Why is it so hard to find balsa? Unfortunatly I don’t live near any major metro area. Anyone know where to get balsa in San Luis or Santa Barbara counties?
get a hold of me if you want to know where to get it. I can hook you up.
I’d be interested in finding a local supplier too. I’ve found a few good online sites but nothing local.
o2nut…
I’m just finising my first balsa laminate board (a-la Berts earlier post). I got my balsa (1/16"x3"x36") at $1.89 each from a hobbie store in Santa Cruz (45 miles from me). If you have a better supplier I’d sure like to know! The board is turning out GREAT and I’d like to make more.
Les
Looking at all the pics it looks like most of the lam balsa jobs have long balsa strips. I just fear that too many joints in the balsa will create a break point. I saw that Diab makes 4’x4’ sheets. But that is just one big joint. EPS is so flexible and soft I think you need as much strength as possible. Maybe someone can set me straight. I haven’t started my sandwich project yet. The girlfriend is hounding me to get her board done.
Don’t sweat the joints. The strength comes from the glass. The balsa is there to provide a light, easy, and beautiful sandwich material to separate the glass layers for strength. And to provide a little dent resistance. But its not there to guard against snaps.