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PLY/MDF properties - waterdamage

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mk2_ginger_biscuit69 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 24 February 2010 at 5:18pm
copying over some notes from lectures skipping large chunks to try and keep things relevant to the cab builders
 
Originally posted by Tony Tapp - Senior lecturer - Uni of Plymouth Tony Tapp - Senior lecturer - Uni of Plymouth wrote:

 
bit1 - structural properties of timber itself

 If a branch is cut off close to the bole (trunk) of the tree, or if the branch is shed naturally, the scar left behind heals rapidly and the knot generally becomes "live", "sound" or "tight".

 If a branch stub is left after cutting then the scar is left open for some time and this generally produces a "dead" or "loose" knot.

Knots will decrease the strength of timber because they disturb the grain pattern in the timber; consider them as being a "hole" in the structural analysis of the timber.

 
part2 - moisture content

"Green" (or unseasoned) timber as felled may be saturated and could contain up to 250% of water or sap (as a % of the timber’s oven dry weight); a figure of around 100% is more common.

Most of this water is held inside the pores (tracheids or vessels) of the timber and as the wood dries out this water is lost; when the pores are empty the typical moisture content of timber is down to around 28%, which is known as the fibre saturation point (fsp).

Little dimensional change has taken place whilst getting timber to this moisture content.

As the wood is dried out further the water bound up in the cell walls begins to be removed, and shrinkage starts to occur.

 Water will continue to be lost (or gained) until there is equilibrium between the wood and its surroundings.

Timber with a moisture content of below 20% will be sufficiently dry to prevent fungal decay (such as mould or rot) from occurring, and most structural timber is strength graded, supplied and installed at this level of moisture content. Internal joinery (doors, windows) is typically produced at a moisture content of 12%.

Part3 - Plywood
 
Plywood is an assembly of layers of timber glued together, with the direction of grain in alternate layers usually being at right angles to one another.

Plywood is produced by:

 Conditioning logs by soaking or steaming.

 Peeling the logs to produce a long sheet of veneer.

 Clipping or cutting the veneer to size.

 Drying the veneer to a moisture content of between 4 and 8%.

 Joining and repairing the veneers to remove defects.

 Grading (which is usually done visually).

 Applying adhesive to the veneers by spray or curtain coating.

 Assembly of the veneers into a "lay-up".

 Pressing and heat curing of the adhesive.

 Cutting the finished plywood into sheets.

Plywood can be produced with glues which range from those suitable only for interior use (example: urea formaldehyde glue) to those which will withstand external exposure (example: phenol formaldehyde glue).

Different grades of plywood are available, including Marine plywood (to BS 1088), Structural plywood, Utility plywood (which often has a particular surface veneer - for joinery) and "Specials" which can be laid up to perform a specific function (for use as concrete formwork, where a smooth, impermeable and durable surface finish is required).

Blockboard is a form of plywood known as a core plywood; the core of the board is made up from many strips of wood no more than 30 mm wide.

Ply can be so strong, because the likelyhood of knots lining up throughout the sheet is minimal, sharing the weakness into the other layers. Imagine it like a sandwhich of steel cable like used in suspension bridges, if one steel core snaps internally, the other cores share the load.
 
 
Part4 - fibre boards (MDF)

These are wood-based panels made from fine fibres of wood and includes products such as Hardboard, Softboard and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF).

Boards can be made in one of two ways:

 Using a wet process, where the fibres are naturally bonded together by the inherent adhesive properties of the felted fibres (this process works in the same way as making paper).

 Using a dry process, where the wood fibres are bonded together by an adhesive.

 
 
So yeah, from this you can tell new ply has a moisture content of 4-8% (largely required to get a good adesive bond), which over time will absorb moisture from the enviroment its in. Marine ply uses a different glue, which is more resistant to the spread of moisture through the layers, and the timber maybe treated to slow the moisture movement through the grains.
 
Moisture content rising up to 20% can bring in the risk of rot, and above 28% will start to swell and loose structural integrity.
 
From other British Standards (BS code) papers, we assume the applyable humidity content in a house will be an equivilent of around 15%, meaning your ply should be rot free and in sound shape.
 
assuming your speaker cab has say 40kg of ply @15% humidity, thats 40 * 0.15 = 6kg of moisture in the timber. Taking this up to the 28% saturation point, we have 40 * 0.28 = 11.2kg of moisture. I have a theory that the load out of a festival when everything seems heavier, is because it actually isLOL!!
 
 
Hopefully someone will find something here interesting, im just using it as a way to revise it. Just trawled through 20hours of cement, aggregate and concrete lectures, very dull! Onto steel/rebars next Ouch
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote burningbush Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 5:30pm
Wondered where you were going then.  It would absorb if it were exposed to environment, but as you have several coats of Alcroft sealing it I doubt it would actually absorb nearly 6kg (6litres) of water.  Mind you if some Ketamine/MKat zombie decides to releive himself through a port/vent/horn mouth, who knows?lol.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote backlash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 7:22pm
Cheers for the info pat.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nitz V1505 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 8:32pm
Interesting thread. MDF when wet (unless water resistant) or damp tends to swell.
Every speaker gets scratched exposing the wood to moisture at some point in its life.
Id rather have my speakers made of ply than mdf for this reason even if its not marine birch.
A shelf in the garage made of mdf  is sagging in the middle although not holding a great deal of weight.
In this respect wouldnt MDF speaker panels sag over time too? 


Edited by Nitz V1505 - 24 February 2010 at 8:33pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote backlash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 9:27pm
Any advice on waterproofing mdf? PVA on the cab is my thought?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tomschute Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 11:11pm
use MR MDF in the first place Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anna Recksiek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 11:16pm
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Edited by norty303 - 25 February 2010 at 12:30am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote backlash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 11:20pm
Cheers anna....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cravings Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 February 2010 at 11:37pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anna Recksiek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 February 2010 at 12:03am
better

Edited by norty303 - 25 February 2010 at 12:30am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Anna Recksiek Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 February 2010 at 12:04am
what you on about ? what i posted has gone Shocked
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jake_Fielder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 February 2010 at 12:07am
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