# parts..........

**URL:** <https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823>\
**Category:** Proton Packs\
**Created:** [July 30, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823 "2008-07-30T02:14:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![smokeeater2193](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@smokeeater2193](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/smokeeater2193)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/1 "2008-07-30T02:14:46Z")

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what would be better wood or balsa wood to make the gear box and the [ion arm](https://www.gbfans.com/shop/aluminum-welded-ion-arm)… basicaly the big parts on the pack… i was thinking of ujsing syra foam… but i think that takes to long… what do u sajjest

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**Author:** ![Cornelius](https://forum.gbfans.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@Cornelius](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Cornelius)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 9:14am UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/2 "2008-07-30T09:14:46Z")

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I’ll be using MDF for the majority of the boxes if not all…

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**Author:** ![Speedmonkey80](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/speedmonkey80/32/5927_2.png) [@Speedmonkey80](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/Speedmonkey80)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:38pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/3 "2008-07-30T12:38:19Z")

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MDF is the s%#t!

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**Author:** ![PBAlpha](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/pbalpha/32/309_2.png) [@PBAlpha](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/PBAlpha)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/4 "2008-07-30T20:31:27Z")

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Wouldn’t an MDF pack be really heavy?

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**Author:** ![irricanian](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/irricanian/32/5887_2.png) [@irricanian](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/irricanian)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/5 "2008-07-30T20:59:16Z")

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> [@PBAlpha](#):
>
> Wouldn’t an MDF pack be really heavy?

Not necessarily, if all the components were built hollow and you omitted material where its not visible its not that bad, the ALICE frame distributes the weight pretty good. My first pack was MDF and weighed in around 30 lbs +/-. Definately not as light as a fiberglass shell 🙂

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**Author:** ![spooky](https://forum.gbfans.com/user_avatar/forum.gbfans.com/spooky/32/187216_2.png) [@spooky](https://forum.gbfans.com/u/spooky)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://forum.gbfans.com/t/parts/5823/6 "2008-07-30T22:13:16Z")

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Foam Board can work too instead of MDF. If rushed it can look very unclean but cut slowly and worked well its lighter and easier to mess with since you really don’t need any skills with power tools.