# best locally found material for door speaker adapters.



## matthewo

well i just pulled my door panel off to replace the speakers, and found my plywood door adapter are rotted on the bottom, from water that runs down to the bottom of them and gets trapped i guess.

i have some baltic birch which would probably do better then the wood i was using before, but im sure over time the same thing would happen again and mess them up.

i guess i could paint it or use a tompsons water seal type product. but cant i just find some abs sheets that are 1/2" thick and maybe a bit less dense that i could cut with a jig saw.?


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## azngotskills

HDPE (high-density polyethylene) aka cutting boards


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## [email protected]

Marine plywood.


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## matthewo

Not sure where locally to find these


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## Freedom First

matthewo said:


> well i just pulled my door panel off to replace the speakers, and found my plywood door adapter are rotted on the bottom, from water that runs down to the bottom of them and gets trapped i guess.
> 
> i have some baltic birch which would probably do better then the wood i was using before, but im sure over time the same thing would happen again and mess them up.
> 
> i guess i could paint it or use a tompsons water seal type product. but cant i just find some abs sheets that are 1/2" thick and maybe a bit less dense that i could cut with a jig saw.?



Richlite (aka Paperstone). Try a local countertop fabricator, and see if they have any of the thinner materials. They make cutting boards out of this stuff, too. It's made from reclaimed/recycled paper fibers, mixed with resin. It's waterproof.


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## AudioBob

You can find cutting boards made of polycarbonate at most stores like Target, Wal-mart, K-mart and etc... Most of them that I have seen are around 1/2 inch thick.


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## King Nothing

I just saw 1/2 ich thick cutting boards at sams the other day and thought "those would make good speaker adapters"


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## JayinMI

Why does it have to be local? I've been ordering King Starboard (basically MDPE or HDPE type material) from a guy on eBay called "Cesany Plastics."
Might also try your local boat place, that's what it's made for.

Solid semi soft plastic. Easy to work with (like wood), waterproof, takes threaded inserts easily.

Totally worth it.

Jay


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## IBcivic

left-over corian counter top material is also a great alternative to use as waterproof speaker ring material.

many contractors sell their cut-outs on ebay for dirt cheap


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## IBcivic

AudioBob said:


> You can find cutting boards made of polycarbonate at most stores like Target, Wal-mart, K-mart and etc... Most of them that I have seen are around 1/2 inch thick.


Not trying to be a smart-ass, but it is actually polyethylene.


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## HIS4

1/4" thick T6061 aluminum. Had these made for my M3 for a 4" mid.


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## brocken

Another vote for HDPE. Check out Tap Plastics and see if they have a store in your area.
Boat places might also have it. Kitchen supply shops will definitely have it. They sell it as a cutting board material.
If all that fails you can order it up quickly.

The HDPE is easy to work with and fairly dense which makes for a good baffle. It's also not going to rot from water.
Now that I found the stuff I'll never go back to MDF baffles in the door.


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## matthewo

in what section would i look for these cutting boards, i seached walmarts website and didnt see anything.

edit, ohh cutting board cutting boards, i feel like an idiot. LOL


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## Notloudenuf

matthewo said:


> in what section would i look for these cutting boards, i seached walmarts website and didnt see anything.
> 
> edit, ohh cutting board cutting boards, i feel like an idiot. LOL


LOL :laugh: Wal-Mart or Target cutting boards are great. Several thicknesses to choose from.

Don't trust their websites to show everything I've found they will vary by store. My town Wal-Mart has different stock from the one 20 miles away.


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## matthewo

walmart and lowes where no help.
walmart only had like 1/4" cutting boards

im going to try this place out tomarrow. its local, see if i can get some scraps/samples

SABIC Polymershapes Home Page


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## JayinMI

Where are you located?


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

HIS4 said:


> 1/4" thick T6061 aluminum. Had these made for my M3 for a 4" mid.


Please tell us you deadened the living CRAP out of that cardboard door panel before you finished?? 

I like how the machined rings add a slight amount of mass to possibly help the driver to have something to work against.. 

But if all that work went into making a T6 AL speaker rings and that flimsy panel wasn't deadened, pretty much all was completely negated, making the rings by not deadening...


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX

matthewo said:


> walmart and lowes where no help.
> walmart only had like 1/4" cutting boards
> 
> im going to try this place out tomarrow. its local, see if i can get some scraps/samples
> 
> SABIC Polymershapes Home Page


1/4" spacers give you the ability to do 1/4-1/2-3/4-1" with ease...

If you really wanna order HDPE online, Ebay is the way to go.. 

There is a PVC material that's pretty cool too, it's like a high density foam board.. 

US Plastics also has a large selection of plastics..


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## AudioBob

Quote:
Originally Posted by AudioBob View Post
You can find cutting boards made of polycarbonate at most stores like Target, Wal-mart, K-mart and etc... Most of them that I have seen are around 1/2 inch thick.

Not trying to be a smart-ass, but it is actually polyethylene

Maybe if you checked before you typed, cutting boards are made of all sorts of materials, including polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a great choice of material for cutting boards because it is non-porous.


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## HondAudio

HIS4 said:


> 1/4" thick T6061 aluminum. Had these made for my M3 for a 4" mid.



YES! Did you do these yourself, or have a machine shop make them? I need some aluminum fabbed up for my mids, as well.


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## matthewo

i got ahold of 2 12x12" peices of 1/2" hdpe from a place locally, i forgot about being married into a family business that delt with that kind of products, so i ask them for a few small peices, so free is awesome...

only problem is 1/2" looks like its going to be really close for the 3" deep mids im using, and the window... we will see, might have to pick up a cutting board to make some rings for another 1/4"


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## jsun_g

You can get HDPE from Mcmaster-Carr if you are open to shopping online. They have many different plastics and thicknesses. Heck, why even stop at HDPE when you can get UHMW? Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## pahhhoul

brocken said:


> Another vote for HDPE...
> 
> The *HDPE is easy to work with* and fairly dense which makes for a good baffle. It's also not going to rot from water.
> Now that I found the stuff I'll never go back to MDF baffles in the door.


what router bit do you suggest using when cutting HDPE?


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## dragonrage

pahhhoul said:


> what router bit do you suggest using when cutting HDPE?


Probably doesn't matter too much but I'd say overall you want a smaller bit. A smaller cutting surface should mean less heat and less melting.


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## annarbor84

matthewo said:


> well i just pulled my door panel off to replace the speakers, and found my plywood door adapter are rotted on the bottom, from water that runs down to the bottom of them and gets trapped i guess.
> 
> i have some baltic birch which would probably do better then the wood i was using before, but im sure over time the same thing would happen again and mess them up.
> 
> i guess i could paint it or use a tompsons water seal type product. but cant i just find some abs sheets that are 1/2" thick and maybe a bit less dense that i could cut with a jig saw.?


I would redo the adapters out of Birch Ply and add a water sealant to it. Or maybe if you could find a small can of bed-liner...


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## dogstar

jsun_g said:


> You can get HDPE from Mcmaster-Carr if you are open to shopping online. They have many different plastics and thicknesses. Heck, why even stop at HDPE when you can get UHMW? Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


UHMW is horrible to work with that's why 

Honestly, I've tried it a couple times and all the things that are great about HDPE don't apply to UHMW except the water resistance. It's heavier, seems more prone to resonating and is a royal bastard to cut. 
If I can find them I'll post up pics of what it did to a couple of my jigsaw blades but just imagine a jigsaw blade with all the teeth sanded off and melted and you've got the right idea. I tried slow and high speeds, all kind of pressure and cut conditions and eventually I just broke down and put in a new blade then powered through it on my Bosch's most aggressive settings, then I dulled a new freud 1/4" up spiral finishing the inside of the rings.

Never again will I use UHMW when HDPE is so readily available (and cheaper).


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## sirvent_95

A completely different option for this is to simply make yourself some new wooden spacers and coat them in fiberglass resin. These will be completely waterproof. 

If you've never worked with resin before make sure to give yourself
one or two practice runs with mixing and applying it until you get the hang
of it. Also, multiple thin coats will work better than one thick coat. The resin seems really thick, like it won't run, until you apply it too thick on the part and it runs like mad. 

This would be easier than it sounds. It is common for these rings to even be made of MDF then coated. And MDF is terrible when it comes to soaking up water when it's not treated, so I'm sure resin coated plywood would be fine.

If you need a thin spacer you can also buy small sheets of ABS plastic through METRA and cut whatever you want out of it.


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## JayinMI

No it wont. It sounds good in theory, but I've personally seen multiple sets of FG coated rings rot inside a door in a relatively short period of time.

I'll probably make some "proof of concept" stuff out of bedliner coated MDF, but they will eventually get switched out for King Starboard.

Cuts with regular saw/router bits and takes threaded inserts/screws like a champ.

Jay


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## peg_legs

polyester resin is semi permeable, hence the need for bilge pumps in fiberglass boats. Epoxy resin is waterproof


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## Notloudenuf

peg_legs said:


> polyester resin is semi permeable, hence the need for bilge pumps in fiberglass boats. Epoxy resin is waterproof


And all of that is well and good until you run screws through it to actually mount the speakers.....


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## tyroneshoes

annarbor84 said:


> I would redo the adapters out of Birch Ply and add a water sealant to it. Or maybe if you could find a small can of bed-liner...



Good 1/2" ply coated in spray bedliner works great and no water damage after 2 years use. (Just made new ones Saturday and removed my older smaller ones)


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## lirik

Would have originally been part of the treat-whatever-wood-ya-got camp, on account of all the spare MDF that lies around my place. But seriously, all this thought and planning going into treatments which _maybe_ will work does not seem worth the juice; $10-15 worth of cutting board material yields spacers/adapters that are rigid, hefty, and completely impervious to the elements. Its a one time purchase, and after the short time I was using MDF spacers I do not plan on letting the stuff anywhere near water again.


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## jsun_g

Thanks for that. Here I was going to fork out $40 to try a piece of UHMW.




dogstar said:


> UHMW is horrible to work with that's why
> 
> Honestly, I've tried it a couple times and all the things that are great about HDPE don't apply to UHMW except the water resistance. It's heavier, seems more prone to resonating and is a royal bastard to cut.
> If I can find them I'll post up pics of what it did to a couple of my jigsaw blades but just imagine a jigsaw blade with all the teeth sanded off and melted and you've got the right idea. I tried slow and high speeds, all kind of pressure and cut conditions and eventually I just broke down and put in a new blade then powered through it on my Bosch's most aggressive settings, then I dulled a new freud 1/4" up spiral finishing the inside of the rings.
> 
> Never again will I use UHMW when HDPE is so readily available (and cheaper).


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## matthewo

I used hdpe, it was cake to work with, much stronger then wood when cut narrow, easy to trim off small bits with a razor knife. It just looks great even when cut with a jig saw. Takes screws very well. Very dense. Hell if the stuff was cheaper I would build more things out of it


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## dogstar

jsun_g said:


> Thanks for that. Here I was going to fork out $40 to try a piece of UHMW.


Your welcome, glad to help. There are uses for UHMW, but HDPE is just better for what we use it for.


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## f150fx4

Cutting boards, corian, HDPE first choice.

After replacing my sub-floors to level the floor when putting in hardwood floors, I found Advantech. This is a high resin impregnated osb type of subfloor. But it is NOT OSB. Oh so much more. A contractor told me he's seen this stuff sit out in the weather at his shop for 3 years and look like new. This stuff is 40% stiffer than plywood and is extremely dense.

I've got an extra 6 sheets left from the flooring job. Gonna make my baffles out if it.

Just a thought. I bet it would work well for boxes also. Takes screws very well also.

Anybody seen this stuff. 

George


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## bigtosh

If you need thicker to make driver fit due to mounting depth ,how do you stack up and bond cutting boards/ Hdpe?


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## sirvent_95

You should google search this company and see the video 
competition they had for their product. Some pretty
hilarious videos highlighting the water-repellant ruggedness
of the product. The first link was electronics, but I think about the
4th was for their website.


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## bendow

is HDPE the same as king starboard?


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## matthewo

bigtosh said:


> If you need thicker to make driver fit due to mounting depth ,how do you stack up and bond cutting boards/ Hdpe?


Silicone between layers and screw them together


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## [email protected]

JayinMI said:


> No it wont. It sounds good in theory, but I've personally seen multiple sets of FG coated rings rot inside a door in a relatively short period of time.
> 
> I'll probably make some "proof of concept" stuff out of bedliner coated MDF, but they will eventually get switched out for King Starboard.
> 
> Cuts with regular saw/router bits and takes threaded inserts/screws like a champ.
> 
> Jay


Not enough resin was put on in the first place then, mdf soaks up resin. My doors leak pretty bad in my G35 and I have never had a problem with resin coated MDF in the close to 5 years I have had the car. When I saw leaks I mean water leaks into the door from the window seal on the outside. 

If I was gonna use anything besides MDF it would be Corian or marble/granite, but thats just me.


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## mcm308

Try to find the stuff called AZEK from a local building supply. I use 3/8" and 3/4" thick. It is workable just like wood but will never rot. Awesome stuff !!


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## JayinMI

BeatsDownLow said:


> Not enough resin was put on in the first place then, mdf soaks up resin. My doors leak pretty bad in my G35 and I have never had a problem with resin coated MDF in the close to 5 years I have had the car. When I saw leaks I mean water leaks into the door from the window seal on the outside.
> 
> If I was gonna use anything besides MDF it would be Corian or marble/granite, but thats just me.


I hadn't thought about the differences in Epoxy resin and Polyester Resin as mentioned above. Most times, tho, it seems like a great idea until someone puts screws into it and that lets moisture in the wood.

Starboard isn't outrageously priced and works, I like it, so I stick with it.

Which kind of resin did you use?
Did you use threaded inserts?

Jay


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## aranawhite

why use an adapter? if you can fasten the speaker directly to the door? i was going to use pvc exterior house trim (1x10 scraps) but my speakers don't mount on the panel that is removable, like the slick set up milled out of aluminum in an earlier reply. 
my doors have metal screens to cover the factory component set, so i thought i'd cut an adapter that the 6.5" sat through and the tweeter sat on, kinda kidney shaped.* should i make one or screw the speakers directly to the door on top of the dampening material?*


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## aranawhite

mcm308 said:


> Try to find the stuff called AZEK from a local building supply. I use 3/8" and 3/4" thick. It is workable just like wood but will never rot. Awesome stuff !!


exactly!


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## aranawhite

hate to bum rush a thread, i haven't figured out how to post originally, post an original thread that is; just shoppin for info


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## dragonrage

aranawhite said:


> why use an adapter? if you can fasten the speaker directly to the door? i was going to use pvc exterior house trim (1x10 scraps) but my speakers don't mount on the panel that is removable, like the slick set up milled out of aluminum in an earlier reply.
> my doors have metal screens to cover the factory component set, so i thought i'd cut an adapter that the 6.5" sat through and the tweeter sat on, kinda kidney shaped.* should i make one or screw the speakers directly to the door on top of the dampening material?*


You can, though you should do something to stiffen the door structure there... Bolt/JB Weld some angle iron on the back side of it. Just make sure to rust-proof it first. And make sure it clears the window and speaker hole.


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## Lance_S

peg_legs said:


> polyester resin is semi permeable, hence the need for bilge pumps in fiberglass boats. Epoxy resin is waterproof



Polyester resin is not the reason why there are bilge pumps in boats. You make it sound like the water just soaks through the laminate and you have to pump it out. If that were the case, all of the race boats made of Epoxy resin wouldn't need bilge pumps but all of them have them. In fact, under racing rules, you have to have pumps. Besides, it's the gelcoat that acts as a water barrier to the laminate, not the resin or mat or core material.

If you coat you wood product, no matter what type of wood you use, birch, pine, walnut, plywood, etc and so forth, it will be waterproof. Your rings are not under water all the time. You are trying to stop moisture, not water. 

Coat some resin on it, no worries.


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## Lance_S

JayinMI said:


> I hadn't thought about the differences in Epoxy resin and Polyester Resin as mentioned above. Most times, tho, it seems like a great idea until someone puts screws into it and that lets moisture in the wood.
> 
> Starboard isn't outrageously priced and works, I like it, so I stick with it.
> 
> Which kind of resin did you use?
> Did you use threaded inserts?
> 
> Jay


Jay,

You don't need threaded inserts. The screw itself will seal the hole. Any resin will do, you don't need epoxy. Now, if you fire a screw and it's in the wrong place and the hole will be left open, then take a toothpick, squirt some caulk or gasket maker or any liquid sealant for that matter, even superglue or wood glue, and fill the screw hole.


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## SoulFly

i used Cedar on mine. I don't think cedar rots, at least i've seen old fence posts made of cedar that are 50 yrs old and still strong, so i assume they don't rot too easily. 1/2 was the thickest piece i've seen in lumber stores though, expensive too.


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## hottcakes

XtremeRevolution said:


> FYI to those out there who hate MDF because of its resistance (or lack of) to water. You can seal MDF permanently by coating it with a 60-40 mixture of wood glue and water. It dries hard as a rock at least 1/8" deep and that MDF will never absorb water again. It increases the rigidity and strength of the MDF, and its stupid cheap and easy. DIY home audio guys use this method all the time for their finished speakers because if you've ever tried painting or priming MDF, you'll realize very quickly that it absorbs a lot.


i may have to test this out with some scrap. never heard of that method, then again i never really intended on using mdf after reading aboot all the issues with it.


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## blueatlanta

mdf coated in resin?


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