unfortunatly to solve that one i had to spend some money on expensive equipment …
funny what happens when you stick one in a urethane cup…with no assist…
and nevermind hand picking your own timber logs, which are easier to treat, critically selecting only the best one’s for the job…conincidentally the same stuff the rest of the balsa buying world doesnt want…you want it cheap and good? absolutely sir!
there you go…all good cryptic balsa info from a non-fan.
its all good
and prolly worth a look if you want to build them comercially
i dont dig on solvents
but before you start a project or whatever
ask yourself what you want
looks
performance
to sell
strength?
ive got a board with good ole balsa no resin penetration
i do believe i could drive a car over it
throw it off the roof
jump as hard as i can
whatever
its tough as shit
but its a dog
why?
because its too stiff
and i didnt know until i built one that flexed
just make sure you glass them properly (seal the outside )
so the water doesnt get in
when you get a ding
peel back the glass
hair dry it
and glass it
hey dave
the more i thinks about
bert was so experienced at building these things
i seriously doubt he would settled on one method
he would have had a tech for every customer
i reckon he would have had heavy longerboards that look pretty for the weekends warriors
super tough shorties for the local board wreckers
super light flex machine for the comp boys
etc
he often said that the tech is truly customizable
and the comp boards only lasted a year
John,
Just putting a few loose ends together here but I think the idea is making sure that the vein in the wood is in the direction you need torsional strength, you then infuse the vein (from the “head” of the wood) with resin under vacuum or pressure and autoclave it. I have seen similar methods in construction and yacht building. The expensive equipment is going to be the autoclave and assorted bits and bobs for the infusion process. Heated resin is also a key here, high pressure too so the infusion is rapid and the balsa veins are flooded with resin. You will get a compression resistant and torsionally strong piece of wood. Large vein wood soaks more resin, thin vein wood less… combine this with what you know of modulus and experiment with some different pieces of wood would be my advice.
but really, solvents suck. big time.
the deck also highlights a common problem …
this is secret spice number 4 of which has never seen an appearance on sways …
unfortunatly to solve that one i had to spend some money on expensive equipment …
so the cheapest option , to solving it , is solvent related and knowing your timber if you dont want to spend the bucks …
regards
BERT
PS… if you do a search of Bert, use the spelling he used when he first registered - Bert_Burger, otherwise, you’ll get nothing.
he would have had a tech for every customer
i reckon he would have had heavy longerboards that look pretty for the weekends warriors
super tough shorties for the local board wreckers
super light flex machine for the comp boys
etc
he often said that the tech is truly customizable
and the comp boards only lasted a year
true…and guess which one of those I’d prefer 
Hi Surfer Dave -
Bert once posted a boat ad that mentioned wood impregnation. Some folks are doing it in a way that basically “plasticizes” wood by driving acrylic resins into the wood under pressure. Going through the veins from the end makes a lot of sense.