I think I can make these panels without poking an eye out

[TBman]

It looks pretty basic. I wonder if I can order the wrapping cloth online without getting killed with shipping. The DYI places around me must carry the Safe n Sound.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by TBman

The DYI places around me must carry the Safe n Sound.

I'd be surprised if anyone had that on the shelf. You're likely going to have to special order it or get it from an online vendor.

[Doug Young]

You don't usually find this stuff in stock at normal stores. When I did my room, I was able to order OC 703 from a local serious hardware/wood store that catered to contractors (i.e. not Home Depot), but they had to special order it, and none of those kinds of stores exist around me anymore. Easiest thing is to order it from a place like ATS these days. But yes, building the panels is easy. Also check out Fran Guidry's site. He didn't even build frames, if I recall, so even simpler and cheaper.

[sam.spoons]

Gik Acoustics in the UK carry Camira acoustic fabrics in stock, I'm sure they'll do the same in the US. Making the panels is very easy, mine are even simpler than the ones in the video, no more than a perimeter frame of 2 x 1" timber surrounding 1200 x 600 x 50mm Rockwool* slabs, with the whole thing covered in Camira Cara** fabric on the front and cheap decorators dust sheet fabric on the back. The important thing is to use the right density of RW, partly for it's acoustic properties but mostly to make it easy to work with. 60kg/m3 Rockwool RW3 is the best compromise and is capable of supporting it's own weight** even when used in ceiling panels.

* Rockwool is a trade name and other manufacturers make equivalent material.

** Camira fabrics have just the right amount of stretch to make achieving a professional result very easy, the cheap stuff I used on the back is too stretchy but you do need some stretch or you can't get the fabric consistently tight.

*** make the frame a snug fit around the RW sheet.

Originally Posted by Doug Young

You don't usually find this stuff in stock at normal stores. When I did my room, I was able to order OC 703 from a local serious hardware/wood store that catered to contractors (i.e. not Home Depot), but they had to special order it, and none of those kinds of stores exist around me anymore. Easiest thing is to order it from a place like ATS these days. But yes, building the panels is easy. Also check out Fran Guidry's site. He didn't even build frames, if I recall, so even simpler and cheaper.

+1 Definitely don't cheap out on materials, the right mineral wool panels will make the job so much easier. DIY shop stuff is almost always much too floppy and would need support behind the fabric.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

You don't usually find this stuff in stock at normal stores. When I did my room, I was able to order OC 703 from a local serious hardware/wood store that catered to contractors (i.e. not Home Depot), but they had to special order it, and none of those kinds of stores exist around me anymore. Easiest thing is to order it from a place like ATS these days. But yes, building the panels is easy. Also check out Fran Guidry's site. He didn't even build frames, if I recall, so even simpler and cheaper.

Lowes Hardware can have it in within 2 weeks. I just have to order it online and pick it up.

[keith.rogers]

One of the Lowes near me usually has the 15"x48" size bundles in stock. That's the size that's intended to fit between your 16"-on-center studs, i.e., for the stated purpose of soundproofing your little powder room or adding a bit of fire retardant around your laboratory . Anyway, that's what I used in my room. (2 bundles = 24 batts, a bit over $100). I think even if they don't carry it that's one of the things they'll bring to the store without a shipping charge. Other sizes or materials might be available at a building contractor, but I decided to use what I could stuff in the back seat of the car I had.

If you want to get square corners, rent or borrow a powered miter saw. It's very hard to do a lot of panels with even just a "skil-saw" IME and get those joints square so there is not twisting or skewing. Of course, if you fasten all the corners to the wall, it will help some, but if the panel is twisted at all when you put on the fabric covering, "straightening" it during the mounting step will cause the fabric to twist. Much better to build them nice and square to start.

P.S. Starting with good quality wood also helps. The "A" grade 1x4x I bought at Home Depot came from Sweden (!) and I spent time picking through that stuff, but it made construction much easier.

P.P.S. (edit-pic) half of my color-blind, fabric scrap covered panels - may have posted this before....

[ChuckS]

I think you'll be more satisfied with either OC703 or Roxul Rockboard 60 or 80. The Rockboard 60 is pretty equivalent to OC703, the Rockboard 80 is better in the low end.

I wouldn't go through the work and expense and then use Safe n Sound; its absorption is not as good.

I used 4" thickness of Rockboard 80 for my gobos.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

I think you'll be more satisfied with either OC703 or Roxul Rockboard 60 or 80. The Rockboard 60 is pretty equivalent to OC703, the Rockboard 80 is better in the low end.

I wouldn't go through the work and expense and then use Safe n Sound; its absorption is not as good.

I used 4" thickness of Rockboard 80 for my gobos.

I've been through this and have the specs posted here or elsewhere. The specs of Safe'n'Sound are very nearly identical. It is thicker, and not as rigid, but has very good sound absorption. If you are building a mixing/mastering room where you'll have heavy bass and space is a concern (kind of an oxymoron), it might be important, but for treating a space at home that is intended for acoustic guitar, not so much.

[KevWind]

Actually the video is very well done and is a great tutorial .And lots of good additional replies but to clarify just a bit further . Don't know how familiar you are with construction materials BUT.....
You will just as in the video want to make 2 ft by 4 ft panels .
Lumber :
Basically you will want 1 X 4 # 2 or better pine, for the frames . Although called 1 X4. that is the rough cut pre-milling measurement by the time the lumber mill does the final milling for retail, it will usually measure pretty close (within a 1/16 ) of 3/4 inch by 3 1/2 inches ......
The lumber usage and layout in the video is spot on .
If you have a vehicle that can handle 8 ft lengths great, if not most lumber yards and places like Lowes will usually cut down the material for you .

As per the chart Keith posted you can see that Safe And Sound specks out pretty well over all, while it is not at good at the 125 hz measurement (and probably down) as say RockBoard 80, it actually rates slightly better from 250 hz up .

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

I've been through this and have the specs posted here or elsewhere. The specs of Safe'n'Sound are very nearly identical. It is thicker, and not as rigid, but has very good sound absorption. If you are building a mixing/mastering room where you'll have heavy bass and space is a concern (kind of an oxymoron), it might be important, but for treating a space at home that is intended for acoustic guitar, not so much.

From my experience, even with just an acoustic guitar in a typical home room, there can be significant peaks and valleys from reflections in the 100Hz to 250Hz range. Cleaning this up was my primary goal with my gobos.

The Roxul Rockboard 80 is very dense, and performs/specs well at 125Hz with 4" thickness.

There's also comparative info on the ATS Acoustics site:
https://www.atsacoustics.com/page--S...erial--ac.html

[islandguitar]

Looks good Barry!!
I went with this via Acoustimac and used their "Eco Core" which you can read about on their site. The wood frames are pretty good and do the job. I have three, forming my little "booth"!

https://www.acoustimac.com/acoustima...t-yourself-424

[Brent Hahn]

The "proper" construction is indeed the "right" way to do it. Here in LA, though, we have guys who build sets. They only have to build things that look good and won't fall down and kill someone. One of those guys showed me his way of building a panel, in which the wood frame isn't mainly structural, it's just there to make the sides look "crisper" and aid in holding the panel up on the wall. At this point I've literally made at least a hundred, for myself and other people.

Ingredients for (1) 4' X 2' X 4" panel:

• (2) 2x4x2" panels of OC 703 or Roxul (or (1) 4" panel, which I can never get)
• 24 feet of 2" X 1/4" pine moulding
• 3M Super 77 spray adhesive
• (2) yards of suitable fabric
• Newspaper
• (7) 4" 16 ga finishing nails

Build these outdoors -- the spray glue is nasty.

1. Slice off 1/2" of the long dimension of the panels
2. Spray-glue the 2 panels together
3. Cut (4) 48" and (4) 24" pieces of moulding
4. Spray-glue the moulding to the panel edges (with 1/4" overhang on each end of the long dimension)
5. Mark and cut the fabric (work out your corner-cutting-and-folding scheme on a practice piece ahead of time)
6. Spray-glue the fabric to the front, sides, and back edges of the panel
7. Spray-glue newspaper to the back (for anti-itch purposes)

This will yield a panel that's rigid (enough) yet light enough that you can easily pick it up with a thumb and forefinger. I use finishing nails to mount them on drywall or plaster. Three through the fabric under the top edge of the frame and three more tucked under the bottom will do it. Use the 7th nail as a nail-set, and use a straight pin to tidy up the tiny holes at the top.

[Chipotle]

I used 3" Safe 'n' Sound from Lowes on some panels. 16"x48", with two batts so they are 6" thick, with 1x6 frames. Much heavier and bulkier than you would get using Rockwool or OC703, which is dense enough for 4" (or even 2") panels.

The narrower Safe 'n' Sound panels work, but I ended up using them as corner traps, since as you can see from the chart keith.rogers posted, they actually are better at low frequency absorption since it is less dense but thicker. I just put the 18" frames diagonally in the room corners (with a triangular air space behind them) and stacked two to go floor-to-ceiling.

I tried them as portable panels at first, and they worked okay, but not nearly as well as the 4", 24"-wide OC703 panels I made, which are lighter as well.