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Where do you buy your balsa from?
02-20-2013, 09:23 AM
#26
RE: Where is all the good wood?
Try Balsa USA. They are reasonable and I have never gotten any poor quality product from them.
ORIGINAL: mattnew
Between my brother, father and I we've got 4-5 new kits on our building benches currently. all from pretty well known kit makers. So I ask... where is the good wood? I won't name names .. but from what I've seen going through these kits, I have some rock hard heavy balsa... some balsa so soft I can put my finger through it... some warped plywood, and even some plywood die cut parts with epoxy filler added to fill the voids. bleh....
I see a number of threads lamenting the lack of kits out there, others lamenting that our hobby is going to the ARF/RTF/BNF arena... I can't say I blame them with what I'm looking at on my bench.
are people finding quality wood to scratch build with anywhere? if you are would you mind sharing your source?
Between my brother, father and I we've got 4-5 new kits on our building benches currently. all from pretty well known kit makers. So I ask... where is the good wood? I won't name names .. but from what I've seen going through these kits, I have some rock hard heavy balsa... some balsa so soft I can put my finger through it... some warped plywood, and even some plywood die cut parts with epoxy filler added to fill the voids. bleh....
I see a number of threads lamenting the lack of kits out there, others lamenting that our hobby is going to the ARF/RTF/BNF arena... I can't say I blame them with what I'm looking at on my bench.
are people finding quality wood to scratch build with anywhere? if you are would you mind sharing your source?
02-20-2013, 09:39 AM
#27
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RE: Where is all the good wood?
I use specialized mainly I lived about a mile from them about a year ago,their prices have doubled since I delt with them but they do have the best wood in 3 grades soft,med,hard balsa sheets and sticks,blocks.tell them what you want or need and Jake will see you get what you want.
02-20-2013, 11:53 AM
#28
RE: Where is all the good wood?
National is good wood, the only issue i have had with them is they have made several mistakes with the size of wood ordered. For example, ordered 3/32 X 3 and 1/8 X 3, etc.
Sig is good and so is Balsa USA.
I can't help but wonder if some of the larger companies that sell both kits and arfs are putting junk wood in the kits in an effort to discourage builders into buying arf's where the company has a higher profit margin.
Sig is good and so is Balsa USA.
I can't help but wonder if some of the larger companies that sell both kits and arfs are putting junk wood in the kits in an effort to discourage builders into buying arf's where the company has a higher profit margin.
02-20-2013, 12:34 PM
#29
RE: Where is all the good wood?
Here is another supplier that supplies great wood and you can specify which grade you need. They package the wood well and ship fast.
http://www.balsawoodinc.com/
They keep you informed about your order so you know that they recieved it, what you ordered, and then when they ship it so you will know when to expect it. The orders that I have made seem to ship the same day if ordered early in the day.
Frank
http://www.balsawoodinc.com/
They keep you informed about your order so you know that they recieved it, what you ordered, and then when they ship it so you will know when to expect it. The orders that I have made seem to ship the same day if ordered early in the day.
Frank
02-20-2013, 02:01 PM
#30
My Feedback: (3)
RE: Where is all the good wood?
Wood is where you find it.
I have bought entire balsa displays from closing hobby shops for pennies on the dollar. Yes, it's been picked over and there's some heavy stuff in there but at the price I can afford to toss the heavy and warped pieces (or more realistically, just save it for non-critical applications) and keep just the good stuff for building. The other source that I stumbled into was I found an estate auction that had come from a serious model builder. This guy was a contest C/L flier and scratch builder. He had numerous boxes of ultralight contest balsa with every sheet individually weighed and marked. Again, pennies on the dollar, I paid $110 for what was probably at least $2000 worth of wood.
I've been collecting balsa for 40 years. With the exception of a few specialty pieces like sheeting for foam wings skins and some specialty shapes, I probably have enough to last me for most of the rest of my life and still be a burden on my son. With my closet full of balsa I never hesitate to replace wood in a kit, just grab what you need, cut it and go! Then throw the kit parts in the scrap bin and some day they might be used. On my last scratch build I didn't have to buy one single piece of balsa!
Collecting is an obsession that pays off!
Dave
I have bought entire balsa displays from closing hobby shops for pennies on the dollar. Yes, it's been picked over and there's some heavy stuff in there but at the price I can afford to toss the heavy and warped pieces (or more realistically, just save it for non-critical applications) and keep just the good stuff for building. The other source that I stumbled into was I found an estate auction that had come from a serious model builder. This guy was a contest C/L flier and scratch builder. He had numerous boxes of ultralight contest balsa with every sheet individually weighed and marked. Again, pennies on the dollar, I paid $110 for what was probably at least $2000 worth of wood.
I've been collecting balsa for 40 years. With the exception of a few specialty pieces like sheeting for foam wings skins and some specialty shapes, I probably have enough to last me for most of the rest of my life and still be a burden on my son. With my closet full of balsa I never hesitate to replace wood in a kit, just grab what you need, cut it and go! Then throw the kit parts in the scrap bin and some day they might be used. On my last scratch build I didn't have to buy one single piece of balsa!
Collecting is an obsession that pays off!
Dave
02-20-2013, 03:45 PM
#31
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RE: Where is all the good wood?
ORIGINAL: GerKonig
that is true, nobody mentioned one of the actual biggest consumers. Boat and ship manufacturing use them too. I saw a blade being made here in PA. They are building them in Fairless Hills, in what was an abandoned steel mill. They have a ''layer'' of balsa, not on all the blade. Each blade costs over 1M. Really cool work. But the balsa grows fast, and it is grown and harvested like any other tree, just that they grow like crazy. Slow growing trees have dense and hard wood...
I buy Balsa USA kits, and generally I noticed no change in the quality of their wood. They do not laser cut, the die crunch.
Gerry
ORIGINAL: eddieC
eddieC.....what is the name of your company? Do you carry all sizes of wood?
Sorry, it was a joke.
As for balsa demand for wind turbines (windmills are different), fortunately balsa trees regenerate quickly, so balsa supplies for our hobby should improve with time.
that is true, nobody mentioned one of the actual biggest consumers. Boat and ship manufacturing use them too. I saw a blade being made here in PA. They are building them in Fairless Hills, in what was an abandoned steel mill. They have a ''layer'' of balsa, not on all the blade. Each blade costs over 1M. Really cool work. But the balsa grows fast, and it is grown and harvested like any other tree, just that they grow like crazy. Slow growing trees have dense and hard wood...
I buy Balsa USA kits, and generally I noticed no change in the quality of their wood. They do not laser cut, the die crunch.
Gerry
Cool work? Sure, but not easy. Fiberglass and epoxy...
02-20-2013, 04:10 PM
#32
My Feedback: (6)
RE: Where is all the good wood?
The wind turbines are courtesy of the federal government, which gives them huge subsidies. The power they produce is trivial, and the power companies wouldn't build them on their own. And they kill nearly half a million birds a year.
I'm finishing up a Pica Touche kit I bought here a few months back. Nice reminder of how good the balsa in kits used to be.
I'm finishing up a Pica Touche kit I bought here a few months back. Nice reminder of how good the balsa in kits used to be.
02-20-2013, 04:32 PM
#33
Senior Member
My Feedback: (13)
RE: Where is all the good wood?
The last two Great Planes kits I built had atrocious wood; the fuse sides on one actually fuzzy hair-like portions that wouldn't sand smooth for squat.
I have several kits of fairly recent vintage in waiting. The two Sig offerings and the BTE Venture 60 have excellent wood; not so much the others. The BTE Venture 60 proves that good wood is still able to be had today... if you're willing to pay for it.
I am... but as the hobby seems to be relentlessly driven toward price points instead of quality levels; well, I think the good old days of kit selection with decent wood are gone forever. Perhaps when I retire for good (still doing a regular consultant gig), I'll try my hand at building from plans. Until then... I'll snarf a few of what kits of known quality are still out there.
At a premium price, of course...
.
I have several kits of fairly recent vintage in waiting. The two Sig offerings and the BTE Venture 60 have excellent wood; not so much the others. The BTE Venture 60 proves that good wood is still able to be had today... if you're willing to pay for it.
I am... but as the hobby seems to be relentlessly driven toward price points instead of quality levels; well, I think the good old days of kit selection with decent wood are gone forever. Perhaps when I retire for good (still doing a regular consultant gig), I'll try my hand at building from plans. Until then... I'll snarf a few of what kits of known quality are still out there.
At a premium price, of course...
.
02-20-2013, 05:56 PM
#34
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RE: Where is all the good wood?
ORIGINAL: Top_Gunn
The wind turbines are courtesy of the federal government, which gives them huge subsidies. The power they produce is trivial, and the power companies wouldn't build them on their own. And they kill nearly half a million birds a year.
I'm finishing up a Pica Touche kit I bought here a few months back. Nice reminder of how good the balsa in kits used to be.
The wind turbines are courtesy of the federal government, which gives them huge subsidies. The power they produce is trivial, and the power companies wouldn't build them on their own. And they kill nearly half a million birds a year.
I'm finishing up a Pica Touche kit I bought here a few months back. Nice reminder of how good the balsa in kits used to be.
Pica kits are best in class, agree. I have a Top Flite P51 kit from the 70's. Balsa is also first rate. Still in good shape - will assemble with ease I'm sure.
02-20-2013, 06:26 PM
#36
RE: Where is all the good wood?
I'm one of those serious builders with lots of wood too....someone will get a good buy when I die....Hoping to make it to 90 years.......the rest of the family has lasted longer than that.
02-20-2013, 07:24 PM
#37
RE: Where is all the good wood?
ORIGINAL: ScottVan
I can assure you that wind turbine blades are not creating a balsa supply issue at this time. A few years ago that was the case but as quoted above, balsa recovers quickly and supply > demand. As for cost, each blade (approx 40-45 meters) does not cost $1M, not even a half or third of that. As the blades get longer they use more exotic materials in the root to make it more rigid but use balsa in the same fashion, just more of it. Many blades are made in Brazil.
Cool work? Sure, but not easy. Fiberglass and epoxy...
ORIGINAL: GerKonig
that is true, nobody mentioned one of the actual biggest consumers. Boat and ship manufacturing use them too. I saw a blade being made here in PA. They are building them in Fairless Hills, in what was an abandoned steel mill. They have a ''layer'' of balsa, not on all the blade. Each blade costs over 1M. Really cool work. But the balsa grows fast, and it is grown and harvested like any other tree, just that they grow like crazy. Slow growing trees have dense and hard wood...
I buy Balsa USA kits, and generally I noticed no change in the quality of their wood. They do not laser cut, the die crunch.
Gerry
ORIGINAL: eddieC
eddieC.....what is the name of your company? Do you carry all sizes of wood?
Sorry, it was a joke.
As for balsa demand for wind turbines (windmills are different), fortunately balsa trees regenerate quickly, so balsa supplies for our hobby should improve with time.
that is true, nobody mentioned one of the actual biggest consumers. Boat and ship manufacturing use them too. I saw a blade being made here in PA. They are building them in Fairless Hills, in what was an abandoned steel mill. They have a ''layer'' of balsa, not on all the blade. Each blade costs over 1M. Really cool work. But the balsa grows fast, and it is grown and harvested like any other tree, just that they grow like crazy. Slow growing trees have dense and hard wood...
I buy Balsa USA kits, and generally I noticed no change in the quality of their wood. They do not laser cut, the die crunch.
Gerry
Cool work? Sure, but not easy. Fiberglass and epoxy...
They had a "white room" for working on the blades. I saw a cut of the design of the blade. Very complex. The metal for the base came flat from the Check Republic. Here they created rings, and did the soldering (using Canadian welding equipment). Thje problem is that they had too many issues with the welding, since they get X ray'd they had a lot ow fining work to do. I was only able to give (sell them) them one day of my time, but I took the job because I wanted to see the operation. Again, very cool work. The company name is Gamesa.
I saw a lot of these power generating units (like hundreds) in the south of Spain, across Africa. Were the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, and they have 24/7 winds... I think it was called Tarifa... In France and the north of Spain I also saw a lot of them this summer. In my personal experience, if you see these things installed, it is not a good place for an RC club. Normally it is very, very windy...
Gerry
02-20-2013, 07:26 PM
#38
RE: Where is all the good wood?
ORIGINAL: sebo
I'm one of those serious builders with lots of wood too....someone will get a good buy when I die....Hoping to make it to 90 years.......the rest of the family has lasted longer than that.
I'm one of those serious builders with lots of wood too....someone will get a good buy when I die....Hoping to make it to 90 years.......the rest of the family has lasted longer than that.
Nothing better than having good genes to have a long life:-)
Gerry
02-20-2013, 07:31 PM
#39
RE: Where is all the good wood?
Talking about balsa and ARFs. Last fall, I flew in front of a line of trees, and one jumped in front of my giant stick and grabbed the wing. As a result, I got to see the inside of the wing, and I was quite impressed by the quality of the wood and the craftsmanship. Yes, it even had glue.. It could have been repairable, but the new wing to be delivered tomorrow is cheap enough not to justify the waste of time re-building the 2 broken wings... ( It has a 2 piece wing. One was partially demolished by the tree, the other suffered a bit with the impact with the ground when we were finally able to dislodge the model from the darn jumpin' tree..
Gerry
Gerry
02-20-2013, 07:43 PM
#40
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RE: Where is all the good wood?
I damaged my 50cc Sbach a few months back. I found that the Gold-Wing products used a mixture of Spruce and balsa stringers for the entire under-carriage of the fuse. After some sole searching on ways to cut my own wood, (and I have the tools to do it) I went to Aircraft Spruce, using this link:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catego.../wp/index.html
Reading their catalog, they will cut to specifications. I received the 1/4X3/16" and 1/4X1/2" strips packaged very well, in a long triangular shaped box (slightly longer than 5'). The strips were taped to a straight piece of scrap to maintain rigid shipping condition. Very straight. They did a super job. Strips are priced by size/length. They will cut a 30' piece down to 5' sections so don't be afraid to specify. Shipping is reasonable too.
Visit: http:www.ronshangar.com New DLA engine being offerd.
Thanks,
Ron
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catego.../wp/index.html
Reading their catalog, they will cut to specifications. I received the 1/4X3/16" and 1/4X1/2" strips packaged very well, in a long triangular shaped box (slightly longer than 5'). The strips were taped to a straight piece of scrap to maintain rigid shipping condition. Very straight. They did a super job. Strips are priced by size/length. They will cut a 30' piece down to 5' sections so don't be afraid to specify. Shipping is reasonable too.
Visit: http:www.ronshangar.com New DLA engine being offerd.
Thanks,
Ron
02-21-2013, 04:20 AM
#41
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RE: Where is all the good wood?
Just found an interesting article in Sigs website. http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmar...FV5.html?E+Sig I hope this link works. Sometimes me an my puter are not on the same page. Anyway, go to Sig, Product Support, Building Information, and you will find the article on Balsa wood. Just tried it and the link did not work. Don't know what this garbage is at the end of my posts. Just started. I may have a bug.<script id="overlay_tmpl" type="text/html"><div id="" class="_mp3rocket_overlay_style" style="left: ; top: ; width: ; height: ">
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