BillFitzmaurice.info

I started my THT LS build this week. I cut the plywood into the sides and panel widths. On the rough side of the plywood I have some gaps where the ply split. Should I fill these gaps with Bondo?

You can.....but personally, I wouldn't even use something that looked like that.

What do the edges look like?

The edges are fine, it's just the face of the "C" side.

Yeah, sometimes it's hard to get ACX that has two clean faces. I try my best to to be picky at the lumber yard. But, when that fails, I try to cut around the face voids. I am not a fan of using bondo in a situation like that... but it is better than nothing. Honestly, I would relegate that to brace stock.

I just put a dab of PL on the void and smear it around with a wide putty knife. Let it dry (not TOTALLY cure) for 2-4 hours, then sand it flush with a sanding block and paper.

Rich4349 wrote:I just put a dab of PL on the void and smear it around with a wide putty knife. Let it dry (not TOTALLY cure) for 2-4 hours, then sand it flush with a sanding block and paper.

Do it after the panels are in place and you don't have to bother with sanding.

Thanks for the help. I was somewhat on borrowed time when I bought my panels, and those were the best our of the 10 or so panels I looked at.

I glued and screwed panel 1 into place. I left the orange painted edge facing the chamber cover so I won't be noticed when it's all complete if I don't end up sanding it. It looks like the way I have the panel positioned, it will be the port opening that has the ply gaps.

Panel 2 is in place and curing.

That looks like Acuro from Menards?

Indeed. And I'm still convinced that Menards lumber is worse than other stores. I don't know how, but it seems to me that that's what they get from suppliers, and apparently Aruaco is not an exception. I never had these quality issue from Lowe's. I still have to pick through lumber at Lowe's and Home Depot, but can usually find the number of boards or sheets that I need in decent quality. It's always seemed much harder at Menards. It's too bad too, because I go to Menards for just about everything hardware related since it's my closest hardware store. I saw in my local add today that Arauco was on sale.

Just be glad you can get Arauco at your local hardware store!! I have to go to a specialty store and have them order it in.

Just out of curiosity, what thickness is that Arauco and how much did it cost?

Triticum Agricolam wrote:Just be glad you can get Arauco at your local hardware store!! I have to go to a specialty store and have them order it in.

Just out of curiosity, what thickness is that Arauco and how much did it cost?

Hi Triticum Agricolam,
Welcome to the forum

First up, congratulations on a user name that manages to combine wheat and millet, very unusual and well done! Not bad a for a western Queensland Outback Aussie to even pick up on it Must have something to do with a rural background

Most of the designs by Bill are based on 12/13mm ply, or in imperial IIRC that's 15/32".
That would apply to this build.
These designs are successful with this thickness ply due to bracing!
Some designs call for smaller amounts of 3mm or 1/8" ply and 6mm or 1/4" ply as well.

Please remember that Arauco is a brand name of radiata pine based ply. It's particularly appealing characteristics for us is that is more often than not has 5 equal thickness plies, is lighter than birch, and also cheaper. However, any radiata based ply that has 5 equal thickness plies will do the job.

Anikun:
In this thread:
http://billfitzmaurice.info/forum/viewt ... 6&start=15

4th post, you can see where I used radiata based ply with similar voids, but more to the point, also on the inside of the cab, as using the other face was better for the outside, ie, cab finish.

The cab on the left shows the void which I applied a good smear of PL to, and it has been faultless in performance since build...

Thank you Grant for the warm welcome! My primary occupation is as a wheat farmer, and everything sounds cooler in Latin, so that's where the username came from.

I've actually built several of Bills designs and have used a ton of Arauco for other speaker projects. I mainly just wanted to confirm that it was 15/32" ply and how much he had to pay for it.

I paid $33/sheet, I think. I saw it was on sale for $30/sheet this week at Menards.

anikun07 wrote:I paid $33/sheet, I think. I saw it was on sale for $30/sheet this week at Menards.

Thanks! That's a pretty reasonable price.