I have some oregon planks sitting around and was thinking this would be an excellent material for making a sub box for my 12" subwoofer.
The oregan is 50mm thick and i want to finish it with a clear laquer.

What do you guys think?
Should look better than a MDF box.
Graedat

Provided it's well-build and doesn't leak air, i'm guessing that anything 50mm thick would probably make a darn solid box..

Yer assuming it doesnt leak it should be fine. Although it'd probably be way to much work considering. Personally, i'd just use the MDF

Don't listen to him. For Adam it's too much work just to hide wiring

I have all the woodworking tools to jopin the timber professionally and run it all through a thicknesser to create a good finish, i have all the clamps to glue the box together so when i finally finish it i will post some pics.

mmmmmmm, should come up a treat

anything over 15 kg should be ok for a box
(as long as it doesn't leak - be sure to seal around the woofers and cable entry too

I'm curious as to how wide these planks are. (i'm assuming about 150-200mm) I realise you have all the right tools and are well versed in woodwork skills including biscuit jointing but unless that timber is extremely well seasoned , dressed and sealed, the joints only have to open up slightly with shrinkage and it will leak like a sieve. Instant Toy box / Tea chest. Good luck with it, it will certainly look the goods (always had a soft spot for warm natural timber tones )

Maybe glass up the insides for that reason...

I wouldn't use biscuits for a sub box
mortise joint look nice

as bob suggested with glass on the inside you shouldnt have any problemos at all I would believe anyway

Good call

I've had a lot of experience with making things in solid timber and I'm not sure if Oregen is the best timber to use. Its very hard to get smooth. See what its like after going through the thicknesser. I've always found that Oregen will still leave the grain protruding which isn't good when you don't want gaps.


I totally agree with not using biscuits, they would leave small hollow pockets which would weaken the structure and could lead to leakage. They are only when you don't want to use screws for good cabinet-making. Mortise joints may look nice but I'm not sure if I'd go that way either. Quite difficult to do and would give more room for possible leaks.

Personally I'd go with straight flat joints covered completely and evenly with glue and I would use a combination of cramps and really long screws during construction. You need to be able to put it together quickly so the glue doesn't start drying (depends what the weather's like) Pre-drill the holes for the screws and make up the box before you glue it to make sure everythings the right size.

There's a heap of suggestions I could make but if you've got all the woodworking gear I'm sure I'm telling you stuff you already know.

It should be fun
cheers


Doug

I think your all getting confused here. It is good practice to use biscuits when edge jointing planks, as is commonly used for making strip table tops. This is what he is basically trying to do.
Mortice & Tenon joints are End joints, not advisable for long edges.
Considering the box may flex under SPL and the timber may shrink I would avoid just Butt & Glueing the edge as it will no doubt open up.
As I said b4, you'll need to Biscuit Joint or even Tongue & Groove the edges for maximum strength.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Joinery

hey guys. i am only new to the forum and so far i love it. the box would definately look good and something different to carpet and painted 'glass. i think if you want to try anything then try it. if it doesnt do the job then maybe a nice coffee table!

There are different ways of doing things and although biscuits are good in some applications I don't think they are necessary here.

First of all I should re-phrase what I said about using screws. I would use them permanently (not just during construction) as opposed to biscuits. There are a couple of reasons why.

If the timber warps a biscuit won't stop a joint from opening up (ie you would still need to use screws anyway) And also, a box is a very strong structure so it already has the type of strength you get from biscuits, especially as this stuff is 50mm thick - and with that in mind, I can't see this thing flexing.

The main thing to do is use plenty of glue and get the screws and clamps on fast and do them up nice and tight and leave it for as long as possible. Nothing worse than glue starting to dry before you get the clamps on. If this is done right you shouldn't need anything. Glue is very strong and there's more chance that the timber will break away than the glue giving way.

It might be a good idea to use half lap joints for the sides (not the long edges) End grain doesn't glue very well. (When mortise joints were suggested I think he might have been thinking of dove-tail joints like they use in drawers) It might also help to run something like 2x1 or Scotia around the inside joints. That would reduce the chance of warping and help seal it as well.

So that's how I would do it but personally I wouldn't use Oregon its a bitch to work with, the grain tends to peel away and your blades need to be very sharp to get smooth edges. But if you're getting it for free have a go it will be a good experience.

cheers


Doug

I have a Furniture maker in the family who may disagree with you. Glue & Screw or dovetailing is common for right angle joints & corners of concealed Furniture parts, but as i said before he is planking side by side to form a panel i.e. Laminating. The idea is to conceal the joint as much as possible to make it look like one slab of timber. Dovetailing or screwing would look unsightly on a flat exposed timber panel. how do you screw or dovetail two planks together side by side on the flat and conceal the joint?. Tongue & Groove or Biscuiting are more commonly used for this method of constructing joins in panels & tops whilst providing more surface area and strength to the joint than a butt joint.

i agree. i would bevel the edges and glue and screw braces in the corners-inside of course! the only problem is that you can't do one side. i am a sheetmetal fabricator and have worked with stainless for the past 5 years ans a stailess corner trim with some neat socket head screws(alen key) would look nice with the polished timber as i have made a fair bit of furniture for myself with the stainless-timber combination and it looks really neat. and you would still be able to seal the inside with fibreglass through your sub hole.

I too am a furniture maker by trade(16yrs) and laminating 50mm Oregan planmks for a sub box is crazy. a whole lot of work for nothing.
just remember that timber moves and when it does it will likely to shrink in width ways causing timber warping and twists and bows.
It get very hot in a car boot!!!!!!!!!
If you do decide to do the excercise (which i have already done) just butt joint it and use a crap load of glue.
(and glass the inside)
GOOD LUCK

Well DB Jay you've thrown the spanner in the works. I've been busy typing up a post offline and this is what I was going to say


Yeah I was only talking about right-angle joints but even for laminating I still wouldn’t use biscuits because they might leak....?

Whenever I make something I machine the timber till its dead straight so I think I avoid all the usual problems. But if you’re laminating timber that’s even slightly curved or likely to warp then tongue and groove is the way to go. That should also reduce the chance of leaking altogether.

I very rarely use biscuits ‘cos they always give me trouble so maybe I’m going overboard about not using them because after all this is a sub box, not a musical instrument. But even with all these suggestions, we still don’t know if Graedat even has a biscuit cutter!

cheers


Doug

I didn't even think of that I guess like you said before Doug, the glue is generally much stronger than the wood itself, so whatever is easiest for him to achieve .

I should have got back to this sooner but haven’t had the time.


Yes, solid timber shrinks, expands and warps, that’s the whole point of this discussion. I believe you can make a good job of it without resorting to fibreglassing but there’s loads of things I haven’t said yet. It would be good to hear from Graedat about his experience, tools available and condition of the timber but I may as well explain how I would do it a bit further anyway. Remember this isn't a piece of furniture, it's something out of the ordinary, so it needs some extra-ordinary ways to do it.

If the timber has big knots in it, is badly warped or bowed, I wouldn’t use it. The first thing to do is make the timber dead straight on a planer, a thicknesser won’t do this. I wouldn’t use biscuits because when used with lots of glue they expand and make it darn hard to close the joint up. When you’re making furniture you don’t use so much glue and you rely on a combination of the biscuits (or dowels) and glue for strength.

Tongue and groove can give you the same problem of expanding so if you need to laminate the timber, perhaps half lapping would be better but you would lose some width.

Biscuits help in the process more than anything. If you try to glue two bits of wood together without something to “locate” them, they move around all over the place when you wind the clamp up. I would use a few big 10x4 screws and mobs of clamps.

It’s a good idea to make the box up before gluing and pre-drill all the holes for screws. What I do is take one or two panels off at a time and glue them in place and work around the box making sure I don’t miss any edges.

I would get some 2x2 and split it diagonally to put around the inside corners like Scotia, once again with heaps of glue and appropriate sized screws. This would strengthen the box, stop leakages and help stop standing waves. “Charger” uses PVC pipe cut in half for this purpose. You would put all the “Scotia” in, then put the last side on and access through the sub hole to screw the last pieces in place.

So there’s just a few suggestions about how I would tackle the project. I don’t see any need for fiberglass - I wouldn’t touch it, I would probably be overcome by the fumes, have a massive asthma attack and die. But as you said Mosoto, whatevers easiest for him.

cheers


Doug