Laminate flooring for speaker

dzkfraser

Super Member
Was wondering if anyone has ever used laminate flooring on speaker cabs. Just had some new flooring installed and several boxes of the laminate had one of the corners crushed which made the flooring unusable. So I was thinking of using it for my next speaker build(whenever that is). I have a lot of PB sheets and figured I could glue the laminate(MDF base) to the plywood and go from there. Anybody ever done this? If so how dies it look?
 
If you were to finish the cabinets with stain grade outside corner bead, they might just turn out nicely.
 
Veneer is the same material through and through - this is like melamine
The flooring is a plastic(?) veneer on a fiberboard substrate 12mm thck
 
Veneer is the same material through and through - this is like melamine
The flooring is a plastic(?) veneer on a fiberboard substrate 12mm thck

Yeah, I understand, but the net effect is the same, yeah? Except it's just more total thickness.

Point being, don't see a reason why it wouldn't work as long as you can do the jointery and finish any exposed edges to your satisfaction.

It's actually an interesting idea. I have some old, really scruffy particle board speakers I've thought about refurbishing for my uncle. Using laminate flooring would kill a couple birds with one stone.
 
Yeah, I am always picking up scruffy old speakers
I have enough left over flooring to do several pairs
 
An interesting venture would be to use thin plywood (1/4"), tar sheets and the laminate on the outside as a sandwitch.
 
One issue with laminate it is that over time it expands and you must allow for that expansion.

I've seen floors buckle in the middle because it was installed too close to the walls.

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Was wondering if anyone has ever used laminate flooring on speaker cabs. Just had some new flooring installed and several boxes of the laminate had one of the corners crushed which made the flooring unusable. So I was thinking of using it for my next speaker build(whenever that is). I have a lot of PB sheets and figured I could glue the laminate(MDF base) to the plywood and go from there. Anybody ever done this? If so how dies it look?

It'll never work. Laminate flooring has an extremely hard wear layer over the actual laminate. Also, the plank itself is much harder than MDF. If it was made out of MDF, you'd be able to snap it like a toothpick. You'll never be able to get a clean enough cut especially at a 45. Even if you do, matching up the wear layer at the corners/edges is next to impossible. Check out your new flooring closely. If the installers did it right there will be no exposed cut edges. There's a reason for that. Basically you'd be trying to build/veneer a speaker with pre-finished wood, only much denser and you wouldn't be able to fill, sand, and touch up stain anything. After all, laminate flooring is designed to be walked on. :)
 
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I think that the added weight to the speaker would become a bit of a problem, at least for me with my bad back. The other thing I know I would have a problem with is getting exact 45 degree cuts so the two pieces make an exact splice at the corners. I have tried for years to get that bevel cut right and I always end up going through a lot of lumber. Unless you have a super high quality table saw, you will have trouble making it look nice. A missed angle is not a real problem when you are running baseboard or chair rail, but doing what you have in mind would have the potential to be a real challenge. Finishing the edge would also require some delicate artistic hands to make it look like an edge of wood. I would say forget this idea; too many challenges.
 
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