Building using solid wood

So thanks to all for the advice. Plywood was prohibitively expensive.
After VAT and delivery a single sheet of oak ply was going to run me £130.

In the end I used 18mm MDF (as I had lots) and finished them with an oak veneer. I know I said I wanted to avoid veneer but I sued the iron on method this time rather than the contact adhesive method and feel I got a better result.

This is what I ended up making for him (also never used the Mark Audio drivers as I went for a darker finish).

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I was reading about multiple thin layers glued together so as to flex and absorb sound. I believe there are some speakers that use that approach, though I can't remember which one now. It occured to me that what we call masonite here in Canada might be useful for that purpose. It was very inexpensive, light, flexible. Any thoughts on that product?
 
Thanks, yes, going through that thread.
I was thinking of masonite because it was (long ago?) fairly cheap,,,,, and I have been reading about multiple layers. I was thinking about the advantage of its flexibility, and the glue layers absorbing the acoustic energy. It might be less expensive than plywood from a layer /cost perspective. I don't know.... just exploring ideas here.
Thanks.
 
Deciduous trees are generally hardwood and conifers are generally softwood

Hardwood has ribs radiating out from the centre, softwood doesn't, Balsa is a hardwood despite not being hard, its all about the structure.

Technically hardwoods are dicot angiosperm species (roughly the same as deciduous), and softwoods are gymnosperm species. The variation in properties withing each category makes the distinction moot sometimes, but most hardwoods are dense and hard - hardwoods usually have more lignin too and are darker in colour as a result, sometimes very much so - lignin is much harder/stronger than celulose.
 
I've read the whole thread and though it's informative I don't get a clear consensus about the various forms of solid wood. I have some left over kitchen worktop 26mm thick, which I believe is oak. It's been doing nothing for several years and kept indoors so it's perfectly dry. I'd like to use it for a pair of 2 way speakers.

Can anyone assess how suitable it would be for a speaker cabinet? Pic attached - I'm sure this is a familiar product.

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When shopping for hardwood, remember your local thrift store might have some discarded oak tables containing 100 board feet of wood for $10 or so.
I have quite a bit of oak waiting for projects that came from unwanted tables. I even have wood from some entertainment center that was all oak and not plywood.
 
I've read the whole thread and though it's informative I don't get a clear consensus about the various forms of solid wood. I have some left over kitchen worktop 26mm thick, which I believe is oak. It's been doing nothing for several years and kept indoors so it's perfectly dry. I'd like to use it for a pair of 2 way speakers.

Can anyone assess how suitable it would be for a speaker cabinet? Pic attached - I'm sure this is a familiar product.
Yep, seems very stable, this stuff I used has small sections with "teeth" attaching one piece to the next.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rick...
 

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