Solid wood suggestions for cabs.

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OK, how about 2 inch slabs of purpleheart? Compressed bamboo flooring?

I only build small boxes where 3/4 material seems to be sufficient. I don't have a beef with MDF if you know how to use it. My biggest problem is the glue joints showing up a year after they are done through the paint. My big sub boxes are only 60L and they are a composite layup of MDF, ceramic plates and plywood.
 
Why not do like prairieboy suggested and use solid for sides top and bottom with the grain running around the cabinet, and use plywood for the front and rear baffle.
Evan

Exactly what I thought I said I was planning to do, I think. :D

Yeah, I figured mahogany was stable enough since electric guitars can be made of it.

Ive never had a mahogany Gibson SG or LP cracking with age and environmental exposure, only through rough treatment.

On the subject of guitars, I had considered other woods typically used in solid body types, such as Ash or Alder, but I like the look of woods like Cherry and Mahogany much better.

Its convenient that mahogany is a good bet, so thanks for the advice!
 
Studio Au,
Pretty, but you are left with sharp front baffle edges. I too am looking at solid woods so I can get the full 3/4 radius I found is required to manage diffraction issues. Corner inserts, or even laying up from thin slabs in the old cold-form method are all on the table. I like wood. I also like round edges. Hard to do both with sheet goods.

I built an entire kitchen cabinet set from second quality oak 3/4 flooring. Lots of work but the effect was stunning.
 
OK, how about 2 inch slabs of purpleheart? Compressed bamboo flooring?

HAHAHAHA! brilliant! You read my mind! A little TOOO thick though!

Purpleheart is available in 2" thick slabs for solidbody guitarmakers. This is the only source I know of for the stuff!

I couldnt agree more about the baffle chamfer. With solid 'sides' and Ply baffle and rear panel, a big >1" roundover/mitre can be done, either by skilsaw or jigger, and with plenty of sanding... et voila!

small errors can be corrected, you dont have the same worry about chipping the top A side veneer at the edges...etc etc.

You could even just roundover the edge with a draw scraper/plane.

My experiences with MDF are mixed. Finishing is always a pain, as is the dust. Sealing is easily done, but then MORE sanding. Damages at corners too easily. quality is very variable.

Birch ply/general ply is a different animal. Sanding isnt so bad (worst with birch), sealing and finishing needs less stages, cut edges very fragile and easy to damage, but at least its fairly tough. Even cheapo ply may well be better than some MDF.

Solid wood offers (me) some advantages: Simple finishing, even if alot of sanding still required, great looks, finish and durability should be somewhere between the others.

The granite pair im planning are the most awkward: hard to cut/polish, heavy and if i should drop them, they may well break.
 
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I am not sure on the tool and skill levels of everyone so please do not take this as an insult but just make sure that you have access to the right tolls and an understanding of how wood behaves.

Lumber is rarely sold in the final dimensions or thickness that is needed so be sure that you can joint and plane to get all your stock square and the same thickness. And remember just as wood moves seasonally it will move while you work it. Take too much from one side and it can bow...
 
thanks kooshball. Im not planning to bookmatch or anything fancy. The construction im considering is to fingerjoint using planed square stock, like kitchen tops but a monocoque 'ring' of blocks. 8 lengths: H,W, H-2xStock size and W-2xStock size. Alternate layers, creating interlocking fingers at the corners.
 
frugal-phile™
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I work with 2 master woodworksers and between the 2 have been playing with solid wood builds for over 5 years, with only one failure. Builds have been Douglas Fir (both builders sourcing from vinatge sources -- 1 a railroad bridge with timbers >100 years old, the other a floor that was originally installed 70+ years ago), Locust, Yew, Black Walnut, and a real sleeper, Western Red Cedar. Its downside is that it is easily dinged, but we are experiementing with expoxy finishes that should turn them into a chaotic constrained layer with really tough exterior. This last effort aided by marine applications like what you see creating west system cedar canoes,

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picture from here New Custom Boats - 17' Brown Reproduction

Many of these builds are quite small, but the solid fir Woden Victor certainly is not. Some examples can be seen here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/planet-10-hifi/214897-minionken-fonken-gallery-pictures-only.html

dave
 

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Thanks Dave.

I noticed the Locust and Cedar, on the chart of dimensional stability a kind poster, um posted.

Teak is one of the best, mahoghany and cherry fair pretty well. Yew and Oak arent so good. Im a little disappointed that Beech comes out so badly.

In the end, what I can afford to buy will play as much of a part in the end result. Ive yet to find a good wood supplier anywhere near me!

My experience of epoxy resin 'paints' is from the paint we use at work (for oil rigs etc). That stuff is hardwearing, but not hard at all.
Polyester type 2 packs, like what 'the industry' has used for years on many of the cheaper solid body electric guitars (where the core could be MDF/ply). That stuff would be worth a shot. Like hardwood 'corian' ;)
 
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These are a couple of baffles I have been making for a little project of mine.

They are made from to 2x4 recycled kauri off cuts. The have been glued together side by side then thicknessed and profiled with a router jig.

Working with real wood is so much nicer than ply/mdf/chipboard!

I will be laminating kauri with ply for the sides and back, the bracing will be ply.
 

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...(my dad was an amateur luthier. More accurately, he made all the furniture, windows, turntables, guitars, TVRs blah blah.
At age 5 i was his assistant sander.
We live in the UK nanny state. I thought it was only I that stated the obvious. Thanks for the constructive advice guys and nice baffles Jacob.
 
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Oaks toxicity rings a bell, for some reason that makes me think its woodworm proof. Either way, im athsmatic and allergic, work in hazardous environs, so a mask and glasses are a way of life. My grandfather died of asbestosis, and my father was close to dying of TB, so my respiration is protected at all times!
 
I knew for a long time that oak dust is poisonous, that's why oak last so long.

I didn't think oak dust is any more toxic than any other kind of wood dust. Around here walnut and locust are the two most toxic woods. My understanding is that white oak is fairly rot resistant due to it's tight end grain structure. Red oak isn't very rot resistant...

I've made several walnut speaker cabinets. I don't think there is problem using real wood as long as you are smart about it....
 
I didn't think oak dust is any more toxic than any other kind of wood dust. Around here walnut and locust are the two most toxic woods. My understanding is that white oak is fairly rot resistant due to it's tight end grain structure. Red oak isn't very rot resistant...

I've made several walnut speaker cabinets. I don't think there is problem using real wood as long as you are smart about it....

Red oak actually has open pores where white oak has closed / plugged pores which may be why the difference in rot resistance.

Walnut is great wood but some people are sensitive to it. No matter what the lumber choice good dust collection, ambient air filtration and the addition of a p95 respirator are all wise choices. Worst case, put on a respirator and put a fan in the window with some makeup air preferably on the opposite side of the shop and you will be fine.
 
A bit of googling showed that very many hardwoods are toxic or irritants.
However the this varies not just by genus but also by where the tree grew.
For example Teak (Tectona Grandis) grown in SE Asia is quite irritant while the same species grown in South Africa has a very much lower level of irritants.

Legally in the UK wood dust exposure is limited to <5mg/m^3 for 8 hours per day.
I guess one would have to be a very committed diy-er to exceed this.
 
White Oak has a fungus "companion" that effectively fills its pores. The fungus does indeed aid in the woods rot resistance. Old colonial days ... white oak was used as roof shingles. George Washingtons Mount Vernon buildings still have them in place.

Red Oak doesn't share this feature. Look at end grain samples of both species and the difference is readily apparent.
 
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