I have several plans builds on the way and have been looking for some good prices on planks, I now cut my own wood to size as needed. I usually use Lone Star or National Balsa. In my search today I found a place called Solarbo U.S.A. and there prices are a lot, like a bunch lower. Just wondering if anyone has bought wood from them before? I have never heard them mentioned.

I have never bought wood from them but I have used wood supplied by them, and it was of a very good quality.

Karol

First time I have seen it sold by the lb. Is the price they list a per lb price.

The price is per sheet/stick, you have to select the width and length then it shows the price. The prices look pretty good. The weight describes the density. This is medium to heavy density balsa. (7-12lb)

I have not tried them but I may. Balsawoodinc also has great prices and I have ordered from them and the woog quality was very good. All the sheet stock was uniform in thickness and was nice and straight.
Later!!
Anthony

I have bought wood from Balsa USA and found it on the heavy side. A friend recently bought about $150 worth of wood from Lone Star and said he would not go there again.

Paul

7-12 pound stock is on the heavy side. It depends on your personal needs if you can use heavier/harder wood then you can save some money. I have had very good success with the many orders of wood from Balsa USA. Lone Star tends to be heavy and hard as well. National Balsa is ok wood but they tend to make mistakes when filling the order, wrong sizes, incorrect quantities, etc.

7 - 12 lb stock is pretty standard. If you want lighter than 7 lb you need to pay the premium for "Contest Balsa."

I have made many orders from both Balsa USA and Lone Star. Personally, I have found the Lone Star to not only have better prices but to have lighter wood in the standard stock. They also offer contest balsa if you are looking for lighter wood. I have a large quantity of Lone Star 4 - 6 lb contest balsa and it's terrific. Sure you pay a bit more but when you need light, you got it. And still less than you pay at the local hobby shop for that rock hard, super heavy Midwest stuff.

I haven't ever heard of Solarbo but I will tag them as someone to look at next time I need to order.

Dave

I have used Lone Star for a long time until the fire and haven't used them sense, seems they never have everything I need in stock and I'm not ordering from several places just to build one plane. I have now used National a couple of times and am very happy with there wood and how it is packed and shipped. B.U.S.A. cost way too much so I haven't used them in a long time.
I have just never heard of Solarbo before and know nothing about them. They sure beat the prices of the other places I have tried. With three planes waiting in line to be built the price is very important. Just wondering if others have used them. I'm pretty familiar with all the main wood suppliers but have never heard of these people before. I will give them a try unless I find a better price. It's the first place I have found 4X4X36 or 48 too. With my clubs re-cut saw I have been able to cut all my own sticks and sheeting to size. Been using my clubs table saws for a couple years to cut my own hard wood sticks. I have a lot of it already cut in 8 and 10 foot lengths.
I built the two swoose planes from three blocks of balsa a club member gave me this year. The tools at my wood workers club really makes building easier and cheaper. Just buying blocks or planks even saves space in my shop.
Two of the builds I have are more old style stick building so I won't need a lot of sheets this time. I also bought out another builder and got a big stack of 1/4 inch wood. I have used it almost all up on the two swoose planes I just built. Small planes but a lot of sheeting and sticks.
Thanks for the input!!

My office is close to their warehouse. I went there today and bought some 1/8" x 3 x 36 sheets. Very nice quality, very light. It is too late to go to the garage and weigh some sheets, but they seem very light. Tomorrow I will go back to buy some more 1/4" and 3/16" I need for my next build. Call them and tell them you need light material. No extra charge for it.

Thank you, I will do that. I really didn't give asking for lighter weight a thought but it wouldn't hurt. I don't need them to put it on a scale but if they would just give the planks the lift and feel test it would be OK with me. I have a lot of planks to buy.
Gene

7 - 12 lb stock is pretty standard. If you want lighter than 7 lb you need to pay the premium for "Contest Balsa."


I have found that most wood today is closer to the 12 lb. stuff (or heavier) than 7 lb. If anyone is getting wood between 7 - 9 lbs consistently without paying extra, please post it here.

I always buy from Balsa USA. Love them.

Don

I don't recall ever not having a build going for more then a month in my shop. I use a lot of wood every year so I have used most of the wood supply stores. For the most part I have never found one suppliers wood any better then others. The cutting yes but not the quality of the wood itself. Some places like Lone Star must use beavers to cut the wood and I have to straighten up the edges, once in a while some wood may have some warp to it but for the most part it is all pretty much the same, good quality. Some of the best I have used is from National but it is just the edges being straighter. I like BAUSA myself and like dealing with them but there prices are out of line with my pockets.
Weight will vary but it is with all distributors, they buy in bulk and just cut to size.
I have always bought contest grade and been happy with it.
These days I just buy planks and cut it to size myself, I'm blessed with a very good wood shop/club. I do cut my sheeting over size and run it all through our over head micro sander so it's all the same size.
These days price means more to me then with what distributor I use. Some places I have used over the years have gone nuts with there pricing. I do a lot of shopping around these days and am very surprised with the price difference.
10 planks of 4 inch wood will do a lot of building if you have a good recut saw. I'm very lucky to have one.

I finally got home to check the weight of the new sheets I got today at Solarbo.
6 sheets 3/32 x 3 x 36 = 89 grams. That is (if my math is correct), 5.6 lb/ft^3. I didn't even selected them.

Not bad for $0.68 per sheet!

Beats the heck out of the LHS doesn't it!!