So I’ve made a few boards, I’m pretty happy with how I’ve done so far (see mostly harmless boards in resources), and I would really like to try to shape a balsa board.
Something simple, no chambers, nothing too crazy, just a nice longish board for the small days.
I have exhausted my abilities on the internet, and I just can’t find balsa lumber in th configuration I would like to. I have found a couple of places to buy blanks, but I’m sure not going to pay from $400 to $750 for a blank, especially when I could make my own for much less… If I could just find the raw lumber.
I know I’m not the only guy to have wanted to do this, and I’m pretty sure that a number of swaylockians have made balsa boards at some point or another, so where does the balsa come from?
Shwuz, Look through some of the last few year’s issue’s of Longboard Magazine. I remember seeing one of those small ads in the back from a guy selling balsa. Sorry I can’t tell you which month or year. All mine are packed away right now. But don’t count on getting it cheap. Even if you get the raw lumber and you have to glue it up yourself, it doesn’t come cheap. Doug
If you expect good balsa you will likely have more than $400 in it. A foam beauty will satisfy you more than a bad balsa ride. There’s balsa out there, but the nice right stuff is pricey and difficult to find. You can get burned buying site-unseen from some of the short order houses. But, if you persist you might find close to what you’re looking for.
I am interested to know what ‘the nice right stuff’ (balsa) is. It’s hard doubly hard to find if you don’t know what you are looking for! All of the balsa I have bought has been fine, some sticks are heavier and harder than others, and there are colour differences. Is that what you mean? Perhaps aeromodelling stock has already been graded but I am interested to know what inferior balsa looks like, there has been a lot of talk about inferior balsa but I have never seen it. Also, what is a ‘bad’ balsa ride?
call Gary Fuller @ Rhino Balsa. He’s listed here at Swaylocks. He’s constantly importing from Equador. He also makes blanks. He is very good at sellecting wood.
Making blanks takes a lot of work and time. You need a wood shop do the milling well, so the $'s you mentioned are not a lot of money in this case.
I’d guess that the $2500.00 price tags on a Yater or equal is still a bargin for what goes into them. anyway, you’ll see.
Hello Schwuz, we don’t know what country you are in! When I use balsa I use aeromodelling stock from Airsail International in Auckland, NZ. They import balsa in 100mm x 100mm x 1000mm ‘logs’, and then precision mill it. If you buy enough for a board they will charge a volume rate which is about NZ$40 per log, and then mill it for free. I don’t know of any aeromodelling stock suppliers outside NZ, but a search for aeromodelling balsa supplies on google brought up a few leads. For long planks, the only people I have seen advertising are Riley surfboards in Australia.
If your into wood working, which you’d better be if your looking to do a balsa blank, then you might try Agave, or Century plant. It’s about as light as balsa, and it’s cheep. All you got to do is (if you live in So Cal) is go around and pick it up from peoples yards. The logs are about 18 in diam. and about 25 ft long. Dry them out, take them to an out fit like Dixieline Lumber to be milled into square stock. Milling cost about $80 per hour, and there are minimums, but you can get a lot of sticks in 1 hr of milling. I don’t mess with wood boards that much, but i do use the Agave wood for sanding blocks and tail blocks. And you can carve it into bitch’n totem poles.
Anyone want to ship some agave sticks to corpus christi, texas? I’d throw in a used, but watertight and functional, 7’6" gun for your trouble! Course, you’d have to pick it up…
Does anyone handle century plant commerically? What does the grain look like?
There is a guy in Ecuador who is quite helpful about shipping blanks to US. If you manage to piggy back with another shipment, you might be able to save some money on shipping.
Here are a photos of a couple of their latest model blanks - not sure on weights or current pricing. Please let him know I told you if you contact him. Thanks!
Shwuz - I think he is still in business although he told me in a recent e-mail that they have had problems with internet service down there. You might give it a try later. Sorry about that!
My searches didn’t yield any sources for paulownia or cost comparisons to balsa. Anyone have any input on this.
I’m interested in replicating my 5’5" twin keel fish in a chambered wood version and I’m trying to determine whether or not I should go w/ paulownia. Any info would be appreciated.
That guy was at the surf expo and the stuff looks good. I emailed him about two weeks ago with no reply still. I think i am going to email him again this week. The prices are good thats for sure.
