Mahogany Plywood

Thanks! That makes perfect sense. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the info. I’m looking at it for cordkeepers, flat-pack sharks, etc that the Makerspace gives out for events. Effectively almost disposable convention type swag. No strength or finish required. I’ll have to decide if the logo looks okay when engraved though.

I was thinking about you and keeping up with the Cajones, as I mentioned I was getting interesting sounds from some of the oak stuff I made. Well I made a small box and engraved a living hinge design most of the way through and then with two 180° bends brought the two ends together. Perhaps it was the tension in the bending or a spring like effect at the bends but the box is incredibly loud and sharp when struck every bit as much as the wooden block from any drum set.

I was thinking on a face that was 19" tall and perhaps 8" between the start of the living hinge bends on either side connecting to the rest of the shape and perhaps something similar in the back.

I think that the oak plywood is the best I know for the sound effect.

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Are you using Oak for the front face? I definitely agree that Oak plywood is a fantastic choice for the body. My other Cajones had Birch faces, and I was recently told that Mahogany was a good choice for a Cajone Face.

Actually, I’m wanting to build some of these new CajonTab instruments that I’ve seen popping up. I’ve got several different dimensions that I want to try out and see what they sound like. But the final version, I would like to have a Mahogany face for the CajonTab.

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What I made was this…


and It looked like this on the inside:

A musical instrument was not my goal but the sound it makes when struck is amazing
Recording.zip (877.3 KB)
That is just random hitting but perhaps you can make out the possibilities.

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As for a good Mahogany front face you would need very good mahogany and not plywood, but I think just from experience randomly hitting Oak ply and baltic ply that the oak would be more resonant. the best chance for the mahogany would be :
http://ocoochhardwoods.com/scroll_saw_wood_prices.php

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The problem with putting a solid piece of any wood on the front of a percussion instrument is just that it will be hit repeatedly. Solid wood will typically crack much easier in those conditions. Plywood, with it’s different facing grain is not as susceptible to the same cracking under the same conditions.

I do think that Oak might work well. Aesthetically, I was wanting to have a darker face and lighter body to the CajonTab, but I can still achieve that with wood stain.

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there are a lot of percussion instruments that use solid wood though it is usually thicker than plywood but have a resonance you are never going to get from metal or other material but as you know not all woods are equal and not all shapes either. Dampeners or multiple competing resonances will not be a good effect.

One of the reasons that little box is so good despite being so small IMHO is that the bending put the wood in permanent tension trying to unbend and if I had not put the bottom on it would have been better still. That BB and Oak are so hard and strong make them good drum faces where Revolution wood and Lauan are much weaker and the inner layers would have a dampening effect.

Also a problem with much of the BB I have encountered is a lot of bondo filled gaps that make them less useful for instrument or GF material. I do think that the oak with two 90 degree bends on either side would be amazing,

For just the visual look one could use a veneer of most things on top though the method of sealing the veneer would be more critical than if it was a table top, those industrial presses that I have had about when in other engineering jobs would be great with two flat steel plates and a few hundred psi over a square meter or so would be perfect but I have no idea where to achieve that. Parking a car over such a sandwich, or even one inch plywood instead of steel, would not be near as much force but might be enough.

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Just ran into this
http://ocoochhardwoods.com/plywood.php
that might be what you are looking for. I have ordered from them by phone and they were very nice and helpful.

(Ocooch)

They have an mdf core, which was not the original request.

just like the proofgrade “ply”. Very pretty on the outside, very stable/consistent to engrave and cut, but no cross grain for strength.

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That would be a deal killer on many fronts… Too bad.

Their BB plywood is good and inexpensive and no MDF. I filled out the order with it to get the free shipping.

If you are in the midatlantic region and can meet their $250 minimum, this wholesaler
says that they have mahogany plywood:
http://chesapeakeplywood.com/imported-plywood-wholesaler/

Another place near Annapolis Exotic Lumber. They have 1/4" mahogany:
http://www.exoticlumber.com/plywood/

They will sell you one board and will cut and ship.

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I have purchased from Annapolis Exotic Lumber, they tend to be on the more expensive side of things. Unfortunately, 1/4" ply is going to be too thick for this project.

At this point, I’m probably going to end up getting 3mm oak plywood and just staining it to look like Mahogany.

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Harbor Sales on the Eastern Shore has 3 mm Sapele plywood:
https://www.harborsales.net/Home/ProductSearchResults.aspx?quickSearch=mahogany
which is considered a replacement for mohagany:
http://thompsonmahogany.com/african-mahogany-vs-sapele-vs-utile/

I think that oak is going to have too much grain to look like mahogany even with stain.

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Boulter Plywood. They are local to me (Medford, Ma) but ship nationally. I’m not sure what the cost would be. I got a Sapele Ply from them which is Sapele for every layer. It is similar to Mahogany.

Here’s a link for what I used it for so far. Sapele Plywood Dice Box

http://www.boulterplywood.com/laser_cutting_plywood_panels.htm

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I have had really good luck with these guys ( http://ocoochhardwoods.com ) for solid woods (1/16 and ⅛) I have a stack of ⅛ Baltic Birch that I have not cut from them, but am interested in how it will perform.

My main issue from my Maker Space tests were large areas of glue in the middle (to fill voids). This can take a perfect cut and make it into a razor knife nightmare.

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These guys do less finished wood, but it has nice grain at a good price: https://www.constantines.com

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Back to Baltic Birch, but these guys engineered a plywood JUST for laser cutting, unfortunately priced that way :frowning: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/wppages/basswood.php

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