Trying something different. While the birch plywood is super stiff, I found it's not at all lightproof and needed a few coats of paint before I was satisfied. They're still an option but I want to see if I can find a reasonable combo for making them easy to paint in ways that block light without adding a lot of steps.

I had some padaulk and purpleheart woods around from other projects (my BitByBit Synths cases) and thought why not try these out. Unpainted they pass basic lightproof tests which means they work "out of the box" though it would still be wise to perhaps weather seal these and a thin coat of paint along the back might still be wise.

They aren't quite as strong as the birch ply but look a hellofalot nicer and are still pretty stiff. Of course they're also more expensive to make given the more exotic woods and given they were what I already had, I'll be looking at options for other hardwoods that might be more plentiful and thus cheaper.

Of note these are 3mm (1/8") thick. It seems like going thinner would have some tradeoffs such that for most of the boards I make, FDM 3D printing is still the preferred choice. At least for now. Maybe if/once I have a CNC router I can start doing some crazier things...

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