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balsa wood bass cabinet
- Thread starter sokolasty
- Start date
i suspect that the biggest problem with something like that is a cabinet needs to be very rigid in order properly produce the low frequencies of your bass at volumes more than bedroom level. Balsa would probably shake apart. Also...it would be very fragile and probably wouldn't hold up to the riggors of giging. I am sure someone that has built a cab can comment.
Personally, I can't imagine a cabinet built from balsa would survive even loading a driver into it. 
Although if it was well layered with fiberglass it might be rigid enough.
At any rate, are you sure it wasn't Baltic Birch? Baltic birch is very lightweight while still being quite dead. Its a nice alternative to MDF or HDF, but its expensive and can be hard to obtain.
Although if it was well layered with fiberglass it might be rigid enough.
At any rate, are you sure it wasn't Baltic Birch? Baltic birch is very lightweight while still being quite dead. Its a nice alternative to MDF or HDF, but its expensive and can be hard to obtain.
Gliders and boats are made out of balsa - it is apparently strong enough. I am not sure about the stiffnes (Young module). I thought about building a balsa cab, but I would like to learn, if anyone saw / heard / heard about such a cab. AFAIR I caculated, that a a neo loaded 410 with 18mm (3/4") thick walls would weight 12kg.
Sorry, I wasn't being facetious. Balsa simply doesn't have the density to prevent resonance. Even balsa that is 2" thick can easily be broken in half by hand. Its lightness is desirable, and gliders, models, et cetera can do well with construction from balsa, but a bass cabinet needs much more strength than I personally believe it can withstand.
The only caveat would be to sandwich it within layers of fiberglass. I built a cabinet out of polystyrene extruded foam using this technique. Build the shape out of foam and then layer up the fiberglass overtop to stiffen and strengthen it. But why use balsa when foam insulation boards are about 1/100 the price?
I'm not saying someone couldn't find a way to prove me wrong, but I don't believe balsa would be a practical alternative.
Just my 2 cents...
The only caveat would be to sandwich it within layers of fiberglass. I built a cabinet out of polystyrene extruded foam using this technique. Build the shape out of foam and then layer up the fiberglass overtop to stiffen and strengthen it. But why use balsa when foam insulation boards are about 1/100 the price?
I'm not saying someone couldn't find a way to prove me wrong, but I don't believe balsa would be a practical alternative.
Just my 2 cents...
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
Check the prices on these and you'll see why not.
http://www.audiofederation.com/dealership/prices/marten/index.htm
Those audiofederation ones look nice, but as soon as you see the price, you can tell they are for people with more dollars than sense...
Carbon fiber is considerably more expensive than fiberglass and is about 30-40 lighter, but its still doable. The real benefit is its strength vs standard fiberglass. A composite cab made from fiberglass might only weigh about 30-40% more in the weight of the fiber choice, but that's it. When you consider that your fiber might only contribute a couple of pounds to the entire thing, the cost of proper, high-quality carbon fiber immediately becomes quite prohibitive.
The other thing to consider is that not all carbon fiber construction is created equally. Commercial offerings are often a few layers of fiberglass build up that are painted black and then covered with one layer of carbon fiber. The other thing that makes a big difference is the resin choice. Epoxy resin with pure carbon fiber construction is the sh!t. Polyester resin with mixed construction will not get you any further ahead than fiberglass except for adding to your cost.
There are also other alternative fibers of choice like kevlar mat, silk-glass (Avio-fiber) which can be interspersed with true carbon fiber mat or regular fiberglass mat.
At any rate, its extremely time consuming and would not be efficient to manufacture in quantity, but then again we may see more designs come onto the market as techniques improve.
The cabinet I built with fiberglass over foam insulation probably weighed no more than about 15lbs complete without the drivers (4x12). The bracing was 3/4" square aluminum tubing and the internal surfaces had two layers of glass mat while the outside had four layers. The baffle was MDF and accounted for most of the weight. The bummer was that it took me about a month from start to finish to complete to the point where it was presentable. I don't know if I'd do that again...
Carbon fiber is considerably more expensive than fiberglass and is about 30-40 lighter, but its still doable. The real benefit is its strength vs standard fiberglass. A composite cab made from fiberglass might only weigh about 30-40% more in the weight of the fiber choice, but that's it. When you consider that your fiber might only contribute a couple of pounds to the entire thing, the cost of proper, high-quality carbon fiber immediately becomes quite prohibitive.
The other thing to consider is that not all carbon fiber construction is created equally. Commercial offerings are often a few layers of fiberglass build up that are painted black and then covered with one layer of carbon fiber. The other thing that makes a big difference is the resin choice. Epoxy resin with pure carbon fiber construction is the sh!t. Polyester resin with mixed construction will not get you any further ahead than fiberglass except for adding to your cost.
There are also other alternative fibers of choice like kevlar mat, silk-glass (Avio-fiber) which can be interspersed with true carbon fiber mat or regular fiberglass mat.
At any rate, its extremely time consuming and would not be efficient to manufacture in quantity, but then again we may see more designs come onto the market as techniques improve.
The cabinet I built with fiberglass over foam insulation probably weighed no more than about 15lbs complete without the drivers (4x12). The bracing was 3/4" square aluminum tubing and the internal surfaces had two layers of glass mat while the outside had four layers. The baffle was MDF and accounted for most of the weight. The bummer was that it took me about a month from start to finish to complete to the point where it was presentable. I don't know if I'd do that again...
Gliders and boats are made out of balsa that is covered with fiberglass; the balsa isn't used as a structural element, it's merely a form for the fiberglass skin.
billfitzmaurice
Commercial User
- Sep 15, 2004
- 16,860
- 278
- 76
- Disclosures
- Owner, Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
There was a PA company a few years back, the name escapes me, very expensive. I haven't seen the name lately so my guess is that they've gone under. JBL Vertecs are built from composite honeycomb, and they aren't exactly cheap either. The problem with using F117 technology is you get F117 prices. The aerospace industry lives on this stuff, uses the vast majority of what's available and that keeps the prices sky high. Pun intended.
I thought that Balsa wasn't truly a wood though. Hmm...off to Wikipedia to check....
I can't see how you could attach drivers and controls to it without seriously reinforcing it though.
[edit]
I was wrong. It is from a type ov evergreen, and get this....(quoted from wikipedia)
Despite being very soft, balsa is classified as a hardwood, the softest commercial hardwood.
I can't see how you could attach drivers and controls to it without seriously reinforcing it though.
[edit]
I was wrong. It is from a type ov evergreen, and get this....(quoted from wikipedia)
Despite being very soft, balsa is classified as a hardwood, the softest commercial hardwood.
I'm sorry, I don't have any pics of any of the audio speakers or cabinets I've made save the last couple, and they are just standard MDF. Most of what I've built was done over 15 years ago, with only three in the last 5 years. Times change, and I've been getting back into it. I wish I had pics of everything, but I just never thought of it back then.
I can tell you that what got me started on the idea was the Tri-Magnum three wheeled automobile that was built by Robert Riley. Link Removed I followed his techniques for glass over foam composite with a few tricks of my own, namely the aluminum bracing. Send me a PM and I'd be happy to elaborate on the construction process.
Looking back over my post above, there's an error, it was a 2x12, not a 4x12...
I can tell you that what got me started on the idea was the Tri-Magnum three wheeled automobile that was built by Robert Riley. Link Removed I followed his techniques for glass over foam composite with a few tricks of my own, namely the aluminum bracing. Send me a PM and I'd be happy to elaborate on the construction process.
Looking back over my post above, there's an error, it was a 2x12, not a 4x12...
