Author Topic: National Balsa lack of quality (Read 20112 times)

Brian Massey · « **on:** February 13, 2011, 02:28:13 PM »

I received my first order of balsa from National Balsa and could not be more disappointed. To start, he quality of the mill work is horrible; tear out, saw marks and inconsistent edges on much of the wood. (My guess is they're saving a lot of money by not changing cutters very often.) Next is the consistency between identical pieces. I ordered a lot of spar material and some was very soft, and others you need a hammer to drive a pin through; most not very straight.

I'm going back to Balsa USA; not saying they're perfect, but I've not had a problem in the past.

Brian

john e. holliday · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2011, 02:50:07 PM »

Have you even contacted them before this tirade??? When I order balsa I do i bulk and am not surprised to have several sheets that may have some discrepency. Usually most of the bad sheet is usuable. A lot of sheet wood is too long anyway for me.

Bill Hodges · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2011, 03:04:51 PM »

I have ordered contest grade balsa from National many times and have never been disappointed with the wood or the service. I always phone my order in and ask that the wood be hand picked for straightness, no bad spots and weight and have always gotten just what I asked for.

Give them a call and see if they will make good on your bad wood.

Bill Hodges

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2011, 03:07:39 PM »

I have not ordered from this guy, but I hear rumor that a top NAT's builder has ordered from this place.

http://www.thebalsastore.com/

Bill Gruby · « **Reply #4 on:** February 13, 2011, 03:33:53 PM »

If National Balsa is in error they will make it good. I have dealt with them for a while now with no complaints.

"Billy G"

Matt Colan · « **Reply #5 on:** February 13, 2011, 03:53:32 PM »

Quote from: Brian Massey on February 13, 2011, 02:28:13 PM

I received my first order of balsa from National Balsa and could not be more disappointed. To start, he quality of the mill work is horrible; tear out, saw marks and inconsistent edges on much of the wood. (My guess is they're saving a lot of money by not changing cutters very often.) Next is the consistency between identical pieces. I ordered a lot of spar material and some was very soft, and others you need a hammer to drive a pin through; most not very straight.

I'm going back to Balsa USA; not saying they're perfect, but I've not had a problem in the past.

Brian

When I ordered wood from National Balsa, and there was only one sheet of balsa that had any sort of issue with it, everything else came out great!

Randy Powell · « **Reply #6 on:** February 13, 2011, 04:10:02 PM »

As a general rule, it's a good idea to talk to the supplier when you're unhappy. Most will make good. I know that the folks at National Balsa have been great.

Garf · « **Reply #7 on:** February 13, 2011, 06:18:21 PM »

I have had trouble with them too. Guess what? They replaced every bad piece.

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #8 on:** February 13, 2011, 06:22:15 PM »

I've also been very happy with National, call them, they'll make it right I sure.

Brian Massey · « **Reply #9 on:** February 13, 2011, 07:13:38 PM »

Thanks all for the comments; seems most of you are happy with their product. I would be too if the problem was about a piece or two from an order of 60 some odd pieces; but I'm not . . . I'll bet 30% of the stuff has some sort of issue. Besides what's raised in my previous post, I've had to take a straight edge and trim the 1/16" sheeting to get "straight" edges to work with.

And no, I've not called them; perhaps I should have. You've all said that they will make it good. Which raises the bigger question, if they can make it good, why didn't they ship good product to start with? I will concede that I could have had an order picker that was really unhappy with his/her boss that day; it does happen.

And so you'll know my basis of comparison; my last order from Balsa USA was equally as large, and I had no complaints at all. I was very happy with that order, and posted as such.

And John . . . "tirade" . . . didn't think I was typing that hard.

Seriously, this wasn't meant to be a "tirade", and I apologize if it came across that way.

And I'm curious . . . looking at the pictures of the tear-out on the ends, how many of you would have expected the order picker to ship that, versus setting that aside and picking another piece? I think that with problems that obvious, another piece should have been shipped.

Brian

Alan Resinger · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2011, 08:52:11 AM »

Brian,
First off i've never used a piece of sheet balsa that I didn't trim the edge for straightness.
when balsa distributors cut sheets from a lang block that was squared the cutting foa the sheet lets the stresses in the wood causes most sheets to bow slightly. You have to recut the edge to obtain a truly straight edge. Buying spar stock is always a crap shoot. Just strip your own spars from the same sheet. I'm sure the distributors just grab a bunch of spars from a bin so the chance of them matching is pretty remote. Ends of sheets are problems on lots of sheets. I alway trim them also as they are seldom square to the sheet and as far a saw marks are concerned, I have generous amounts of sanpaper to remedy that situation.
I've ordered lots of wood from National and have been most pleased with it, and I am very particular about my balsa.
Alan Resinger

John Lindberg · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:22:40 AM »

I have recieved excellent service from National Balsa, they do a superb packing job.

Randy Powell · « **Reply #12 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:35:48 AM »

I know when I've ordered from Lone Star, sheet are generally wider and longer than specified in the order just for this reason; you can trim the sides square and the ends off. I suppose it's easier than spending the extra time getting the ends pretty and they recognize that after a sheet is re-sawn (re-sawed?), it will likely bow so they leave extra to square it up.

I'm generally more concerned with the grain and weight of the wood than whether it's square. I just assume it isn't and go from there.

Joe Just · « **Reply #13 on:** February 14, 2011, 09:36:55 AM »

I have been buying exclusively from National for some time and find there wood to be as good as any supplier and better than most. I also enjoy the extra scrap wood they use in packaging my orders. I find the extra pieces usable in many bulk kit production areas. My last order included a mass of spars and they were all usable. Good prices, good wood and great shipping time from the E. Coast to WA State. From what I gather from above, should I ever have a problem they will fix it. That says a bunch for me. In the past three years I have built and shipped nearly 90 Carrier kits all using National Balsa.

Joe

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #14 on:** February 14, 2011, 12:50:21 PM »

What I like about National is if you ask for light wood, that's exactly what you get. The only "problem" I've noticed with them is some of the thinner sheets are a couple thou' plus or minus end to end. Not a big deal!

Floyd

Dick Pacini · « **Reply #15 on:** February 14, 2011, 01:13:00 PM »

I have always considered balsa a raw material that needed work on all surfaces to properly finish.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #16 on:** February 14, 2011, 01:15:47 PM »

Having bought, like many on this forum, some truly great wood over the last couple of decades I have to take issue with the state of affairs in the balsa business today.
Now granted the Chinese and energy companies are making it tough to get decent balsa,but you shouldn't have to be paying a premium for contest balsa and get 7/8/9 lb stock and be told that that is the new contest wood.At a 25% fee for selecting that kind of crap it is really not acceptable.
The rest of the comments seem to be quite complacent about getting what used to be called rough cut wood. I used to buy that up at Eastern Model Supply in Brooklyn. Of course you got it at a price that gave you some savings.
Frankly your paying your money for a product and the product has to satisfy your standards. If it doesn't then you have every right to see redress of your grievences.
I firmly believe that a company should not knowingly send out second class merchandise for premium price and expect the consumer to quietly accept getting ripped. Your product should reflect your commitment to quality and your pricing should reflect the level of your quality. Not what the market can bear. At one time that was a tenant of american business. Shame we seem to readily accept and make excuses for second best.
It's only my opinion and everyone has one.
Dennis

Rusty · « **Reply #17 on:** February 14, 2011, 05:59:17 PM »

Blank

Brian Massey · « **Reply #18 on:** February 14, 2011, 06:24:19 PM »

Quote from: Rusty Pieper on February 14, 2011, 05:59:17 PM

A few years back I was lucky enough to find a guy that had some balsa 2" x 4" and 4" x 4" 8 foot long lumber at a yard sale. I bought them all for like 10 bucks. I took them to a local cabinet shop and they cut them into sheets for me. Believe it or not they came out better after being cut by a table saw than what this fellow bought from a balsa company.
Rusty

I have purchased block balsa from Aircraft Spruce and done my own cutting on table and band saws; it really does turn out quite nice. The wood from them is not contest quality, but good enough for many uses.

And Dennis; I wasn't going to say anything for fear of coming across as grumpy, but I too got the idea that many are complacent and just assume that trimming to get what you want is the norm . . . maybe that's what I have to do. But it also seems that many got good stuff.

Brian

Bill Little · « **Reply #19 on:** February 15, 2011, 12:40:40 AM »

Hi Brian,

Out of curiosity, what "grade" balsa did you order?

So far, out of many orders from National, I haven't received stuff like you pictured. I expect to trim all my sheeting if I am going to join it, but then I have always had to, regardless of where it was bought, for the last 40 years.

Maybe things are really really going South for all the balsa suppliers?

Big Bear

Allen Goff · « **Reply #20 on:** February 15, 2011, 05:11:23 AM »

I just received my order from National Balsa and it is just as I ordered. The quality is great, good cuts, I used some of it last night on my new Petra stunt ship.

Blessings
Allen

Brian Massey · « **Reply #21 on:** February 15, 2011, 10:10:50 AM »

Quote from: Bill Little on February 15, 2011, 12:40:40 AM

Hi Brian,

Out of curiosity, what "grade" balsa did you order?

So far, out of many orders from National, I haven't received stuff like you pictured. I expect to trim all my sheeting if I am going to join it, but then I have always had to, regardless of where it was bought, for the last 40 years.

Maybe things are really really going South for all the balsa suppliers?

Big Bear

I did not order contest grade wood, neither did I think I ordered the odd's n ends grab bag. After reading the replys to this post I have to assume that my order was sort of a dumb fluke.

Brian

Bill Little · « **Reply #22 on:** February 15, 2011, 11:47:57 AM »

Hi Brian,

It is an odd event I believe. I am also guessing that the others guys also do as I do and order the "Contest" grade. There might be a difference there.

Either way, I feel certain that the "bad" stuff will be replaced.

Big Bear

Brian Massey · « **Reply #23 on:** February 15, 2011, 08:09:17 PM »

Quote from: Bill Little on February 15, 2011, 11:47:57 AM

Hi Brian,

It is an odd event I believe. I am also guessing that the others guys also do as I do and order the "Contest" grade. There might be a difference there.

Either way, I feel certain that the "bad" stuff will be replaced.

Big Bear

I've never ordered "contest grade" wood, mainly because as a flyer Ive only placed in intermediate once (2nd last year at the Northwest Regional). My goal is to move up to advanced without really embarrassing myself . . . too much. I guess I just don't know if C.G. wood would help me in that goal; at least at this point in my career. I'm still working on avoiding the ground in outside maneuvers.

Brian

Marvin Denny · « **Reply #24 on:** February 15, 2011, 09:11:35 PM »

Brian, anytime you can get a better flying plane through better wood selection or more careful glue applicaion, or any of a large number of building techniques, it will help you fly the pattern easier. An ounce or two here or there is a noticable difference in weight and a plane will respond much better. As for the "bad balsa", you really should have went to the supplier first (as you probably already have figured out). Don't feel bad. My first order from the same company was for contest grade and the wood grain, surface smoothness and texture was perfect--- UNFORTUNATELY--- every piece was warped so badly that there was NO WAY I could use them for what I ordered them for. Did I contact the supplier??? No as I could use the material by cutting it up and using it for small parts such as cowling sides, cheek cowls, ribs etc. But occasionally most of us DO get some "Bad" wood.

Bigiron

Steve Hines · « **Reply #25 on:** February 15, 2011, 10:54:02 PM »

Everyone wonders how a picker would pick that. I like to know how that junk got in there in the first place? Does any one think this was a mistake? Or if you dont bitch I got rid of junk. Maybe we see balsa coming out of china, and ask where have all the jobs gone.

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #26 on:** February 16, 2011, 04:27:33 PM »

Brian
I, like many of the posters above, have bought Balsa from National Balsa with no complaints.

National Balsa offers three grades of balsa:
Aero Light Balsa (Contest Grade) 4 - 7 pounds per Cu. Ft.
Aero Light Bargain Grade ( may have some discoloration or stains.
Matched Balsa sheets.
Balsa sheets. I call this "RC Grade" Balsa

You said that you never order "Contest" grade Balsa. That is a shame as you have not had the satisfaction of building a "Light" model. I recently ordered some Aero Light Bargain Grade balsa from National Balsa. The staining was not noticeable on most sheets and since I build CL Scale models mostly they have to be painted anyway. In the order was 32 sheets of 1/16 x 3 x 36 In. One sheet measured 7 lb density, the other thirty one sheets were 4.0 to 6.0 lb density. I also had ordered 4 sheets of 1/2 x 3 x 36 In. for profile fuselages. Three of the sheets met the weight but one did not!
It weighed in at 3.5 LB Density. I have to keep it tied down to the shelf.
Clancy

John Cralley · « **Reply #27 on:** February 16, 2011, 08:48:26 PM »

Well for what it is worth I had a bit of a problem with National Balsa back in 2008. I had ordered and paid for "contest" balsa. Here is an excerpt from another forum back then (Oh yes I have not ordered from them since):

"I have emailed National Balsa and their response should tell me something about their policy. It is hardly worth quibbling over a $7 item but I think they would want to make sure that they are supplying properly graded wood. My order was in the $50 range and I did not call them but merely ordered from their web site.

For what it is worth here is National Balsa's reply.

"We are sorry that you had a problem. Thank you for your concern, contest balsa however is graded by weight, not grain or color.

Thank you
National Balsa"

John

john e. holliday · « **Reply #28 on:** February 17, 2011, 09:01:00 AM »

I guess this day and time we are spoiled. I remember going to the hobby shop and picking thru the wood. Did not know about mail order except from America's Hobby Center. The wood in the last picture wood have been flying in some of my scratch built planes. Didn't know about all this super light wood or worry about the grain pattern. Somehow the planes flew great for me. I think we have become spoiled now.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #29 on:** February 17, 2011, 11:43:27 AM »

Quote from: john e. holliday on February 17, 2011, 09:01:00 AM

I guess this day and time we are spoiled. I remember going to the hobby shop and picking thru the wood. Did not know about mail order except from America's Hobby Center. The wood in the last picture wood have been flying in some of my scratch built planes. Didn't know about all this super light wood or worry about the grain pattern. Somehow the planes flew great for me. I think we have become spoiled now.

John,
I don't think that we are spoiled as much as more people are informed consumers and also have a desire for the good stuff at this stage of their modelling career.
I've also had my share of less then perfect wood, but if I specified a particular grade and it wasn't it went back.
Dennis

Andrew Tinsley · « **Reply #30 on:** February 17, 2011, 12:10:34 PM »

Hi Marvin,
For years I have built heavy planes, then saw the light and went for lightweight airframes. That took some discipline, but got there in the end. Now I find myself adding ballast to improve performance! You can build too light, especially flying in nasty windy conditions as we get in the UK! Just a thought!

Regards,

Andrew.

Brian Massey · « **Reply #31 on:** February 18, 2011, 04:09:36 PM »

Quote from: john e. holliday on February 17, 2011, 09:01:00 AM

I guess this day and time we are spoiled. I remember going to the hobby shop and picking thru the wood. Did not know about mail order except from America's Hobby Center. The wood in the last picture wood have been flying in some of my scratch built planes. Didn't know about all this super light wood or worry about the grain pattern. Somehow the planes flew great for me. I think we have become spoiled now.

I have to agree with Dennis; it's not a matter of being "spoiled". No matter what I'm buying, I want value for the money spent. When I go to Harbor Freight, I know I'm getting a lower quality product, but that's reflected in the price, and hence it has "value"; at least for me and what I'm looking for in that purchase.

Brian

sleepy gomez · « **Reply #32 on:** February 18, 2011, 05:11:00 PM »

If you call to order wood then describe exactly what you want and tell them you will pay DOUBLE the going price for PERFECT wood. The other option is to do like me and use no balsa. I use white foam, poplar and .220" ply from Home Depot. And yes I do build light planes. It just takes thinking out side the box. Mine are built and finished in the $20 range (less engine and tank). If you don't like paying the price then turn away from traditional thinking!

Joe Just · « **Reply #33 on:** February 18, 2011, 05:47:07 PM »

Do you have Pictures?? Would really like to see more info! PM me if you desire.
Joe

sleepy gomez · « **Reply #34 on:** February 18, 2011, 08:41:20 PM »

Joe, I couldn't get your profile email to work. Is it current? Mine is sleepygomez@gmail.com. Send me your tel or call me at 863-899-0656 anytime. SLEEPY

Dennis Moritz · « **Reply #35 on:** February 18, 2011, 08:54:39 PM »

Am I missing something. Seems to me that scratch built balsa planes, especially profiles, can be built for about $20 or $30 worth of balsa or less. In fact many rib kits can be purchased from Brodak for about $12. A 1/2" fues worth of balsa might be $5 or $6. Finish, covering, should be comparably priced. A Twister's worth of balsa would be similar. Over the years I've accumulated my share of balsa. I imagine I'm not alone in this. When building sport planes the so so weighty wood is good enough. Besides it's always possible to loose weight by carving excess wood away. I know of at least one Ringmaster that lost 5-7 ounces when rebuilt after a crash. Gouge, gouge, snip, snip. Amazing flier now with a stock Fox 35.

Dennis Moritz · « **Reply #36 on:** February 18, 2011, 08:59:01 PM »

National Balsa also features light grade ugly colored balsa. I bought some of this. Definitely usable and light. The color of some of the pieces not very pretty. Polar gray undercoat should level that out. A 48" wing worth of ribs might be had for $4 or $5 worth of this grade.

sleepy gomez · « **Reply #37 on:** February 18, 2011, 09:36:32 PM »

In referring to model cost, I was referring to the cost of the finished and ready to fly plane even one as big as a big as 900 sq. in. wing area biplane that weighs 59 ounces with a 13.5 ounce engine. My planes easily achieve a weight of 10 ounces per square foot of wing area. Oh, don't forget when comparing to balsa structure to use the current cost of balsa and the current cost of the covering and finishing. What do you spend for a set of 2 1/2" wheels? I make wheels from 3/16" ABS plastic with a hole saw. Cost? pennies. Bell cranks, control horns are made from the .220" ply. They are bushed with pop rivets and will sustain a 65 pound pull. If you like to buy then go ahead. I have been doing this sort of thing since before I wrote the article in American Aircraft Modeler in 1974 about how to when I was in free flight.

TRADITION IS THE ENEMY OF CREATIVE THINKING

Dennis Moritz · « **Reply #38 on:** February 18, 2011, 09:55:09 PM »

Perfectly colored, contest weight, balsa, not needed for sport planes. Serious competition stunters are almost always elaborate builds in any case. Aiming for high point AP takes time, craftsmanship and elaborate finishing. Usually that means the GOOD BALSA. Doubt that means more than $50 or $60 worth of wood. Even these days. Foamies leave me cold. This of course is a personal preference. They are usually fast builds and can be good fliers. But... they're BUTT UGLY.

Geez there's an emoticon. I never use emoticons. Plywood belcranks with or without bushings. Not me.

Joseph Patterson · « **Reply #39 on:** February 19, 2011, 08:31:36 AM »

Brian, National will surely make it right if you get in touch with'em. I agree with the earlier reply in this thread that National should have got it right the first time. It is absolutely ridiculus for not doing the job right the first time! The consumer is aggravated, and the company spends double money and time to make it right the "second time". When over 30% of the order is trash...I mean to say!!^*#*&@#@!! A friend of mine had this same problem with another supplier. About every time he ordered it would arrive with broken pieces, some even had footprints, not of the hand picked wt. and quality he had requested and paid extra. He ended up going to another supplier. Now of course the supplier made good the "second time".

Brian Massey · « **Reply #40 on:** February 19, 2011, 09:58:57 AM »

Quote from: Joseph Patterson on February 19, 2011, 08:31:36 AM

Brian, National will surely make it right if you get in touch with'em.

I'm sure they would/will. I'm thinking I'll contact them and give them the url for this thread, they might be interested in reading all the feedback, both negative, and positive about them.

Regarding doing it right the first time, I can still hear my dad when he was teaching me to build models (usually a Ringmaster) back in the 50's . . . "son, if it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing right". He usually said that after I complained about having to sand so much.

Brian

RC Storick · « **Reply #41 on:** February 19, 2011, 11:27:09 AM »

Quote from: Brian Massey on February 19, 2011, 09:58:57 AM

I'm sure they would/will. I'm thinking I'll contact them and give them the url for this thread, they might be interested in reading all the feedback, both negative, and positive about them.

Regarding doing it right the first time, I can still hear my dad when he was teaching me to build models (usually a Ringmaster) back in the 50's . . . "son, if it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing right". He usually said that after I complained about having to sand so much.

Brian

When your done sanding-sand it again and one last time.

Brian Massey · « **Reply #42 on:** February 19, 2011, 01:58:27 PM »

Quote from: Robert Storick on February 19, 2011, 11:27:09 AM

When your done sanding-sand it again and one last time.

Yes Daddy

Brian

EddyR · « **Reply #43 on:** April 08, 2011, 11:38:25 AM »

I just received my good size order from National Balsa. I ordered the AERO LIGHT BARGAN GRADE BALSA. It cost less than the balsa marked as CONTEST BALSA.
The quality is excelant. and the packing was the best I had ever received. I didn't order Contest as contest 1/16 is to soft for leading edges as it flatens between the ribs.
Some of it was at or near 5lb stock.The 3/8" and 1/2" was really nice wood. Had one broken piece of 1/8",no big deal
Ed

Robert Schroeder · « **Reply #44 on:** April 08, 2011, 03:10:14 PM »

I just got back down south from Toledo. National Balsa, The Balsa Store and Balsa USA were there with Balsa USA selling seconds (very UGLY wood), but 6-7 Lb.
I didn't buy from National because I ran out of time the first day and after driving 3 days to get there, slept too late to spend $10 for 1 1/2 hr. on the main floor. That time I spent talking with the guy from The Balsa Store. I ended buying a considerable (for me anyway) amount of balsa from him. I also bought a pile of seconds from Balsa USA when I picked up my order from them (to save shipping). National Balsa's wood looked very good, both their contest and medium. The prices from National and the Balsa Store were roughly comparable, if I remembered correctly. Both were new to Toledo and I hope will continue to attend the show. The Balsa store guy told me he was getting out of the business because he could no longer get decent balsa. He will be selling what he has on hand. He said the trees are being harvested at 10 years which is Heavy wood instead of the requisite 20 years for 4-6 Lb. wood. He was quite disgusted. I was told as has been stated above, that when a slice is taken on a block of wood it can be perfectly straight, but the next morning can be crooked, warped and bowed.I think all the wood I have that goes back to the '80s is bowed. I was able to pick all the wood I bought at Toledo myself, but wonder what it will look like when I get home in June. And, yes, it's stored properly. If I received wood like that, I'd call them. However from what I saw, I'd buy from any of the suppliers listed in this thread, and I do have a lot of Lonestar Balsa's wood

Bob

Alan Resinger · « **Reply #45 on:** April 09, 2011, 09:07:06 AM »

I think that I have to agree with the post about us being spoiled these days. But then again I still believe that we usually get what we pay for. Now not everyone has an unlimited budget for our beloved hobby. It is very difficult to build a really high quality model if we scrimp at every purchase of parts that go into it. Some years ago I used to go to a LHS to buy balsa. I've always been extra picky about my balsa and luckily this shop had a large quantity of contest grade Bud Nosen balsa. I always knew when a new shipment was coming in and took my gram scale with me. The owner let me go through the bundles of sheets weighing and picking by grain as I wanted. I paid premium price for the balsa but every piece was a keeper. I seldom walked out of the shop with less than a $100 worth of balsa. With the death of bulding, the shop no longer stocks great quantities of wood so I've started buying balsa from different suppliers. Until their tragedy Lone Star was my first choice. I ordered fairly large quantities of contest balsa as I couldn't pick by grain and always ordered contest grade. I usually found that about 25% was unusable for me and just figured that the cost was just tacked on to the usuable amount I kept. I either gave the other away or sold it for next to nothing. All in all I still got pretty high quality balsa for what I felt was a fair price. National Balsa has provided me with high quality balsa but again not every piece was a keeper. My last order which was actually an order for myself and my flying buddy Keith Varley was for close to $300 worth of balsa and some plywood. Upon receiving the order I weighed every piece and then stacked them by weight and size. We then took turns taking a piece off the stacks so we each got equal amounts of wood ranging from lightest to heaviest by size. After we were finished we had ony about 6 to 8 pieces that were above 6.5 lb. per cu. ft. wood. I got the one piece of !/8" that calculated out to 18 lb wood. I'm thinking of making a paper weight out of it to replace my one made of Lignum Vitae. All in all with the scarcity of balsa we should be happy we're not paying much more for it. I've also been inclined to buy lots more that I need and keep a good stock on hand. You don't want to be in the middle of building your next world beater and run out of "El Primo" balsa and find out that your supplier won't have any "contest" grade wood for 4 or 5 months.
National Balsa's bargain grade of balsa that is stained or discolored is really a great buy. You save about 25% and there is nothing wrong with the wood unless you plan on a clear finish on your new ship.

Brian Massey · « **Reply #46 on:** April 09, 2011, 10:12:54 AM »

I've just started weighing my balsa, and that brings up a bunch more questions. I pulled out my scale and weighed each piece from my last order. The variance was significant; one 1/8x3x36 piece was .5 ounce, most .6-.8 ounce and two were 1.4 ounce, and two pieces from by Chipmonk kit were 1.15 ounce. If my math is correct the heavy pieces equaled 11.2 lbs per cu ft, while the lightest was only 4 lbs. At what point would you call it "contest grade" (ignoring grain and color)? At what point is it not suitable for our purpose? If you order but don't specify contest grade, what would you expect?

According to Alan and Robert, the world balsa supply/quality is going south, no fault of our suppliers, so do we just order big like Alan and hope for some good stuff? Our local hobby shop does not stock balsa in any large quantity, but maybe I'll take my scale and see if they will let me do some picking.

Thanks,

Brian

Randy Powell · « **Reply #47 on:** April 09, 2011, 02:24:20 PM »

Brian,

Also check local craft stores. Most carry balsa.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #48 on:** April 10, 2011, 07:29:45 AM »

I have found some great balsa at our local Hobby Lobby as I didn't have enough to make a bulk order from the suppliers. You guys that are good at using the super light weight balsa can have my share. Yes I weigh my balsa sheets when I get an order. The heavier wood goes into the outboard wing. The medium weights in the inboard. Also now use the heavier wood for sheeting leading/trailing edges. Nothing like a club fisted clod like me putting a finger or thumb thru the sheeting after the sanding with 200 grit.

Bill Little · « **Reply #49 on:** April 10, 2011, 11:58:20 AM »

Quote from: Brian Massey on April 09, 2011, 10:12:54 AM

I've just started weighing my balsa, and that brings up a bunch more questions. I pulled out my scale and weighed each piece from my last order. The variance was significant; one 1/8x3x36 piece was .5 ounce, most .6-.8 ounce and two were 1.4 ounce, and two pieces from by Chipmonk kit were 1.15 ounce. If my math is correct the heavy pieces equaled 11.2 lbs per cu ft, while the lightest was only 4 lbs. At what point would you call it "contest grade" (ignoring grain and color)? At what point is it not suitable for our purpose? If you order but don't specify contest grade, what would you expect?

According to Alan and Robert, the world balsa supply/quality is going south, no fault of our suppliers, so do we just order big like Alan and hope for some good stuff? Our local hobby shop does not stock balsa in any large quantity, but maybe I'll take my scale and see if they will let me do some picking.

Thanks,

Brian

HI Brian,

"Contest Grade" has been generally understood to mean 4-6 lb. balsa. As has been pointed out, the "logs" are weighed and the density is calculated that way. Meaning that the overall log weighed out at 4-6 lbs. but individual pieces cut from that log can vary quite a bit.

If you do not specify "weight" in the 4-6 lb range, I would expect to get balsa that weighted maybe 8 lbs on the light side to upwards of 12 lbs. on the heavy side. Of course there can be pieces that will be down lower and higher. And specifying 4-6 will mean that "most" of the wood will fall ion that range. A supplier cannot be expected to weight each and every piece of wood that goes out the door. It has been my experience over the years that some will be near 8 lbs, and I have had some as low as 3 lbs.

What isn't "usable" for us? It all depends. A piece of really heavy wood might be substituted for a "light" piece of thicker wood in some cases. Using heavy 1/32nd pieces to sheet a foam wing instead of trying to get really light 1/16th as an example. I know some of the really weight conscious guys used 5/64ths (.077 special cut) LE, TE, sheeting for large built up wings instead of 3/32nd (.092). Not every piece of a stunt plane has to be 4-6 lb stock, and sometimes it isn't wanted, it's just a matter of using the right piece in the right spot.

With the advances in stunt plane design, and especially power trains, "modern" stunt planes can be built with somewhat heavier wood and still be of more than acceptable performance.

Author Topic: National Balsa lack of quality (Read 20112 times)

Joe Just

Joe Just