John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

It's the stuff they use as the backing behind dart boards in pubs and other gaming areas. Also used to be used as notice boards and message boards in offices, schools, churches, etc., to pin up things with push-pins.


- Stuart -

Not here in Greece. For dart boards it's cork. Same for pin boards etc

I can see on official site they only retail in US and Canada. No international retailers.

Google returns no results when you search for homasote only in Greece

That said I dont really know what we are talking about so to look for similar product.

I found agglomerated cork sheets of 12mm thickness , density 230kg/m3 .......for 30euros/m2.......

I found agglomerated cork sheets of 12mm thickness , density 230kg/m3

That might work! Do you have any more info on that? A link maybe?

Here's what Homasote looks like:
A bit like soft, flaky MDF. But that cork stuff sounds interesting.

- Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:Do you have any more info on that? A link maybe?

That's for sheets which go up to 200mm thickness!

• Specifications:
  - grain size: 0,5-1,0 mm (fine), 1-2 mm (medium), 2-6 mm (coarse)
  - density: > 230 kg/m3
  - thermal conductivity: 0,045 W/mK
  - combustibility: euroklasse E
  - tensile strength: more than 400 kPa

Thats for rolls up to 10mm

• Specifications:
  - grain size: 1-2 mm (medium)
  - density:> 260 kg/m3
  - thermal conductivity: 0,045 W/mK
  - combustibility: euroklasse E
  - tensile strength: > 400 kPa
  - compressibility: 15-30%
  - compression: 20-40%
  - flexible return: > 75%
  - dimensional stability: under 0,5%
  - capillarity: no

That looks like it should work. I would suggest buying one sheet of the course stuff and making a test hanger, to see if it will work physically: hang straight and true, without bending or sagging: take the weight when hung from just two points, without tearing. Be able to attach the insulation properly. Etc. If it works out OK, then carry on!

- Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:I would suggest buying one sheet of the course stuff and making a test hanger

Thank you very much for your help!

I will now try to find the same material but as cheap as it gets.
You see its 15€ for 1/2 m2 sheet and for 4m high ceiling I will need 4 of them...
That's 60€ for each hanger, just for the core, without insulation etc.. damn

That's 60€ for each hanger, just for the core, without insulation etc.. damn

Hangers are super super super expensive Acoustic measurements should prove that it's worth it though.

Greg

Hangers are super super super expensive

Good to know before starting..Ty sir

almaelectronix wrote:

Soundman2020 wrote:I would suggest buying one sheet of the course stuff and making a test hanger

Thank you very much for your help!

I will now try to find the same material but as cheap as it gets.
You see its 15€ for 1/2 m2 sheet and for 4m high ceiling I will need 4 of them...
That's 60€ for each hanger, just for the core, without insulation etc.. damn

Cork is a really expensive way to go, it would work well but unless you can get it for really cheap (such as a job lot of notice boards from an office clear out or something) then why not just use thin ply or chipboard? 5mm OSB would be fine. Philip Newell uses up to 19mm chipboard or ply for hangers sometimes, though personally that seems over engineered to me as it would be quite heavy.

You could also use underlay boards used under laminate flooring, it's very similar to homasote. it's cheap and easy to work with. You should be able to get the whole lot that required to make all the hangers for about the same price as one made from cork!

why not just use thin ply or chipboard?

Because it is too dense, too hard, too rigid, too heavy. Homasote is around 290 kg/m3. OSB is more than twice that, at around 610 kg/m3. Homasote is soft, a bit flexible, pliable. OSB is hard, rigid, not very flexible. MDF is even more dense, at around 750 lg/m3. Nearly three times the density of Homasote or cork. They don't compare.

You could also use underlay boards used under laminate flooring,

I've never seen underlay 12mm thick. I didn't know they make it that thick. What's the density?


- Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

why not just use thin ply or chipboard?

Because it is too dense, too hard, too rigid, too heavy. Homasote is around 290 kg/m3. OSB is more than twice that, at around 610 kg/m3. Homasote is soft, a bit flexible, pliable. OSB is hard, rigid, not very flexible. MDF is even more dense, at around 750 lg/m3. Nearly three times the density of Homasote or cork. They don't compare.

You could also use underlay boards used under laminate flooring,

I've never seen underlay 12mm thick. I didn't know they make it that thick. What's the density?


- Stuart -

Who am I to argue with you Stuart? All I know is that Tom Hidley and Philip Newell are the pioneers of these hangers and if thats what they use/d then it must work. Also it has been suggested by others on earlier pages of this thread including John that OSB would work fine.

The underlay was also suggested on earlier pages of this thread without complaint. It seems to me that if Homasote is not available (like here in Europe) then any of these alternatives will have to do.

After about ten years of lurking this site and others I'm actually starting a (modular) studio build. I love the hanger concept, the simplicity of building them. I have a few back wall options that I'm weighing now.

For those you who have used hangers in your designs, are they mostly uniform in length? In the US Home Depot has 8' by 4' Homasote boards, I'd likely cut down to 8 by 2, but they also sell 4' by 2'. Any recommendations on length?

Hi Boxtone. Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

For those you who have used hangers in your designs, are they mostly uniform in length?

Generally, yes, but they don't have to be. Changing length and width can be used to "tune" the hangers, to a certain extent, in the sense that the bigger it is, the lower it goes in frequency.

Any recommendations on length?

Ceiling to floor, or as close to that as you can get.

- Stuart -

So it seems I can't even get the cork sheets I need for hanger's core..
its been a month of waiting now after making the order and the one guy out of all that actually said he sells the damn thing just cant give me a clear answer..

I am forced to use the only materials I can get.
That will be 6mm chipboard.
John said that even 6mm osb is fine so i guess chipboard which is softer and less dense will be even better

That will be 6mm chipboard.

If that's all you can get, then it will probably work OK. It's better than nothing!


- Stuart -