[lostspyder]

Has anyone experimented with balsa woodies? I'm undecided if the softness of the wood would make phones sound great or horrible. it seems to me that a balsa enclosure would sound similar to an open phone.

Plus the material is super easy to work with. You could probably woody a grado with a cordless drill and some sand paper. I'm thinking about trying it unless if someone has and had bad results.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostspyder /img/forum/go_quote.gif Has anyone experimented with balsa woodies? I'm undecided if the softness of the wood would make phones sound great or horrible. it seems to me that a balsa enclosure would sound similar to an open phone. Plus the material is super easy to work with. You could probably woody a grado with a cordless drill and some sand paper. I'm thinking about trying it unless if someone has and had bad results.

You have to be very attuned to the grain with balsa. Pieces with mostly "C" grain are probably your best bet. Here's a good link that will give you some background:

All about Balsa -- Part 1

There are many possibilities. Once shaped and sanded to a smooth touch with 400+ sandpaper, you can pick from many finishes. Personally, I'd recommend an epoxy-based resin with perhaps even fiberglass (3/4 oz. works good) as a protective cover. If you go the traditional route with stain and oil, the balsa may not hold up as well. It really needs a hard shell to be durable. It depends, though, there's some heavyweight balsa out there that can be pretty tough.

 

[Tridacnid]

Wouldn't heavy weight balsa defeat the purpose of the OP's idea?

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tridacnid /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wouldn't heavy weight balsa defeat the purpose of the OP's idea?

Even the heaviest weight balsa doesn't begin to approach the weight of spruce ... other woods are still heavier. Heavy-weight balsa is still only about ~14 lbs/cu.ft. (the lightest is ~6 lbs/cu.ft.), Spruce is ~28 lbs/cu.ft. Workability is still fairly proportional. Basswood is about 26 lbs/cu.ft., but probably a bit softer than spruce - basswood might be another good suggestion for headphone woodies. It's often carved and used for sculpturing, but still retains much of the hardness/finish of a "regular" wood.

 

[pabbi1]

Just happen to be trying woodie yet again, and have decided on Chinese / Siberian / Japanese Elm. Strong, lightweight, machines well, oh, and what was used on the R-10 (I happen to be using a CD3000 housing). Actually, the R-10 is zelkova (good luck finding any), but one of the elm species is the next best thing.

I have used mahogany, eucalyptus, and a couple of other exotics, but elm is by far the easiest and lightest to work with. It has been used in China for millenia in making furniture.

Balsa is too soft.

 

[amphead]

If I were to build a woodie, I would go with alder. It is one of the traditional guitar woods, especially for strats. It cuts well with power or hand tools. It has a nice smell too when it's cut. It might be considered resonant, which could be good or bad. In pieces the size of phone cups, it's not expensive. Oh, and in the Netherlands it's used to create those wooden shoes.

 

[pabbi1]

Along the alder vein, I have also tried maple, another guitar wood, but a lot harder to work, unless you are using machine tools. Agreeing with Ron, resonance may or not matter.

 

[Tridacnid]

Wow, I'll back out and let you experts talk it over. I'm no good with any kind of wood. Hope the project goes well!

 

[swt61]

I've wanted to try some Red Spruce cups for a while now, because of their resonate tone. Not sure if it would be a positive or negative though, and I'll probably never know, as it's quite hard to come by these days.

As far as Balsa though, I'd use a very hard finish at the very least.

 

[DrivenKeys]

I plan to use some balsa sheet for baffles, and mold a cup with fabric and epoxy. For simplicity and basic preference, I'm ripping off Beyer's dt770 cup and modifying from there. With such great drivers out there for 12 bux, I plan on making a variety...eventually.

Whenever I take just a hint of advice here, it's fun and sounds great. Any thoughts?