Buying a wood stash

[woundedbear]

I was thinking about buying a bunch of balsa wood, you know to have on hand. Or if I ever try my hand at scratch building, what would be good sizes and weights to have on hand ? They have 1/32, 1/16, 3/32, 1/8 and up to 3/8 at SIG in contest wood 4 to 6 pounds. I called them the other day and talked to one on their tech guys. He told me that anything over 4 inches wide was glued up before cutting, is this true ? They also have C grain in's own category, and something they call "very heavy balsa", those two are only available in 3 inch widths. I've bought from SIG before and think their's is the best way to selling balsa wood, you can choose your own wood in the 36" and 48 inch lengths. From 2, 3, 4,and 6 inches wide. They will also pick the grain you want for .25 cents a sheet, and the weight you want for .35 cents a sheet and I think that's not a bad to sell balsa wood. I read some were that most balsa is cut into something they call "B grain", what is the best use of B grain balsa wood ? As for myself I like to have ether A grain, "aka flat sawed" or C grain "aka quarter sawed", that's what we called it in the furniture trade, that's something we use to do here in North Carolina, along with textiles. I like to have C grain for things like formers and wing ribs. Then use A grain for sheeting a frame or maybe the keels, stringers, and maybe spars. B grain "aka random sawed" seems like it would warp in every which way, twist in two different directions. Well there might be some uses for it, this is something I have to ask about, and hope someone on the forum can give me some answers about balsa wood. Well there it is guys a whole lot of questions, I look forward to hearing what you folks have to say. There are a lot of knowledgeable people who contribute to this forum everyday and I appreciate the advice, your help, and time.

[WIDDOG]

Hi woundedbear,

Very interesting post you got there. I can't seem to find anyone that sell 1/20" thick sheet and stick Balsa wood. i.e. the 900 Series kits use this thickness of sheet Balsa. I have heard that probably 1/16" thick Contest Balsa would work better than 1/20" thick kit wood. I used to buy my wood from Peck Polymers. BTW they are back at http://www.peck-polymers.com/. I don't think they have Balsa wood yet. They used to sell Contest 1/20" thick Balsa.

I am working on a 500 Series kit at this time. I have been staying up with the forum but don't know when the 500's are coming out in laser cut versions. I am using the kit wood that came with the kit. It is very heavy. I don't think it will fly very well. I was going to cut my 500 Series kit out of Contest Balsa wood but I am running low on wood supplies. I read your post and ordered a resupply from Sig. For me it works out to about one sheet of 1/16 x 3 x 36 to make a 500 Series kit. Of course there is always some extra wood left over. This of course does not include the stringers which I order separately. For stringers I usually order them at about 60 stringer at 1/16 " Sq. x 36" length at a time.

Also very interesting your post about wood grains. I looked up in my Don Ross book say " Do not use C grain for curved planking, carved nose blocks or propellers.

[NcGunny]

Hey Bear,
So my dad had a logging business forever when I was growing up in S. Va. The "B" grain is a combo of A and C grain which you notice has long streaks in it. I have bought several Guillows kits that were all B grain except for the stringers sheet. So hopefully most people know they take a log and cut a square out of a circle. The quarters left still have wood in them depending on your log shape. These are utilized depending on the mill cutting style,most cut the sides till they get to their inner side of square on each side. Wood closest to outter edges have more open grain, inner wood tighter grains. So your B grain comes from random cuts from the log, most people use it for fuse sides,leading and trailing edges, formers, and some wing sheeting. I find the hand select fees to be crazy,you are paying for something they have to do anyways. Its just a easy way to make a fast buck. As far as wider sheets being glued...I ran into some 8" stuff once,but it depends on the tree farms harvesting practices and who might have dibs on bigger stocks. Chances are it comes in bigger sizes but the market is limited.

[woundedbear]

Thanks for your replies WIDDOG and McGunny, SIG sells 1/16 x 1/16 x 36 stringer stock if you click on the arrow at the end you will find 1/16 x 3/32, 1/16 x 1/8, and that list goes on. If you click on 3/32 and go to the right end you click there you will see 3/32 x 3/32 x 36 and that list goes on to 3/32 x 3/8 x 36 and then 3/32 x 1/4, 5/16, 1/2 and on to 3/4. I have bought their contest wood in 1/32 and 1/16 and it is incredibly light and goes up to 3/8 x 4 x 36, just click on the down arrow at the right end. I have an idea about a twin motor electric airplane, in my head, haven't put anything on paper yet though. But I was thinking the De Havilland Hornet, an aircraft that I never saw before this year. It was developed as a long range fighter by the same folks who came up with the Mosquito, the wooden wonder of World War 2 fame. Came along too late, but I can't seem to get it off my mind, so I have pitched the idea of some companies like Guillows and some dude that cuts kits of out production airplanes, but nobody seems to be interested in such an obscure airplane. Of course if I ever get around to it, I'll build it much simpler version. Squared off wings, vertical, and horizontal stabilizers. Not even a canopy, and a fuselage that's no more than circles for formers. Just a simple elongated spindle shape, with a turned balsa wood nose cone that can be removed to get the center of gravity right. That my plane crazy friends is what is known as the KISS principle of design...Keep It Simple Stupid, "Oh yeah", I know that's one that everybody has heard before, but... works for me. There's one more thing I need an answer to. Has anyone ever built an airplane using Hard balsa 12 to 16 pounds, in the places were that kind of strength is needed. The nose, the first 2 formers, the main spar, and the leading edge of the main wing. Then use medium 9 to 12 pound balsa for the mid-section, starting about 1 former behind the main spar of the main wing. Then use soft balsa 6 to 9 pounds for the rest of the fuselage and tail surfaces, well some medium balsa for the leading edges of the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. Then sheet the whole thing with A grain contest balsa. But what about the grain of the other parts ? I was thinking C grain for the formers mid and side keels, wing ribs and tips. This is where I need advice, I am certain that I want A grain contest for covering the Fuselage, main wing, and the tail surfaces. But what about the rest of the airplane ? I have noted that when I look at the stringer stock from a Guillows kit the front and back look like C grain and the edges look like A grain. Something else I've noticed about the Guillows stringer stock It's quite hard but will bend around the fuselage easily and it's not very heavy . Well that's it same questions I asked when I started this thread just a little more refined.

[David Lewis]

C grain is stiff across the grain, and A grain is flexible across the grain. If you are making, for example, sheet balsa tail surfaces, then C grain is the way to go. For formers and ribs it doesn't seem to matter. You can use any grain you want and it works fine.

[NcGunny]

I just saw Warbirds.com has hornet kits and hippocket and outterzone both have free plans on their site. Warbirds has a write up about using electric motors with his.