An alternative to birch plywood for baffle

[silpakorn]

Hi everyone, I'm about to build a cabinet - pretty much a tweed style but got a problem finding birch plywood to make a baffle. It seems like none of the shops around where I live has it. Is there any other chioces of wood/plywood to make baffle for a cab this style ? What is the reason for birch plywood being the best/most popular for speaker baffle ? Thanks.

[Jazz P Bass]

I would think that pine plywood would do just fine.
It is more a matter of thickness, I would imagine.
Aside: Didn't the '50's tweeds use a 'floating' baffle?
" When such a baffle is also less firmly affixed to the front of the cab, such as with just one bolt or screw in each corner, as with the so-called “floating baffles” used in many tweed amps of the 1950s, they really get moving when the amp is cranked and roaring"
Link: Tone Tips: Speaker Cabinets

[silpakorn]

Thanks Jazz P Bass, I've about a floating baffle and wil definitely do it. I only just curious why does it always have to be a baltic birch plywood. Anyway, I went for a further online research (= google a little more : ) and found that some people would use a marine plywood and that I think I can find it here so I'm probably gonna go with that. Thanks.

P.S. Does anybody have a thought on solid vs plywood for baffle ?

[KFTG]

The reason why Baltic Birch is used in cabinet design is that there are no voids in the material. Marshall uses this plywood in all their cabinets. The only thing to keep in mind when using B/B is the thickness is 11/16 instead of 3/4 inch. I purchased B/B to make speaker cabs for my Tannoy speakers and I ruined the project because I didn't make measurements in the thickness of the plywood. A lesson well learned. So, for your project a 1/2 in plywood baffle wood suffice for one speaker. If you are using 2 or more speakers, then a thicker plywood would be taken into consideration. If you can find spruce plywood, that would be a good choice. It is light weight, and an easy material to work with. By that it is soft. I have used it many times before with good success. Good luck.

[KFTG]

Baltic Birch plywood is used in speaker cabinet design because there are no voids in the material. When voids are present, then there is a possibility for rattles. That is not good. A solid pine board may crack, and I don't think you can get a solid piece of pine large enough to work as a baffle board unless you custom make it. I have used Spruce Plywood in the past with good success. It is a light weight material and is easy to work with. Baltic Birch can be very pricey. I know Fender has used pine boards for their cabinet design in the 5e3 era. If the amp is going to sit in a room as opposed to be used in gigs night after night, then pine is OK. I have seen the finger joints get loose and the cab can wobble with increased use.

[Chuck H]

Marine grade plywood is a good alternative. As is cabinet grade plywood. The stuff that had a maple, oak, mahogany, etc. veneer. Not entirely free of voids, but almost. Much better than any framing grade product anyway. I've used cabinet lam plywood a lot since I can buy it locally. No problems. Measures out like Baltic Birch (always hated that name. Ad's use the term like they're building from some kind of special solid wood.) That is, it's often 1/16" thinner than advertized. Best to bring along a caliper or rule to be sure what your getting.