As far as laminating. I have just retured from the “land of Balsa”. The guys down there are pretty much using 4oz top and 4oz bottom. I glassed mine 6oz. top and 6oz top. In the past I had extra deck patch under my knees and feet.
Glassing is really going to depend on the quality off wood. Wood weight and densities are all over the place. Unfortunatly up here you pretty much have to take what you can get.
24" wide x 3.5" thick x 8ft long is roughly 56 board feet. At $7bf you can assume around $400 for just the wood. Wood come in many different lengths, thickness and widths. You might find the thickness and density you like but at 10ft. In this case you will end up buying more than the 56bf.
I’ve done 2 chambered balsa guns and a half dozen (so far) compsands with balsa. On chambered boards, My first one was 300$ (9’ x 20" gun) for “B” grade wood. More color, more pith and imperfections, more warp. Warp worked out well when selecting and milling the wood. I used the pieces with the most bend in the central part of the board and didn’t need to scarf to get my target rocker. Also the wood when glassed was much more colorful and interesting. Then I got “A” grade at 400$ for my next one. Beautiful, light, uniform density and boring. It also was pretty straight so I had to scarf to get my rocker. Elmers wood glue is yellow/gold in color and works well because it’s so close to the color of the wood. In the end the “A” grade was great but the “B” grade was way more beautiful. I read a quote from Mike Diffenderfer that said he preferred the “B” because it had more color and character. Me too.
I glassed both boards with 4 oz (1 bottom 2 deck) and now years later you can see the different densities in the wood print thru.
If I do another, and I will once I get my new shop set up, I will do “B” grade and 6 oz. I also learned alot about chambering and will be a little more fearless in that department…
George Robinson at Mar Bravo in Melborne Fla, is who I get balsa from.