I am building a Lanier Cap 232 and the turtledeck uses 3/32s bulsa sheeting. The structure has some sharp curves or bends. I don't have any experience with bending balsa and would like some suggestions as to how to bend or curve the balsa without breaking it.

Make a aluminum foil pan large enough to accept the piece of balsa you are trying to bend. Fill the pan with household ammonia, and let soak for however long to make the wood soft (maybe an hour or so). Form the wood over the formers, and allow the wood to dry. When the wood is dry, it will have taken the shape you wanted, and you may glue it in place. The ammonia will smell up the place, so allow ventilation.

Les

The usual trick is to wet the wood (one side or both, depending on the curvature) with as50/50 mix of water and ammonia or alchohol. That works for usual decking.

Soaking the wood in a really really hot water works too. Steaming it is over kill, so I just boil the kettle, make a cup of tea, and pour the rest on the sheeting. (not the tea, the water in the kettle [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] )

Make sure you're bending it with the grain.... Some glues, like the alphatic, will loosen when soaked enough, so take care..

Two trivia on bending with ammonia...

First, the way it works is that the ammonia softens up the lignin that's very abundant in softwoods and gives them much of their stiffness, and

Second, balsa is actually a hardwood

If you like using ammonia, Windex or similar products are nice because you can spray the moisture where you want it and the dye in it lets you see where there's liquid on the surface and where there's not... plus they don't smell too bad.

Thanks for the response form everyone - I just finished one side of the turtledeck (bending the bulsa) and it bent
just fine with the suggestions that were given - Thanks again.

Ugly Stick