1/2" MDF?

[MacLeod]

Alright, since nobody posts here, Ive got a quandry Ive been mulling over for the last few days and I thought Id get some feedback from you guys.

Im thinking about building my box out of 1/2 wood rather than the standard 3/4.

The reason for this is Im extremely limited in space and its gonna be super tough with my limited carpentry skills to come up with anything more than .35 with 3/4" wood. If I were to go with 1/2 I could get up to .5 which would be awesome and it would be a lot easier to find a sub that would fit my needs.

Im going to go with a 10" and Im gonna be giving it 350-400 watts so I dont think flex would be a problem with that moderate of wattage.

What do y'all think.

[LittleCar_w/12s]

hmmm.. ok let me try to find you a link, but there is a MDF manufacturer that makes a special kind of MDF, it's almost white, and it is lighter and stronger than std. wood MDF.... of course more expensive... As far as I know though, 1/2" mdf or 5/8" more commonly, is not too shabby.
-Jerry

[MacLeod]

Well, the difference between my old sub box for my MTX 8 is drastic.

If I remember right, with 3/4 its .29 cubes. With 1/2 it was like .38 or something.

With a little finese I could get it up to the magic .5 a lot easier with half inch.

[exalted512]

use 1/2" maple birch plywood
stronger and lighter
but more expensive
brace the hell out of it
if your box flexes even a little...little being the width of your finger nail, it can cause DRASTIC changes in output
-Cody

[MacLeod]

Id like to get away without bracing because it would eat up to much interior volume and I might as well be using 3/4" MDF.

I dont know why the HELL Dodge made the underseat area of the new Rams so freaking SUBWOOFER UNFREINDLY!?

[LittleCar_w/12s]

Trupan Ultralight weight MDF -- it weights 70% less then regular MDF and is just as strong.. maybe check out ti's rigidity, I haven't worked with it before, as I can't find it anywhere.

[MacLeod]

Well, I may just give the 1/2 inch wood a try a see how it sounds.
Maybe if I use a little extra polyfill and use resin on the edges to round out the inside flex may not be a problem.

[exalted512]

use bracing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its VERY IMPORTANT
-Cody

[neomagus00]

yeah, even little triangles along the edges and in the corners - little triangels, like an inch on each side - help tremendously. put one in each corner and maybe 2 along each side. yeah, you lose space, but you gain rigidity, and you can put polyfill in to somewhat make up for it.

[Josh]

Originally posted by exalted512
use bracing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its VERY IMPORTANT
-Cody

That's what I was going to say.

[MacLeod]

Ill be fastening all this down with wood screws and wood glue not to mention sealant. With all this I still need bracing even with a mere 350 watts?

[exalted512]

in short
YES
-Cody

[MacLeod]

Originally posted by exalted512
use 1/2" maple birch plywood
stronger and lighter
-Cody

I thought plywood was a no-no in box building because it tended to rattle. Is this different?

And which one is it. Maple or Birch? Or is it maple and birch together.

I can wire things up all day long but am a complete idiot when it comes to building things. :(

[exalted512]

this plywood is different...the only bad parts about it is that its a little more reflective than MDF and that it doesnt have as clean a cut as MDF
-Cody

[neomagus00]

the cutting - use a finer-toothed saw and cut a little slower than you would when cutting a stud or MDF, and you should be fine

reflective - if there's polyfill inside, i wouldn't think that the box material would make a lot of difference... would it?

[exalted512]

egg crate foam would work better than poly fill when dealing with reflective surfaces
but yeah
-Cody

[neomagus00]

good point

[LittleCar_w/12s]

(has been a while...)

The easiest I've used is coarse-sparay rubber undercoating. Relatively cheap, and it's entire purpose is to reduce sound transmission.. It is said to help, though I've never built a box without it and the same one with it.....

-Jerry