Anyone Build there own Subwoofer boxes

there are some boxes that are made with plexiglass, however they are particular to specific types of speakers. to get some info, search crutchfield.com. they provide a lot of data and you can get there catalogue free.

18mm MDF is what I used. from what I understand the fact that it is heavy is good for resonance or something. Its also nice to work with and gives a nice smooth finish. Also gluing fabric to it is easy.

jikelly said:

Is the MDF that heavy stuff?

Is there a lighter alternative? I have seen boxes made out of plexiglass before.

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you dont want to a material that is so thin it flexes,then your loosing energy from the speaker. The MDF is kinda heavy, but a box and speaker shouldnt weigh more then about 35-45 lbs depending on the speaker size.My box in my truck that i had weighed with speakers about 260 lbs and had 3 JL 12's in it.Plexi is ok to use as long as its thick enough and sealed with a foam tape to prevent aireaks and screwed about every 3 or 4 inches.

when it comes to boxes the thicker the better. it gets heavy but it all depends on your sub.

If you want some good info about building Subwoofer Boxes, do a search on the Home Theater Forum.
In general, subwoofer boxes need to be very rigid. 3/4" MDF is what is used on a number of speaker boxes and is what you will probably get if you have the box made at a Car Audio store. Be careful, though. The more powerful the Sub, the more rigid the box needs to be because the box will actually flex with the pressure levels changing inside the box, adding distortion to the sound. The biggest subs will need internal bracing in the boxes. As far as building a sub box out of lighter material, there's fiberglass. I haven't tried that yet, but I have plans to once my car actually looks like a car. MDF is the most economical.
Different subs are made for different enclosures, ported, sealed, bandpass.... AND for different sizes of Enclosures. If you download WINISD (it's free) and know the T/S parameters of your speaker (commonly available on the Sub's literature or on the company's website) you can see what type of output you can expect from a sub/box. If you don't know the T/S parameters, WinISD has a whole bunch of pre-loaded subs with their parameters. Hope this helps somewhat.