I have a couple boards of balsa wood approximately 3’’ x 3.5’’ x 12’ that have a slight twist and a pretty good bend in it. Is there a way to straighten the boards? I know that I can use it as a “natural rocker” but I would like to work with a board that provides me with 3.5’’ of thickness and 3’’ of width as opposed to 3’’ of thickness and 3.5’’ of width. Yes, I would like to keep the entire 12’ of length. My goal is to chamber the board and I have a feeling that with the bowed board with pop apart while shaping.
Unfortunately board straitening required material removal, so
you might not get the thickness you desire. A jointer is the easiest method, you
could also freehand it with a good eye and your planer.
Yes. Any wood that is bent, bowed, or twisted can be straightened with a good jointer and thickness planer. You will lose material, though. It’s unavoidable.
Speaking as a carpenter - depending how you do the glue-up, you can sometimes use the twists or bows against each other, to cancel each other out. Another thing you can do is rip the guilty parties down the middle, then glue the two halves together in a way to cancel the flaw out.
BTW, I would LOVE to have that wood in my possession!
There is no problem that can’t be fixed, I am in the middle of a 16’ balsa gun blank, the 2 middle pieces were almost straight, but the remainder have at least 3 " of deflection to the sides.
I’ve built them in pairs, with the tips, nose and tail making contact, it is better to have them break apart during shaping in the middle, rather at the ends.
Get yourself 4 - 2"x6", straight as possible, set them up as follows, one verticle, one 90 degrees screwed along the center, joint the edge of the 90, do again the the other two.
Sink the screw heads, run the faces on the jointer, now you have gluing cauls to straighten and avoid clamp marks also during gluing, run the clamps top and bottom to avoid the blank pulling up or down.
Hey Jim I didn't totally follow your commentary, without pics, so I'm gonna hold on to my $500. BTW, do you take PayPal LOL.
Working with wood, you have to find ways to make do with what's available. Whether is running decking, hanging fascia or building furniture, you put the construction methods at work to cancel out or hide the flaws, you don't go shopping for perfect wood. I would take that balsa off his hands in a heartbeat! Good point about putting the bow in the middle not the ends when glueing up. Easier to clamp and much less likely to come apart as well.
BTW, I don't think you're gonna carve a longboard out of a 3 1/2" thick blank without adding something on top to compensate for rocker? (yeah, that's a question)
@ The Genius: I am drawing out your instructions to make sure I have it correctly. Pic. attached. My jointer is only 4.5". I could possibly remove the safety cover and get the whole 6" jointed.
In the first pic the board on the far left is has a significant deflection to the left in the last 3’. This will either be the nose or the tail.
@ Huckleberry: I am more than happy to have this balsa in my hands, but if i ever get in too deep… I’ll keep you in mind. The rocker is going to be achieved via scarfing.
Anyone ever try steaming balsa? If this were more of a hardwood specie a steam box and straightline form would do the trick. The open cellulose pattern of balsa may preclude though. Don't want it taking off and swelling up too much. The steam box is very easy and inexpensive to make, espescially if you have a tea kettle already.
I’m set up to do steaming. Last winter I built the chitlins a couple toboggans and the one thing that happened was once I got the wood bent, it would start to bend back to it’s natural position overnight if I didn’t get it clamped down. This might work to get it bent into position easier then glue it to another board like The Genius is talking about.
I am assuming that I need to glue the bent board to a straight board then scarf the two boards as opposed to scarfing each individual bowed boards then attempt to glue them together. Correct??
@ Huckleberry: I am more than happy to have this balsa in my hands, but if i ever get in too deep... I'll keep you in mind. The rocker is going to be achieved via scarfing.
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hahaha, I'm happy for you too! I don't want your balsa, just commenting on what a great find to have that wood. Oregon would be a bit of a drive...but come to think of it, I do have family in Oregon...hmmmm - just kidding.
How you create your rocker wasn't my point, its how you're going to get it out of that sized wood. See pic below...
Dave, you won't have to glue the balsa. With a straight edge form that is screwed in place will suffice. That, and plenty of clamps. You could even go one step further and adjust the form to PAST straight to allow for a certain amount of "springback" when it dries out. Obviously, try out on a couple pieces of scrap first to see how they handle the steam.
You must have scored a lot of balsa, that last one you showed with the single fin was a beaut.
@ tblank Thanks for the compliment. I was just down in SB and got that swell. That board was the only board I brought and had an amazing time surfing it.
So, am I understanding The Genius correctly?
As far as the balsa goes, I purchased two pre-made blanks and then recently got the lumber. Enough for 2-3 boards. Once that is gone I assume I’ll be done with shaping since my source is out of wood.
As to the scarfing question, I think it would be easier to glue the two pieces together first and then shape as one.
That swell was hyped up and never did clean up properly around here. That place where the "ranchers" live was as crowded as it can get. Surprised the winch is holding up.
“most” rockers wil fit on 5’1/2" wood, at 3-1/2" you would have early 60’s rocker, the norm for what was available in balsa at the time.
You can extract it though, draw the deck line on the wood within about 1/2" - 3/4" of the bottom of the plank, bandsaw it out, take the piece that came out of the deck and glue it to the underside of the top piece, the glue line will be on the underside of the finished shape.
As for a 4-1/2’ jointer, you can run the cauls over the blade offset in several passes, I’d provide pics, but I showed a man this process and now he is in competition to sell wood blanks to who ever will stop long enough for him to run his line of shit by them and when he fucks it up, he comes running to Jimmie for help, unfortunately I seem to be too busy these days.
