I saw this and was wondering what folks thought of using it for speaker cabinets: http://www.calibamboo.com/bambooplywood.html
Bamboo is really hard and stiff... I would think it would be great for a speaker but maybe not? Thoughts?
Check out the Ascend Acoustics forum.
Their Sierra standmounts use bamboo construction and reportedly was a PITA, but worth it once they got past the learning curve.
Sounds like a good project for an extreme DIYer.
Sounds like a good idea. It is extremely dense and stiff so it should be a good cabinet material, easy to damp. But also very heavy and maybe difficult to finish? Hard on blades and bits? Thanks for the link.
JLM, I searched on Ascend forum for tech info about bamboo, couldn't find anything except talk about finishing and color. Do you have a link about why they are using it?
Thanks
Rich
From the Salk Song Tower options page:
Bamboo construction
Bamboo is fast becoming a very popular material for speaker building. It is renewable (a
grass), high-mass, inert and low VOC. It can be veneered or finished in its natural or dyed state.
$300
Seems to be a very interesting material for enclosures. Will the labor and tool cost outweigh the cost of the material ? Good point Richadoo. Indonesian hardwood ply is another recent find in material as well.
charles
Quote from: richidoo on January 09, 2012, 09:03:17 AM
Sounds like a good idea. It is extremely dense and stiff so it should be a good cabinet material, easy to damp. But also very heavy and maybe difficult to finish? Hard on blades and bits? Thanks for the link.
JLM, I searched on Ascend forum for tech info about bamboo, couldn't find anything except talk about finishing and color. Do you have a link about why they are using it?
Thanks
Rich
It is used because it is considered a Greener material. Salk I believe charges about 700.00 extra for Bamboo
Quote from: evan1 on January 09, 2012, 01:14:43 PM
It is used because it is considered a Greener material. Salk I believe charges about 700.00 extra for Bamboo
I wonder if it also may have different resonant characteristics than traditional cabinet materials (MDF) making it better, or worse, than those(?)
Quote from: evan1 on January 09, 2012, 01:14:43 PM
Quote from: richidoo on January 09, 2012, 09:03:17 AM
Sounds like a good idea. It is extremely dense and stiff so it should be a good cabinet material, easy to damp. But also very heavy and maybe difficult to finish? Hard on blades and bits? Thanks for the link.
JLM, I searched on Ascend forum for tech info about bamboo, couldn't find anything except talk about finishing and color. Do you have a link about why they are using it?
Thanks
Rich
It is used because it is considered a Greener material. Salk I believe charges about 700.00 extra for Bamboo
Well one of the reasons. Good call. The material is cheap as hell. The only only Bamboo i we knew came in a nice package. $700 extra , really.
charles
Quote from: Barry (NJ) on January 09, 2012, 01:18:24 PM
Quote from: evan1 on January 09, 2012, 01:14:43 PM
It is used because it is considered a Greener material. Salk I believe charges about 700.00 extra for Bamboo
I wonder if it also may have different resonant characteristics than traditional cabinet materials (MDF) making it better, or worse, than those(?)
I may be wrong on the price . I t it confused with something else. See what happens when you give the wrong info , its like playing the game telephone
The Nomad Audio Ronin open baffle speakers were done in bamboo and i thought the really looked nice :thumb:
Quote from: Putz on January 09, 2012, 10:23:04 AM
From the Salk Song Tower options page:
Bamboo construction
Bamboo is fast becoming a very popular material for speaker building. It is renewable (a
grass), high-mass, inert and low VOC. It can be veneered or finished in its natural or dyed state.
$300
Hello, Anyone here? I listed the price Salk charges in my earlier post.
Here's the link from David Fabrikant:
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?p=23288#post23288
Quote from: JLM on January 09, 2012, 04:45:10 PM
Here's the link from David Fabrikant:
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showthread.php?p=23288#post23288
Thanks JLM!! That is interesting.
Shortcut straight to the bamboo part:
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showpost.php?p=22500&postcount=1
Very interesting about the rigidity and non-resonance characteristics of the material, as well as the density and difficulty working with it. Maybe we'll see more of these in the future.
I've thought about this before when I installed bamboo flooring in my basement... and then I was looking for a decorative piece of wood for backmounting some art recently... and bam, there it is again...
The plywood sheets linked above would be ready to go, no additional finishing needed... just cut and glue and they already look nice. Plus, they came in some pretty thick sheets. Bamboo is hard like a rock... It has more of a 'clack' sound when you tap it... rather than wood that has more of a 'doonk' sound. Then I saw they had a speaker implemented..
Green schmean, I just think it'd be a good speaker enclosure... and for a DIY'er, worth the extra tool costs.. For a mass-producing manufacturer, maybe not.
-C
I plan on building a pair of speakers from "Plyboo" (as I've heard it called) one of these days. Looks like fun to work with. Although I think every sharp edge in my workshop would soon be in the trash. :lol:
I've also seen guys cover their MDF speakers with Bamboo flooring. That's a cheaper alternative to the Plyboo, and much easier on the saw blades as there's less cutting.
Bob
p.s. Do a search for Panzerholtz plywood if you want to see something neat. The Germans use wood to line tanks and armored cars. I'd pee myself if I could build something with that stuff. To date, there are no North American distributors that sell it.
I thought this was close? http://www.vandaking.com/s-490-delignit-beech-pin-block.html
Yip. That stuff is cool too. The speakers I'm building right now were *almost* made from pin blocks. I was trying hard to get the guy to choose that stuff. :lol:
Bob
Here's west coast speaker maker using bamboo now hooked up with Bottlehead:
http://www.blumenstein-ultra-fi.com/
Good link tybee! Thanks
I have known Clark Blumenstein for a few years, he is a very special person. A true artist inside and out.
Quote from: Barry (NJ) on January 09, 2012, 01:18:24 PM
Quote from: evan1 on January 09, 2012, 01:14:43 PM
It is used because it is considered a Greener material. Salk I believe charges about 700.00 extra for Bamboo
I wonder if it also may have different resonant characteristics than traditional cabinet materials (MDF) making it better, or worse, than those(?)
Laminated toilet paper is better than MDF, or at least equal. Seriously, I hate MDF ... and if you knew how easily air passes right through a 3/4" sheet of MDF when laid on a vacuum clamp CNC table, you'd NEVER use it for a speaker cabinet.
I've played with bamboo ply's before, and don't think they offer anything over true Baltic Birch ply. Either is a huge step up from MDF. Another product you should be able to get easily from local hardwood stores is MDO, Medium Density Overlay. It's a nice quality ply with each face covered in a resin (epoxy) soaked paper veneer. The paper is then applied to the ply under heat and pressure, and is very hard ... completely moisure resistant. In fact most road signs are now made from MDO. It's an excellent surface for painting, or for applying veneer, and it's relatively inexpensive ... and very strong.