensive)

as as far as the chipped edges, there is a way to arrange your cuts so that the chipped edges are inside the box.

or the roundover bit will do the job as well.

you looking to stain it? - or just carpet or anything like that?

I may carpet everything but the face and stain that. I should only worry

about chips on areas I would not carpet, that probably a good point you

implicitly made there. If it's really pretty, I may stain the whole thing. If

it's ugly, well you get the picture, carpet and call it a day. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

NO. MDF only way to go for box builds.

Uhh.

No.

MDF is most widely used because of it's cost effectiveness, and it's thickness.

You can use ANY wood.

People have even used concrete. (I actually saw a build where someone built a HUGE horn that begun outside of his house and went into his living room, made entirely out of concrete.

What you want to look for in a material in a box is density (thickness doesn't matter, but density does.)

I'm sure Immacomputer can explain it much better, using terms like 'resonant waves' and such, but I don't really know the science behind a speaker cabinet.

Cliff notes:

If it's dense, use it.

P.S. Whoever said Plywood was superior, they're right. Plywood is incredibly dense IIRC.

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Standard 7 ply veneer core Birch ply? No. The core of the plywood is full of voids. This type of Birch ply is really no different than oak ply, maple, cherry, etc. The only difference is the ~1/64" veneer put on the face sides.

Baltic Birch works well because it is void free (like MDF).

 

[Just_Crazy 10+ year member]

good thread. see knowledge is good.

 

[I Like Waffle]

birch also has better water resistance than mdf. That way if you get rain in your trunk or something one night your box wont start flaking apart //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

Like Fisher said void free is the key.The 13 ply BB is more costly but well worth the extra coin.I woundn't recommend the 7-8 ply because of inconsistancey with all the voids which can cause failure possibly down the road.If your gonna buy it do the 13 ply BB or just get 3/4"MDF.

 

[mcsoul 10+ year member]

I see what BJ meant about voids. The are clearly visible in the seams, but not

as frequent or large as some other types of plywood. Oh well, it's done now.

Anyone know how to mount thread inserts?

just a drill and some wood glue right?