MDF and Baltic Birch and flatpacks, oh my!

[carbidetooth]

Have you actually eyeballed it? If not, can you request a sample? I bought some plywood with essentially the same description sight-unseen and it turned out to have paper-thin outer plies that peeled up fairly easily.

Duke, those photos are of the product in my shop. It appears to be quite unlike the Asia produced wanna-be stuff of yesteryear. Often referred to in industry as China Birch, it was awful stuff. Machining this will tell me a lot and that will happen soon as I turn that sheet on the router into a roll around cabinet for the mechanical side of my workspace.

 

[carbidetooth]

MDF is many times denser than OSB. In the construction industry, the air permeability of OSB is a real problem in many places and many (expensive) processes to eliminate this fail in the long run. Surface coatings in particular tend to peel off again over time.
The price difference to MDF also does not justify the subsequent effort in loudspeaker/housing construction.

Having been in the residential building biz for some time I think I have a decent understanding of OSB and associated properties. Can you cite some resources for coating failures you mention? Products like Zip sheathing and Advantech subflooring have a fairly long track history at this point. I have a workbench top that is OSB coated with Shellac and it's showing no signs of coating failure.
My point about MDF was to demonstrate that while we may think of it as so dense as to be "air tight", that's not absolute. I'm confident I could accomplish what I suggested but would agree that time and material spent wouldn't represent a good value. I do unusual things so I can learn and see for myself.

 

[carbidetooth]

I would think cabinet building would be a problem for many wannabe diy speaker builders - due to lack of suitable space, tools ans skills. I certainly fall into this category, living in a small flat in a large city. I would need access to either a supervised workshop or an affordable custom cabinet builder.

I think your assessment holds true for many. It seems to me that, ultimately, speaker building is about some bit of passion for woodworking. From a business standpoint, the hobby just isn't big enough to solely support a cabinet making venture. If it was lucrative, there would be many.

 

[Roland68]

Having been in the residential building biz for some time I think I have a decent understanding of OSB and associated properties. Can you cite some resources for coating failures you mention? Products like Zip sheathing and Advantech subflooring have a fairly long track history at this point. I have a workbench top that is OSB coated with Shellac and it's showing no signs of coating failure.
My point about MDF was to demonstrate that while we may think of it as so dense as to be "air tight", that's not absolute. I'm confident I could accomplish what I suggested but would agree that time and material spent wouldn't represent a good value. I do unusual things so I can learn and see for myself.

I only know it from European products and it doesn't necessarily apply to products on other continents.
OSB was used for a long time as a cheap wood substitute without recognizing the problem of air permeability. Google throws up enough results for this.
You misunderstood the part about the coating error, I was referring exclusively to the specially developed processes for subsequent sealing (air impermeability) of installed OSB boards, which is probably often not a permanent solution.

 

[DonDish]

I’ve been hanging around here a while, but only occasionally post. Some may know me from my YouTube videos where I mostly yap about DIY speaker building for which I have a weirdly unnatural attraction.

I cut my teeth in the custom cabinet world, later making a living as a marine mechanic which led to a sales position for same company. Ill-suited for that as a steady diet I reverted to my former passion and area of expertise and hung my own shingle as a remodeling contractor. Now doing what I want when I want for the most part.

My interest now is to do what I can to encourage DIY audio and perhaps provide a gateway to aspiring speaker builders. To that end, I’ve cut and sold over 400 flatpack cabinets for GR Research X-LS Encore. No, I’m not affiliated with them, but have spoken with the owner extensively over the years.

I contacted Rick Sykora when I first caught wind of Directiva project. My hope is to produce some parts or flatpack cabinets and provide them to enthusiasts at essentially my cost while satisfying the woodworker in me…and I’m a fussy SOB! While many in this hobby appear to think a CNC router is some magical tool, I can tell you that from a business perspective, its strong suite is mass production, not one-off projects. To be clear, should I embark on a project like Directiva, it will lean toward the more elegant side, both in material and design. I have little interest in producing a bunch of rectangles like you’ll find elsewhere. It also has to fit in my “mini mass-production” framework to be anywhere near a reasonable value.

Concerning raw materials; Things went a little nuts during Covid. Supplies dwindled and became more expensive. A lot more expensive! Baltic Birch plywood has more than doubled from what I used to pay, and supply is sketchy with the Ukraine war. All Baltic Birch originates from that area of the world. The trees and the mills are there. Supply of my favored MDF for speaker building, Ranger Board Platinum, has stabilized, albeit at a higher price.

All that for this: I’m happy to field questions where I can shed light and hope to produce something to nurture the DIY community. No hidden agendas, no ego trips, no BS.

Baltic birch is from Russia, and they are under sanctions. I bought a bunch before supply went dry. Maybe someone will pick up production. Or else it may take a while. For my projects I can use pine plywood or even whole wood. Poplar is the worst I came across, even found staples in it, plus joints are simply overlapped and pressed to thickness. Not like the finger jointed birch stuff. Sad, but its the new brave new idiot world I guess. Some just favor destruction over creation.