Balsa and Temperature changes
 

I was wondering how Blasa is affected by changes in temperature. The only place I have to build is a shed that isn't insulated nor temperature controlled. I was wondering how much of a problem, if there is one, this will be.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Good question. Before I moved to the desert I lived in the mountains in Calif. My shop I did insulate but the only time it had heat or air was when I was out there building. Even with all the snow and rain, high and low temps my wood supply wasn't bothered with warping. I stored my planes out there too and they were fine. One thing was I have never lived in a place with high humidity and I question how that would effect my wood?

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Hmm...I live in Hampton Roads, VA...it does get pretty humid here in the summer.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Here in northern Iowa we get brutal cold in the winter and 80%+ humidity in the summer. If you cover with film you will notice all your models covering will need to be re-shrunk from time to time. Usually in the spring after the winter is over. I think that is a function of the wood drying out a bit in the drier air of the winter time. Other that, as long as the wood stays dry, as in no standing moisture, you should be OK.

Ken

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

You can't change where you live but you can take the time to do as I did in my shop. It was just one of thosde wood sheds that looks like a barn. I wired it first then insulated it then sheet rocked it. I did this myself and it cost next to nothing and took just about a week. A friend helped me sheet rock it. I even painted it and installed a couple of nice lights over my work area. It does get hot in the mountains during the summer so I bought a small window air conditioner. It was nicer in my shop then in my house during the summer. I used a small floor heater in the winter and it was nice out there. As I said, when I wasn't out there working it was what ever it was outside. We only got three to five weeks where it was humid and nothing like the mid west but nothing ever warped. Some of the guys from Missouri or Florida will chime in about it. I did live in Missouri for a couple years thanks to my Rich Uncle. As I recall my body even warped when I was there!!

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Living in central Georgia the temps fluxuate from below freezing to well into the upper 90's and slightly above 100, with high, I mean HIGH humidity. It's not uncommon to have humidity into the 90% range. My fleet of planes are hung in the garage by their tail-feathers and the only issue I have encountered is to slightly tighten up the covering every couple of years.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Your biggest problem will be humidity changes that go hand in hand with temperature changes. This can cause the wood to warp or weaken over time.

"Bag" your models in tightly closed plastic bags when you put them up for long term storage.

That will prevent the wood from getting dried out or overly wet, and also prevents bugs and critters from attacking the balsa.

If the weather is going to get down below 40, you can also leave a light bulb on in your shed preferably towards the ground. It provides just a bit of heat which is often enough to make the difference between freezing or not.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Jose, do you really put your planes in plastic bags for storage or is that just a thought?

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

I've put them in bags for the last few years. It seems to reduce warping and affects on the wood.

My "shed" has no heating and leaks in cold air. It is not fully sealed from the elements too, but it is fully protected from rain.

I've taken to bagging everything that is remotely perishible or affected by humidity and temperature changes.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

I am considering getting one of those back-yard sheds (provided the Assn. gives permission... [X(] :eek: ) and putting my models out there with a bench, cable extension with an HDTV, and perhaps complete wet bar.. :D I am also planning on insulating it and providing heating and air-conditioning as well as a dehumidifier. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

CGr.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Strange you mentioned about the storage shed and it's contents as I did the same thing well sorta. I got the bar in first and well that's as far as I got. :) But i really don't mind. :D:D

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

I have a neighbor {renting} that has asked me if I thought the HOA would allow hime to have one built? I told him to just go over and ask. Depending on where in his back yard he put it would mater. He has never asked. CG, the one I have in Calif. is great. Got it at the home show sale. Takes them about a day to build it then it was up to me to finish it.
Had a friend that had one of the big two story garage types built. He finshed the top and bottom floor and it can be a rental down the road but he had also set it up as his dental lab/man Cave. He went all out!! Mine is 10 X 12 with over head storage for half of it. I have a wall plug every 18 inches, mine was originally a dental lab too. Insulation was easy plus sheet rocking and paint. A couple of nice floresent lights took care of the complete shop. A window air conditioner was cheap to buy and due to the size of the shop cost almost nothing to cool during the summer. Didn't take much to heat either. I had a pretty good sound system too.
It's worth asking your neighbors and HOA about. My Casita/shop isn't much bigger then the shed I have in Calif. It just cost thousands and thousands of dollars to have as an extra on the home!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Gene: Our HOA has an arc committee that we submit our proposals to for approval. From what I understand, if it isn't to gawd awful, they will go for it. Basically, if it matches colors and is hiden to the point where it isn't extremely obvious to a passer-by, it's probably ok.

I would have to run a separate power line from a dedicated breaker (code requirement in NJ), but otherwise, I can probably get it done. First step, though, is putting up a darned fence... a tall fence... nosy neighbors, ya know?

CGr.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

I'm lucky if I see a neighbor! Very strange place. Most the folks here are retired and you only see them at the clubs we have, there is a club for most everything! People here are nuts for clubs? During the summer you will see people out walking early, like long before sun up, then as soon as the sun is up the place is a ghost town! Once the sun goes down again in the evening people come out again to go walking. People walk by my shop, see me in there and wave. It isn't very often people stop by and come in to see what I'm doing. You can see planes hanging on my ceiling in there racks from the side walk but no visitors? If I'm out in the street starting one up I get so many people stopping in there cars to ask me things it's a traffic jam. Still no visitors or nosy neighbors to bother me?? Once in a while it would be nice. I lived way out in the middle of nothing in Calif. and I would go through a case of beer a week, I almost drink nothing at all but I always had visitors. Not here in the city!

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Just a thought/thinking out loud.... If bagging a model, it might be a good idea to throw in a container of desiccant to make sure excess humidity doesn't invade the bag.

Ken

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Good idea, you should post where to buy it and an idea of the cost. I have never looked for it myself so haven't a clue who sells it.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

well I'll jump in here. Being from Florida with the heat and humidity. I have built from open barns to shed's and have never had an issue with wood or covering. The only time I have to tighten up the covering is if I let a model set in the sun too long at the airfield. Currently in a room built on to the house and it is much nicer.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

You don't live in the real world! :D:D

Seriously, your temperature variations are quite mild and the humidity changes almost static.

Come to my neck of the woods where it went from 40 degrees yesterday to 90+ today with an equal variation in humidity and even your hair will "warp".

After all we use humidity and temperature to form balsa into the shapes we need for fuselage and wing structures....

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

From the friends I have in other states, mostly in the mid west, this is what I have heard, no problems. Otherwise there would be planes all over the country flying with warped wings and fuselages and covering looking like an old woman wearing baggy hose. As a builder who stocks a lot of wood in his shop I could see the humidity having an effect on my wood pile but not my finished planes so much.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Tampa Fl by the coast.. HUMID in summer and damp cold in wniter.. I have not seen much difference at all.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Must be nice!

Even the wooden doors to my shed have warped over the last six years.

They get no direct rainfall.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

We have a different problem here, wood dries out and cracks, I'm talking furniture. One friend brought down his favorite guitar from Utah. One day he was cleaning it and looked at the back of it, a big crack down the center. Haven't seen anything at all like that on any of the planes I have left.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Hey thanks everyone for the replies!

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

Moisture, both if in excess or absence will cause more problems than temperature with wood.

RE: Balsa and Temperature changes
 

No problems with balsa in Houston Texas, the covering might be another issue. [:@]