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Building Tips and technical articles. => 1/2 A building. => Topic started by: Allan Leonard on March 07, 2020, 12:09:54 PM
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In my building supplies file I list 9 balsa wood distributors. The only one that lists 1/4 x 4 x 36 airfoil shaped balsa is Sig. Last I checked, which was recently, they are out of stock. They have been out of stock since last November when I originally placed an order. Anyone know where I can find some?
Thanks,
Al
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I would look for something like that on my workbench, after a session with whittling knives, wood planes, and a sanding block.
Even back in the day the Sig airfoiled stock was random grain (i.e., not C grain) and not terribly light. The nice thing about doing it yourself is you can start with a selected weight of C-grain wood, which should make a much better airfoil.
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I can't help you find the Sig airfoil balsa, but I had some and as you say, it's heavy. I just built my last piece into a Buster for Goodyear. 15-powered Goodyears NEED the strength of hard balsa.
This stuff comes up in estate sales now and again.
Using glider stocks sure does save a lot of sawdust. Plan B is a big belt sander from Harbor Freight.
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Did you place your order with Sig? I placed mine a few months ago and even though it was out of stock, they sent it within 2 weeks. Sig first sent me a e-mail indicating out of stock but as soon as they had some I would receive it.
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Yes, I placed an order with Sig back in november for a bunch of balsa. I got an e-mail right away informing me that a lot of the balsa was back ordered and should arrive within two weeks. So I waited. After six weeks I cancelled the order. I saved the order summary and two weeks ago e-mailed the same order asking what was available. They e-mailed back and I was informed that non of the balsa I had originally ordered was in stock. Oh well, thanks for the input guys. I'll just move on to plan B. I picked up the plans from Aerofred a "Scorpion" 20 in. profile. It just struck me as a neat looking inexpensive easy build . I figured I could build a dozen of them and maybe get a lap.
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We used to use that pre-airfoiled balsa for catapult launch gliders. It was a little heavy but could hold up to the stress of the catapult. Too bad there's none in stock, in fact I got it from sig a few years ago to make gliders for my 6 year old nephew.