Balsa Wood – Different Grades?

[Steven N. Bolin]

I was at a local hobby shop a week or so ago and ran across a whole rack of various size balsa wood (I’m assuming for building RC planes). They carry balsa that’ll fit on a pair of blanks and I almost bought some just to play with… After a bit of quality control and sanding at high grits to ensure a somewhat uniform porous surface that’ll hold compound wouldn’t it get the job done?

I hear you guys talking about various grades… Can someone enlighten me?

[Josh]

I’m sure Eric (Zamfir) will be by in a bit to educate 😉 They all get the job done, I just didn’t really like the really soft stuff because it would dish, but if you use it on the finer grits and light pressure you will be fine and it feels really nice.

[Steven N. Bolin]

I’m sure Eric (Zamfir) will be by in a bit to educate 😉 They all get the job done, I just didn’t really like the really soft stuff because it would dish, but if you use it on the finer grits and light pressure you will be fine and it feels really nice.

Awesome, thanks Josh! I might have to make a pit stop later and pick some up.

Oh, and ,before I forget! I was anticipating your feedback on that MAJOR repair I did on my buddy’s Miyabi.

https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forum/sharpening-as-a-business/13469-what-in-the-world-should-i-charge?start=40

2 videos here – 1st is me finishing up thinning behind behind the edge/prepping for brand new edge. 2nd is me finishing up the actual cutting edge itself in the WEPS.

Check it out paleeeeeez?! Gotta have that RazorEdge feedback, bro. Otherwise, I can’t sleep well at night. 😛

[Daniel maloon]

http://www.rcscalebuilder.com/tutorials/balsa/balsa_1.htm
http://www.specializedbalsa.com/products/balsa_sticks.php

Here’s some info. I wasn’t impressed with the balsa that I bought from the store and made strops from. It compressed and dished so I went back to leather. I might order some high density an try it out again but I’m pretty much set with my leather

[Steven N. Bolin]

Dan, both you and Josh mentioned dishing.

Ok… So… What about compressing the you know what outta the stuff? Immediately after reading your reply something came to mind – Putting it in between 2 steel flat bars, throwing it a vise, gradually increasing the force over a few hours until the desired thickness is reached, then leaving it for 24 hours or so. Then, after removing it from the vise, sanding down the surface so that it’s porous again and ready to take the compound.

… Yeah?

I mean, heck, the place to pick some up is only couple miles away from my apartment. Give me the go-ahead, I’ll go grab some right now and give it a shot if you guys think this is even an option worth trying!

[Daniel maloon]

If you have nothing to do then go ahead man. The stuff is cheap and easy to cut. They also have basswood which I’ve used too. Why not try something new?

[Josh]

If you have nothing to do then go ahead man. The stuff is cheap and easy to cut. They also have basswood which I’ve used too. Why not try something new?

Exactly… just make sure to report back! hehe

[Zamfir]

I ordered 4 different densities of balsa, light, medium, heavy, and extra heavy. I cut them to the wicked edge paddle size and sent 2 sets of each to Clay for testing. I also sent a set of all 4 to Josh for testing.

This was all talked about in this thread before:
https://knife.wickededgeusa.com/forum/2-welcome-mat/13334-cool-idea-strop-handles?limitstart=0&start=10

You don’t read yer own threads? goof ball…you already knew this.. :silly:

[CliffCurry]

Has anyone ever tried stropping with good old soft pine wood? I can picture super light balsa dishing out under medium or greater pressure but not sure how denser balsa would compare to pine.

[Zamfir]

denser Balsa is very close to pine..maybe even harder

[Steven N. Bolin]

You don’t read yer own threads? goof ball…you already knew this.. :silly:

Bahahaha. Yeah, man, as soon as the thread got hijacked I stopped. Not because I didn’t care, but because I couldn’t go down that rabbit hole quite yet… So much to keep up with…You guys are scraping trees, I’ve still got my spots 😉

[Josh]

Has anyone ever tried stropping with good old soft pine wood? I can picture super light balsa dishing out under medium or greater pressure but not sure how denser balsa would compare to pine.

I definitely have not had any dishing issues w/ my extra heavy for sure, or my heavy for that matter that i have seen, and i have been checking…

[Steven N. Bolin]

UPDATE: I picked up a variety pack of balsa for $8.99 from the hobby shop. The densest pieces are the thickest, which are about 1/2″ or so. All others are too soft given my “finger dent” test. I’ll cut the 1/2″ to size and sand down the faces to the appropriate thickness. This will be the first time I’ve used balsa and it’s a perfect opportunity to try em on my 940 I reprofiled at 17dps last night!

NOTE: I also picked up a strip of bass wood while I was there. Curious to play with it as well.

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