If you know how to work with solid wood it should work fine.
It is a softwood, but that, from my experience, is not an issue. These are Douglas Fir (a pine, Spruce & Doug Fir [a pine] are interchangeable (in the construction business anyway).
The fellow who built these knows what he is doing. He has built MANY solid wood enclosures.
But do note Joines comment. Solid wood moves and you need to keep the humidy at a heslthy point for the wood to minimize it moving.
dave
It is a softwood, but that, from my experience, is not an issue. These are Douglas Fir (a pine, Spruce & Doug Fir [a pine] are interchangeable (in the construction business anyway).
The fellow who built these knows what he is doing. He has built MANY solid wood enclosures.
But do note Joines comment. Solid wood moves and you need to keep the humidy at a heslthy point for the wood to minimize it moving.
dave
Spruce isn't a wood that would have come to my mind for speaker construction but if I had ready access to good tight grained stock at a good price, I'd consider it. If one were bucking convention and building resonant boxes, it would likely be perfect. All but the most contrarian luthiers would likely agree.
The strength to weight ratio is excellent and many trust their lives on it. Its the number one wood used in aircraft construction.
Regarding solid wood in general, I'd allow any imported lumber to acclimate to your locale for at least a month or two to stabilize. Using a sealing finish, inside and out will help minimize movement over time as well.
The strength to weight ratio is excellent and many trust their lives on it. Its the number one wood used in aircraft construction.
Regarding solid wood in general, I'd allow any imported lumber to acclimate to your locale for at least a month or two to stabilize. Using a sealing finish, inside and out will help minimize movement over time as well.
Im actually building spruce speakers right now, cherry veneer over it and not yet finished.
I had sheets of this in my garage for few years, and finally decided to use them in a project.
I have no idea how it will sound compared to baltic birch plywood, but based on this test as pine is quite similar to spruce im not too worried..
(Edit: i just noticed it is pine plywood in video.. Eh.. anyway, if it is too resonant i will just add bitumen sheets to walls..)
I had sheets of this in my garage for few years, and finally decided to use them in a project.
I have no idea how it will sound compared to baltic birch plywood, but based on this test as pine is quite similar to spruce im not too worried..
(Edit: i just noticed it is pine plywood in video.. Eh.. anyway, if it is too resonant i will just add bitumen sheets to walls..)
Spruce is a very good wood for loudspeakers. It’s light and strong, and when properly dried is very stable. You may want to make your box fronts and sides a little thicker, 1” or so, than you would with a hardwood like oak or maple. I like spruce, I think it’s underrated as a furniture wood. If quartersawn it will be exceptional in appearance and strength per weight. Having said that, you can make great loudspeakers from Home Depot studs if you have the time.
Hmm, spruce MOE = 550 ksi (0.789 m psi)
'Our' typical ~0.75" no void BB plywood MOE = 1.8 m
0.75*(1.8/0.789)^0.33 = ~0.9846" (~25 mm), so 1" thick works for me and* as long as the Maple is no void.
'Our' typical ~0.75" no void BB plywood MOE = 1.8 m
0.75*(1.8/0.789)^0.33 = ~0.9846" (~25 mm), so 1" thick works for me and* as long as the Maple is no void.
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mmh wel if quartersawn, properly dry (les than 12% humidity) it is possible,
be aware that the wood moves in in orientation of the grain differently,
this is important for you cabinet design, and choice of grain direction depending of the position of the piece.
this shows the measurement differentes in % of the hohle piece per 1% humidity change
screrws or glue will not prevent the wood from moving, it will just crack the glue / wood or screw.
greetings Jonas
be aware that the wood moves in in orientation of the grain differently,
this is important for you cabinet design, and choice of grain direction depending of the position of the piece.
this shows the measurement differentes in % of the hohle piece per 1% humidity change
| Wood | tangential | radial | longitudinal | |
| spruce | 0,33 | 0,16 | 0,01 | |
| pine | 0,29 | 0,17 | 0,01 | |
| oak | 0,35 | 0,20 | 0,01 | |
| beech | 0,45 | 0,22 | 0 |
screrws or glue will not prevent the wood from moving, it will just crack the glue / wood or screw.
greetings Jonas
So 1" thick should be safe?Hmm, spruce MOE = 550 ksi (0.789 m psi)
'Our' typical ~0.75" no void BB plywood MOE = 1.8 m
0.75*(1.8/0.789)^0.33 = ~0.9846" (~25 mm), so 1" thick works for me and* as long as the Maple is no void.
Or thicker is better?
I want to use this plywood in 3/4" thick for the front and rear.
https://userweb.117.ne.jp/y-s/base-12P-e.html
Then 1" thick spruce for the box
Any thoughts?
https://userweb.117.ne.jp/y-s/base-12P-e.html
Then 1" thick spruce for the box
Any thoughts?
Birch is totally different compared to poplar plywoods.
There is also marine grade (also called meranti plywood), which works fine but the finish is not as nearly as nice.
And tons of other choices.
In the end there is (as always) no "best", they just all have their pros and cons.
That being said, I wouldn't recommend using just solid spruce since it's so extremely soft.
I guess it could work if you just brace the crap out of it.
But finding good quality spruce is not only difficult, also very expensive.
For that much trouble and/or money, I would much rather use plywood since it's a lot more stable as well as much more stiff.
When there is a tight budget, I always like to use hybrid approaches.
Use a good quality (V313) MDF board with something like a birch layer on top.
Or use the meranti plywood as a base and finish it off with a good quality MDF (or HDF) or solid wood layer.
If you like the looks of spruce, this would also be my advice to do, using it as just a finishing layer.