Balsawood density/weights

[Doug Forrester]

Andy brought up a subject that is very important to the scratchbuilders of raceboats - the weight of wood! I thought that the posts on this subject that I know will be coming (Andy promised to get back to us after he had weighed some of his wood supply) would be best in a new string.

[Doug Forrester]

As Andy mentioned, there are lots of good, inexpensive digital scales about these days - for kitchen, postal and any other use.
It really is an indespensible tool in your workshop.Here is an interesting website:

http://www.scalenet.com/

[AndyKunz]

I entered the weights and dimensions of my current stock of balsa on my personal website, www.users.fast.net/~montana - pick the balsa chart from the main page there.

Please note that these are all approximations, as my scale is only has 2g resolution. The small summary chart at the end shows the wide range of densities possible.

Note also that there are a couple pieces which look to be way out of line on their densities. I checked them each several times - those are right!

This should help you understand the importance of carefully selecting the wood when you go shopping. The lightest pieces there are all "contest grade" wood. The others are just standard balsa. There is a biiiiig difference in price. But if you want to win, it is worth it.

Note also that 1/32" balsa was heavier as a rule. This is because it is more difficult to make it thin from light stock. You can read up on this on the Superior Balsa site. When buying wood to bend around curves, usually 1/16" will be better than 1/32". None of the 1/32" is contest grade btw.

Hope this helps!

Andy