Custom Box's

[chris97pittman]

Ok I'm planning on making my own box for my subs and firing them down into my hatch, what kind of wood is best, where do I find it and how much does it cost, Thanks.

 

[Geno_Talon]

I go to vo-tech for cabinet making and my friend make a custom sub box for his car. The best wood you can use is oak-plywood(3/4thick). You can get this from Homedepot and any other store's like that. Prices vary. You will probly only need to get one sheet of it and it would most likely run bout 20-40 buck's a sheet. Have fun tell us how it turns out if/when you complete it!

 

[dont need 8]

Most people I know use MDF - medium density fiber board. 3/4 inch thick is what I have used in the past.

 

[93 Talon Boy]

Yeah I agree with MDF board. I used 3/4" to build my enclosure and it is great.

 

[Mackzero]

You will want to use MDF as plywood generally "flexes" too much. I have never used it for anything in car audio if I recall. Even "back in the day" Anyway, get some 3/4" MDF, and make sure your cuts are perfect and you predrill the screw hole with a slightly smaller bit than the screw, or you will split the wood. Also countersink the heads of the screws flush with the board so when you cover the box it looks good. Use fine threaded drywall screws that are ~2" long. The screws need to be no more than 3" apart. And do not get too close to the end of the board (1.5"), it will split even if you predrill the hole. Make sure you get the boxes corners sealed good with silicon. Just get some DAP clear silicon from Walmart or the hardware store. Remember that you don't need too much to seal it, just a small bead spread in with you finger. If you really want the box to be sealed, paint the inside of it to seal the pores of the wood.

Use a thin strip of weather stripping to seal the woofer when you screw it down. Seal the terminals you use in it also with weather stripping. Good luck, let me know if you have any questions, I could more than likely answer them for you.

 

[lasteclispe]

mdf is the way 2 go. but i dont know about using screw's. because the shops here in ny charge alot of $$$$ to make these things and they all use nail gun's. if i was not going to use fiberglass for my subs i would go with 3/4 mdf.

 

[Mackzero]

Screws are MUCH stronger than nail guns. I usually use STAPLES 1/4" X 1 1/2" which is 10 times better than nails. Most people do not have a staple gun though, which is why I say use screws, besides the fact that they are the best when done right.

Just because shops charge a lot of $$$$ doesn't mean they aren't cutting corners somewhere. They are relying on the glue to hold the enclosure together which just won't cut it with high-powered/bigger woofer setups. Of course you can always use a jointer to make the sides "slide" together. I have done this a couple of times, and it is more of less a waste of time, unless you are using a CNC router. I believe Subzone and a couple other prefab box manufactures use this technique. It is easier for them to make a 10000 boxes that slide and tack together rather than have to screw or carefully staple the enclosures together.

 

[devlish]

You will want to use MDF as plywood generally "flexes" too much. I have never used it for anything in car audio if I recall. Even "back in the day" Anyway, get some 3/4" MDF, and make sure your cuts are perfect and you predrill the screw hole with a slightly smaller bit than the screw, or you will split the wood. Also countersink the heads of the screws flush with the board so when you cover the box it looks good. Use fine threaded drywall screws that are ~2" long. The screws need to be no more than 3" apart. And do not get too close to the end of the board (1.5"), it will split even if you predrill the hole. Make sure you get the boxes corners sealed good with silicon. Just get some DAP clear silicon from Walmart or the hardware store. Remember that you don't need too much to seal it, just a small bead spread in with you finger. If you really want the box to be sealed, paint the inside of it to seal the pores of the wood.

Use a thin strip of weather stripping to seal the woofer when you screw it down. Seal the terminals you use in it also with weather stripping. Good luck, let me know if you have any questions, I could more than likely answer them for you.

couldn't have put it better myself!

as for the nail gun question... i use one but only to hold the boards in place before i screw it together. to make sure everything fits snug. i also use a good amount of woodglue on all the seams. screws 3"-4" apart. for the inside, i buy Plasti-Cote SprayIn Truck Bedliner in the spray cans and cover the entire inside of the box after i silicone the seams. seals in nicely! (i get whatever color is on sale that week, they all work the same!)

BTW, Oak plywood would suck. solid Oak is probably the strongest... but $$$

 

[Mackzero]

couldn't have put it better myself!

as for the nail gun question... i use one but only to hold the boards in place before i screw it together. to make sure everything fits snug. i also use a good amount of woodglue on all the seams. screws 3"-4" apart. for the inside, i buy Plasti-Cote SprayIn Truck Bedliner in the spray cans and cover the entire inside of the box after i silicone the seams. seals in nicely! (i get whatever color is on sale that week, they all work the same!)

BTW, Oak plywood would suck. solid Oak is probably the strongest... but $$$

Couldn't have put that better myself either!! I have also done the spray in liner thing, or spray in Dynamat, etc. I also use the stapler to tach the boards before I screw them. Some boxes you can get away with the stapler only, just not boxes for like a W7 sub or something like it.

 

[frigginlazer]

I normally use one screw in the corners to hold it untill I can put clamps on all the sides. Oh yea, guess I forgot to say that I run a 1/4 bead of liquid Nails on ALL the edges first. never had a problem of blowing a seal or the glue not holding. Heck the wood tends to break before the glue lets go!

As for what wood, I would never use Ply. to flexible. I use 3/4 MDF of fiberglass.

Mike