[JackRabbit]

I have never seen this, but I am not sure why it wouldn't work.

I want to make the front face and top of my sub box out of polished or brushed 1/4" stainless steel. I would make the sides and bottom out of 1" MDF. I have a shop I used to work at that has tons of stainless laying around and they have the best welders and breaks in town, so they could do a good job without distorting it. Also I could do the whole thing with only a single continuous weld, so distortion shouldn't be a problem.

I know rigidness is the key on sub boxes, but 1/4" stainless is as rigid or more than 1" MDF, so does anyone see any reasons it can't be done? I think it would look so sweet!

 

[firestorm]

I'm not too sure, but I think that the boxes are supposed to be Thick and dense. Not tooo ridged as metal is. However, I know ppl make whole sides of boxes out of plexiglass so i don't see why you couldn't make it out of metal. Not sure how you would seal the cracks between the metal and the MDF. Just make sure to line the metal with poly-fil. They will prolly reflect the waves more than MDF.
That would look pretty sweet, but I would check with somebody who knows there audio before I started welding.

 

[B-Lo]

Resonation's a *****. Bad idea unless you dynamat 6 layers on the inside.

 

[JackRabbit]

good ideas guys. I will have to put something on the inside of the steel to absorb the waves. I am planning on making a good seal between the steel and MDF with screws every 4" and a good bead of silicone cocking.

 

[Eye Candy]

Good idea, but will not work. We tried it at my friends workplace for fun (killing time a year ago) and the sound was just BAD, it sounded like someone was just hitting metal. We added a sound killer (dynomat) and it did nothing, we ported it and to me it just sounded worst. (keep in mine that that the box was not the right spec's, we just went free hand, but I don't think it would have made a big difference)

Here is a hint--> We ended up building a box out of MDF and then we made a cover (plate) for it (the front) with a piece of that steel that everyone is using for there car mats. It looked really good and it just needed one layer of dynomat for the bottom before we drilled it into the front. I will see if the box still is around and take some pictures (people were offering the guy crazy money for it, so he may have sold it.

Good Luck

 

[JackRabbit]

Good idea, but will not work. We tried it at my friends workplace for fun (killing time a year ago) and the sound was just BAD, it sounded like someone was just hitting metal. We added a sound killer (dynomat) and it did nothing, we ported it and to me it just sounded worst. (keep in mine that that the box was not the right spec's, we just went free hand, but I don't think it would have made a big difference)

Here is a hint--> We ended up building a box out of MDF and then we made a cover (plate) for it (the front) with a piece of that steel that everyone is using for there car mats. It looked really good and it just needed one layer of dynomat for the bottom before we drilled it into the front. I will see if the box still is around and take some pictures (people were offering the guy crazy money for it, so he may have sold it.

Good Luck

Do you have any idea how thick the steel was? Anything less than 1/4" I can see where that would be a problem...

 

[Eye Candy]

To be totally honest I don't remember, but I will find out this weekend when I see everyone. I think it was 1/2" though and it was HEAVY, we ended up welding handles on it so we could lift it.

 

[JackRabbit]

I would appreciate any info you've got. I wanted to start on it first of next week. Was the whole box steel or only the front plate?

 

[firestorm]

eye candy has a good idea with coating a regular box with metal. I don't think you can make the metal sound as good as wood. gluck

 

[[email protected]]

Don't make ANY of the box steel. All you have to do is make a full MDF box, and then cut a piece of stainless (1/8" or 1/16" thick) to the size of the front of the box and liquid nails will hold it just fine. I have done this before and it works great. Cutting a hole in it is simple too, especially if you are using a router. And if you want to make it even easier, and still look stainless, go to home depot and get a piece of brushed or polished aluminum.

 

[JackRabbit]

Man oh man, you guys sure know how to burst a guys bubble!

Just kidding, sincerely thanks for saving me the cost of that hunk of stainless, I think I will go with the MDF and coat it in stainless

 

[firestorm]

ok sry, I meant coat it with metal to look like it is metal. Brushed aluminum would look great.

 

[bing0]

blo is very right, resonance of metal is rediculous, and it will sound like somone threw a wok down the road when you hit hte bass well, not quite that bad

you can evntually cure the problem with enough dampening or pour concrete inside, but then you are left with a box that weights about a ton.

build it ouf of wood, or fiberglass, or thick plexi (expensive)...and buy thin thin aluminum sheets, and glue it to the box, and route the edges, and you are there

b

 

[RenoG]

What about electrostatic will you shock yourself everytime you touch that bad boy??

 

[bing0]

What about electrostatic will you shock yourself everytime you touch that bad boy??

that shouldnt be a problem, the tinsle leades shoudlnt nt touch the basket at anytime I dont think, so electicity should not be flowing through the basket..

if this was the case, I think it would be quite dangerous to run a metal coned sub or a sub that doesnt havea metal rubber bott covering the top of the basket?

b