lightweight wood for cabinet?

[NED 209]

hi all, in the throes of a project here, building a boombox for portable use.

was gonna use a sandwich material called gatorfoam, but i got the speakers today, and i fear it just wont be strong enough.
the speakers are coaxial beyma 8bx, theyre heavier than i anticipated, and the hf driver mounted on the rear means theyre centre of gravity is very far back, so there'll be a lot of strain on the baffle. (< i think i got that right? - the surface theyre mounted on)

so i guess my question is, are there any lightweight woods i could look at?

 

[luvdunhill]

http://www.paulowniawood.com/

 

[Andersonix]

There are plywoods that are very strong for their weight. Add some bracing where needed, and I can't imagine anything lighter for the money (or easier to work with). Try your average 1/4 inch stuff at the local home improvement center. Not (ahem) hi-fi, but light. You wanted light, right?

 

[planet10]

You should add a magnet support to minimize stress on the baffle.

dave

 

[NED 209]

thanks for the replys. yeah i have some 1/4 inch plywood here. im hardcore tempted to use it. wood is such a nice material to work with. i just blew 100 euro on gatorboard... maybe i can use it for bracing.
Planet 10 do you have a photo of what you mean, i constructed something like that before but it was a lil dubious

 

[planet10]

do you have a photo of what you mean

 

[Moondog55]

Are you going to use T-nuts to mount the driver?? if so perhaps a single layer of woven glass fibre and thinned resin would give it some strength

 

[moray james]

Prestress... the cabinet walls

concave or convex. If you force a dish into the walls they will be a lot stiffer.

 

[dangus]

Curved 1/4" plywood would be much stiffer than a flat sheet. Or, consider Sonotube (or the equivalent), which is basically a big cardboard tube, but is strong enough to withstand the pressure of a column of wet concrete.