Birch wood tips.

[d-nice88]

Any birch box building tips you guys can give me ? Ive always used mdf now i wana use birch for the lighter weight.is there anything different i should do with birch then mdf or is it all the same ?

[Triticum Agricolam]

Its mostly the same. Doing things to prevent tear out will be the main difference. One thing that pops in to mind is if you are going to be using a router for rounding over/cleaning up edges, you want to orient the router so the bearing is running against the same side as the edge of the plywood, not the face of the plywood. This will help reduce tear out. I probably didn't describe that well. I can draw a picture if you need a better explanation.

[d-nice88]

I dont have a router im gona get the wood at home depot or lows and have them cut the wood for me since i dont have the table saw neither :/ so for 45's ima have to use a skill saw and the holes ima have to use jigsaw. Will it "splinter" real bad if i use a jigsaw for the speaker holes?

[s5300]

I dont have a router im gona get the wood at home depot or lows and have them cut the wood for me since i dont have the table saw neither :/ so for 45's ima have to use a skill saw and the holes ima have to use jigsaw. Will it "splinter" real bad if i use a jigsaw for the speaker holes?

Do yourself a favor and buy a cheap router or try to look for somebody in your area with one.

[Triticum Agricolam]

I dont have a router im gona get the wood at home depot or lows and have them cut the wood for me since i dont have the table saw neither :/ so for 45's ima have to use a skill saw and the holes ima have to use jigsaw. Will it "splinter" real bad if i use a jigsaw for the speaker holes?

How bad it will splinter depends on what blade use in your saw and how good your saw is, however, I wouldn't even bother with Home Depot or Lowes birch. I've never had good luck with it and its not real birch anyway. If you want to use birch get real Baltic birch from a plywood supplier or just stick with MDF.

[Pioneerchuck]

My Lowes locally had baltic birch, not sure if thats a rarity or not, but I loved it. Works easier than MDF, less dust, much smoother cutting. Ill never use MDF again. I did notice that the bearings go out quicker on my router bits but I go to harbor freight now and just buy those cheap bits for like $4. I dont even care if I damage them.

[d-nice88]

Damn... id hate to run into weight issues with the mdf. I took out that heavy ass box in my buick and the tranny loves it. Switches gears real nice and gots that get up and go again since i took out the subs amps batts and box. And i dont know where i would find real baltic birch. If i use mdf for the box design u made me for the gmc truck will i run into weight/tranny probs with mdf ?

[Efreakingt]

Depends on the truck. I've got a full size chevy that hauls 1000lbs a day in the back and only eat up a transmission every 200,000+ miles

[Triticum Agricolam]

You could see if you can find some Arauco plywood. Its what I build most boxes out of. Its a pine based plywood with 7 plies and its a lot lighter than both MDF and birch plywood. I get mine from a plywood supplier for about $50 a sheet, in some parts of the country Home Depot does carry it though.

[donpablo]

I built mine out of birch just make sure your blades are sharp and you cut slow