Balsa Wood Issues

Today I received the 5th order of wood from Tower Hobbies. I've been checking the wood very carefully as each batch comes into the shop. This order has got to be some of the hardest wood I have ordered to date! NOTHING under 10 pound with the exception of the 1/16th which comes out to 8 pound. All of the 3/16" is hard as a rock and is only good for stabilizers and elevators and you will need a power hinge slot cutter to do the hinges.

The 1/8" is also 10 pound and needed for fuselage sides. At this rate I will not be doing many more kits as the quality of the kits is going down due to this wood problem. I refuse to make a kit that isn't up to my usual standards and the price paid is just out of sight for the quality I'm getting.

I still have enough good wood to make several sets of kits in the near future, but you can expect my kits to be a bit heavier and harder than usual from now on. I know this may cut my orders a little, but it's just not worth going backwards for. Larry

Thanks for the heads up given I was about to order some from Tower (have a gift card). With that said why are you not getting wood from National? I saw some a friend bought recently and the whole lot looked pretty darn good. Also I see Balsa USA just listed that 4-6 lb wood is coming.

Larry,

Have you tried BALSA USA? I need some wood and was considering ordering from them. They supplied me with reasonable wood back some years ago........TDurrill

Thanks, but I tried 2 orders from National and Balsa USA and they are more expensive and got the same wood quality which is why I changed to Tower, but they are now getting the same quality. I can't afford to raise prices again as I'm at the top for what the kits are worth. Larry

Now that I think about it didn't you talk about that before? I think your posts about Tower is why I was going to get some. You gonna try them again you think? I'd be interested to see if the last shipment is now typical or not.

Hello John.. Yes, I did talk about how good the wood was a couple of months ago. This last order from Tower looked great until you feel the hardness of it and see that 1/8" doesn't curve very well without splitting! Some one on this forum mentioned cracking ACROSS the grain, very fine cracks. There is a word for this condition and can't remember it??? However, I did get 6 sheets of 3/32" X 3 that had so many cross cracks in a 36" length that I just couldn't save any of it! So quality is going down and prices are still going up. Larry

>Hello John.. Yes, I did talk about how good the wood was a
>couple of months ago. This last order from Tower looked great
>until you feel the hardness of it and see that 1/8"
>doesn't curve very well without splitting! Some one on this
>forum mentioned cracking ACROSS the grain, very fine cracks.
>There is a word for this condition and can't remember it???
>snip<

Hi Larry,

Cracks across the grain are called checks and are usually caused by the tree flexing in the wind.

Thank you Bill. CHECKS it is. Larry

Wind checks

AC43-13 1b calls such damage 'compression failures' and it sure is.
Peter Havriluk

Try Nelson Hobbies. I just picked up an order for wood for another kit maker today and it looks like very nice stock. He weighs each sheet of wood individaully and you can order by weight. His grading starts at 6 pounds or less so order all wood from this range and you will be OK. The wood is very accurately cut and may be the answer to your quest. He is at 817-431-9898 or 877-263-5766.
Don
p.s. He has a ton of it so there is no shortage here and prices are reasonable. He is a new supplier of balsa but a long time modeller and knows his wood.

Hutch...is that Jerry Nelson? If so, I would expect good products from him.

Another great source for wood is Bud Nosen, but he only sells to dealers. The dealer to use is Tom Dixon. Order what you want Tom to order for you...not too tough. I was very impressed with the Bud Nosen balsa I bought at a LHS that eventually went OOB. Steve

Steve Helmick
Renton, Washington
USA

Yes, it is Jerry Nelson. I used to drive about 50 miles to Riley's shop. Jerry is about 7 and close to a good restaurant! Had lunch with him today.

Almost every thing you want to know about Jerry.

http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/Nelson-Gerald.pdf

When you talk to Jerry tell him that his friends in Oregon miss him.




>Yes, it is Jerry Nelson. I used to drive about 50 miles to
>Riley's shop. Jerry is about 7 and close to a good restaurant!
>Had lunch with him today.


Terry

http://www.dustersrcclub.com/
http://www.flyrc.info/

Thanks Hutch. I'll give Jerry a call in the morning and see if he has some answers as to good wood and prices. Larry