Want to move from MDF to real wood, any suggestions?

[The Paulinator]

I've been building speakers for years, but for some reason I have never moved away from MDF, I don't know why, I guess I was just intimidated by real wood. Now I'm hearing that real wood is actually easier, because it has a natural finish and you don't need to try to make an artificial finish look good.

Also, now that I am researching it, it doesn't seem much different than working with MDF, I just use glue and clamps.

Does anyone have any pointers, or know of any websites that have step by step help for using real wood?

[SisterOfMercy]

Real wood 'works' more than MDF under the influence of changes in humidity.
As real wood has rings, it'll work in different directions.

MDF is available in large sizes, for real wood you'll have to glue different piece together. You'll need to make it so that the rings on two pieces aren't in the same direction, otherwise the wood will tend to go more to one direction.

Real wood is also expensive. You could buy panels of real wood, which are already glued. But even when not using quality wood it's very expensive.

I'd say, use MDF or another material for the inside, and cover the entire speaker with a thin layer of wood (but not as thin as veneer)

[markp]

Resist your urges!!!!!!! The worst thing for a non-resonant speaker cabinet to be made of is a highly resonant material like real wood.
MDF is much more suitable in every way and you can get it with veneer already on it from almost any decent plywood supply house.

[x. onasis]

When you factor in the additional cost of veneering over MDF, the cost of using hardwood boards isn't high.

A jointer is necessary to get straight edges for glueing up panels, and there are finger-joint bits for your router table to get even stronger glue joints. But if you're making side panels less than about 12 inches, it prolly isn't necessary.

The important thing is to use well dried lumber.

It bears repeating. Only use well dried lumber. See this post.
Ask local cabinet makers where they get the best lumber.

The joy of selecting and matching wood grains in raw lumber is surpassed by the pride and beauty of fine woodworking.

[JOE DIRT®]

Baltic birch is a good choice for a starter but like others have said it has to be seasoned

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Whatever you choose to do, for decent quality wood I can recommend:

Scotty's in Springfield
Crosscut Hardwoods in Eugene
Tree Products in Eugene

Be sure to visit each before making a selection.

[markp]

The point here is that if you want a speaker to SOUND good you can NOT use real wood. This is not a cost factor, it is a reality that real wood resonates and that is the worst thing a speaker cabinet can do, period. If real wood was a good idea then it would be used by the most high-end, expensive speaker makers and it is not because it hurts the sound of the speaker. Not one maker on the market uses solid wood, there must be a reason!

[puchrider]

markp is right. solid hardwood can ring like a bell. I used to build
guitars, so my experience with wood isn't too bad. I've built two
sets of speakers using birch veneered plywood. Both sounded great. I didn't like the grain on the second set; so I painted them
off white, covered the top and lower front with blue ceramic tile,
and used black grill cloth. Really looks great. You could do that
with mdf.

[thylantyr]

or.....

MDF foundation + Fiberglass skin
to create cute enclosure shapes.

popular method for the car audio
phreaks.

[analog_sa]

The point here is that if you want a speaker to SOUND good you can NOT use real wood

Have you never heard Sonus Faber speakers? Among many others. MDF has a nasty sonic signature which is really difficult to ignore once you know it. It is of course much easier and cheaper to work with than hardwoods. I find acceptable sonic compromise in baltic birch but that's only because i'm clueless about working with real wood.