What is the preffered wood for inside the safe ? I was thinking particle board and obviously covered with speaker box type carpet. Any suggestions,better materials or members with experience that can offer some insight ?
Plywood
Particle board isn’t really designed for shelving type loads, more for a shear diaphragm application like sheathing on a house.
Plywood, I agree.
I ordered my Sturdy Safe without the interior so I could build one myself. I used a 4x8 sheet of medium density fiberboard and bought a bulk roll of speaker carpet on ebay. I am very pleased with the results. My safe is 6’ tall and I have a shelf that is the full width of the safe and is only supported at the ends. After a couple months the shelf started to sag slightly so I added a couple pieces of angle steel under it and solved the sagging issue.
Sounds very nice. Would you mind posting a picture ? I understand everyone saying plywood. My thought was that alot of furniture is designed using particle board so i was assuming it would be sufficent. Also, isnt plywood treated? Not sure about putting treated wood inside the safe.
5/8 or 3/4 inch plywood will hold anything you’re gonna stack in a gun safe. Lowes or Home Depot sell smaller chunks of cabinet grade plywood so you won’t have to spring for a full sheet. And it’s not treated with anything nasty.
Or find a local cabinet/kitchen furnishings outfit and see if they don’t have either some scraps or salvaged countertops you could snatch up for next to nothing.
My main issue was worrying about what type of chemical the plywood had been treated with. Definitely a good idea to spend a few extra dollars on plywood and have a much higher load rating. Kitchen/cabinet aisle at lowes is an excellent idea. As always, thanks for the insight fellow members.