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I'm going to make several head cabs and some 2x10 and 4x12 speaker cabs. The closest place that I can find selling Baltic Birch Plywood is almost a 6 hour round trip. Shipping it here is ridiculously expensive. So my options are Home Depot Purebond Birch Ply which is a birch veneer and some unknown wood and soy glue inside. I can get poplar, pine, hard maple solid wood no problem... I'm thinking to avoid the Purebond if at all possible? Has anyone made a speaker cab out of this stuff?

Careful if you buy the home depot purebond. Check the sheets carefully for any signs of splitting apart on the layers of wood that make up the plywood. I have seen this happen of the sheets that only had 3 or 4 layers of ply at home depot.

Happy New Year!

Cheers

Guy

I prefer solid pine for heads and open back cabs--widely available and easy to work. If making a closed back cabs, you may prefer a more solid and resonance damping material like plywood.

I would avoid the plywood at the big box store. The thing about real Baltic birch plywood is the number of layers, which are about 2x what you'll get at the big box and the quality of materials making up the layers isn't there in the big box store product.

The best lumber you'll find at the big box store will be in the largest boards you can find, 2x12, or 1x12, and long -- 12' or 16'. I suggest looking for SPF (spruce, pine, fir) which is normally more white in color and with narrower growth rings. You'll also find Douglas fir, more red in color, but generally with fewer growth rings per inch -- not nearly as nice looking at SPF. If you aren't sure what's what, check the mill stamp on the wood. I'd use this before the plywood.

Regrettably, due to the disturbance in the supply chain and demand for wood, the price of lumber seems to have doubled in the last few months. On the bright side, you don't need that much to build a cabinet.

I found a place an hour away that has a bunch of good quality plywood and exotic woods... its called Scroungers in Asheville NC if anyone else is looking and lives nearby.

I'm a BB ply or 'nothin' guy on plywood. The construction grade will have voids that you won't see [unless you cut across them] which could make odd resonance issues. Another great wood store for American and exotic hardwoods is Jefferies in south Knoxville TN. They also carry BB.

Russ

Has anyone used the "Whiteboard" at home depot? It's a very lightweight mystery wood ply, light in color, with no detectable voids.

Geeze wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 2:05 pm I'm a BB ply or 'nothin' guy on plywood. The construction grade will have voids that you won't see [unless you cut across them] which could make odd resonance issues. Another great wood store for American and exotic hardwoods is Jefferies in south Knoxville TN. They also carry BB.

Russ

Great, thanks, I'll check them out!

i generally use home depot 3/4" "sandeply"
inner plys not void free but it seems to work well enough, cheaper than dimensional pine and not prone to cupping, sturdier as well
at about 48 bucks a sheet is cheaper, and they'll rip it for you on that super need saw for sheet goods (much nicer and easier than i could ever do on my table saw)
would i build a closed back 4x12 with it? no, but with how far out of favor big cabs are these days I'd just buy one anyway (often can be found for good deals when purchasing head + cab(s) off craigslist)
for combos and even a 1x15 it's served me well, and once tolex is on it looks just the same

dan46n2 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:50 am The closest place that I can find selling Baltic Birch Plywood is almost a 6 hour round trip.

Does that stuff even exist as a retail product in the real world? I’ve sure never seen it anywhere.

drew wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:25 am

dan46n2 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:50 am The closest place that I can find selling Baltic Birch Plywood is almost a 6 hour round trip.

Does that stuff even exist as a retail product in the real world? I’ve sure never seen it anywhere.

I think retail stores used to carry it but it's been years, maybe someone else has a better timeline? I ended up going to Jeffries and they had had a bunch of different thickness Baltic Birch 5x5 sheets. The price there and the 4x8 sheets that Scroungers carried were pretty close to the same price as the Purebond stuff.

FWIW, price on a 4X8 panel of BB 5/8" thick in Portland, Oregon as of yesterday = $64.

drew wrote: ↑Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:25 am

dan46n2 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 07, 2021 5:50 am The closest place that I can find selling Baltic Birch Plywood is almost a 6 hour round trip.

Does that stuff even exist as a retail product in the real world? I’ve sure never seen it anywhere.

Both Capital City Lumber and Woodcraft carry it here in Raleigh. CCL also have Finnish birch, but myself - I prefer pine for all but baffles.