Balsa Sources

Get there if you can...

[url=https://servimg.com/view/19103929/1357][/url]

Midwest… is another

i've been very pleased buying from these guys -- super fast shipping, and the wood has been top quality

http://www.balsawoodinc.com/balsawoodproducts

When the Toledo expo would come around, I would stop at National Balsa's booth
and purchase what my friends would say a forest of balsa wood from National Balsa.

They had a good selection of wood to choose from.
From light contest balsa to the rock hard dense balsa ( I thought it was hard pine!)

After hours of going through what they had and what I wanted, I usually laid down over $100 or more.
They did alright by me and I do miss the Toledo show.

I also ordered from them and asked for selected wood grades.
What I would select and whom ever did the selecting would be different than what I would really want.

There is nothing like selecting your own wood for what you are going to use it for.

andrew wrote:Where are you folks sourcing your balsa?  My LHS closed some time back and the nearest hobby shop is over 70 miles away.

I had used, for the most part, SIG and Lone Star Balsa, but SIG has changed hands and the quality may be questionable and Lone Star shut down.  Mail order is pretty much my option, but I've no experience with other suppliers.

Andrew

I purchase from SIG manufacturing. They have a good selection to include shaped balsa.

You would think by now wind turbine blades would be made from something engineered by now vs using ground up balsa wood. That can’t be all that sustainable as the blades are huge and have a finite life.

Looks like they are made of different composites. At least from what I read in this article.


https://www.semprius.com/what-are-wind-turbine-blades-made-of/

andrew wrote:The newer blades are using either dense closed cell foam or one of several honeycomb materials.

Soooo, wind turbines are saving the planet, right?  What are these new materials made from?  How are they manufactured?  How are they disposed of at end of life?  

What about lithium electric car batteries?  I'm sure we can all feel good about saving the planet as we drive around in our Tesla, but that stuff needs to be mined, right?  So are the Bulldozers, Dump Trucks and Excavators electric powered?  Hmmm, how much diesel fuel are they using to make us feel like we're doing the environment some good?  Oh, I know, to save on emissions it must be mined by poor Bangladeshis climbing rickety ladders from down in a deep pit with baskets filled with ore on their heads.

Oh, sorry.  I must have accidently turned my brain on for a moment.   End of rant!

Hmmm...

https://www.gardenguides.com/12471142-how-to-grow-a-balsa-tree.html

KariFS wrote:Hmmm...

https://www.gardenguides.com/12471142-how-to-grow-a-balsa-tree.html

Ah, that's better. I was starting to wonder what Limes had to do with it.

Oldenginerod wrote:

andrew wrote:The newer blades are using either dense closed cell foam or one of several honeycomb materials.

Soooo, wind turbines are saving the planet, right?  What are these new materials made from?  How are they manufactured?  How are they disposed of at end of life?  

What about lithium electric car batteries?  I'm sure we can all feel good about saving the planet as we drive around in our Tesla, but that stuff needs to be mined, right?  So are the Bulldozers, Dump Trucks and Excavators electric powered?  Hmmm, how much diesel fuel are they using to make us feel like we're doing the environment some good?  Oh, I know, to save on emissions it must be mined by poor Bangladeshis climbing rickety ladders from down in a deep pit with baskets filled with ore on their heads.

Oh, sorry.  I must have accidently turned my brain on for a moment.   End of rant!

You forgot about charging those electric vehicles.
By either a coal, oil or gas generating electric plant and don't forget the nuclear electric generating plant?
What to do with that spent radioactive material?

My family (Dad-50yrs., Sister-43yrs., Brother- 38yrs.) has worked for ComEd for years so I'm not a anti-nuke plant, just a what "if" type of guy for green usage.

Oldenginerod wrote:

KariFS wrote:Hmmm...

https://www.gardenguides.com/12471142-how-to-grow-a-balsa-tree.html

Ah, that's better.  I was starting to wonder what Limes had to do with it.  

Margaritas instead of C/L to Get you dizzy

Yeah, it was weird, I googled ”how to grow a balsa tree”, got the page with the instructions, but the link, when copied, was for the lime tree Well, I followed the lime link, typed ”balsa” into the search box of the page, and got the correct link. Ah, computers...

sosam117 wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:

andrew wrote:The newer blades are using either dense closed cell foam or one of several honeycomb materials.

Soooo, wind turbines are saving the planet, right?  What are these new materials made from?  How are they manufactured?  How are they disposed of at end of life?  

What about lithium electric car batteries?  I'm sure we can all feel good about saving the planet as we drive around in our Tesla, but that stuff needs to be mined, right?  So are the Bulldozers, Dump Trucks and Excavators electric powered?  Hmmm, how much diesel fuel are they using to make us feel like we're doing the environment some good?  Oh, I know, to save on emissions it must be mined by poor Bangladeshis climbing rickety ladders from down in a deep pit with baskets filled with ore on their heads.

Oh, sorry.  I must have accidently turned my brain on for a moment.   End of rant!

You forgot about charging those electric vehicles.
By either a coal, oil or gas generating electric plant and don't forget the nuclear electric generating plant?
What to do with that spent radioactive material?

My family (Dad-50yrs., Sister-43yrs., Brother- 38yrs.) has worked for ComEd for years so I'm not a anti-nuke plant, just a what "if" type of guy for green usage.

Yep, I'm not "anti" any of that stuff, but just get frustrated at people's refusal to look at the bigger picture. Sure, recyclers are doing their bit to reduce waste, which is great, but a lot of the "green" folk are pretty naive as to where the stuff they need comes from, and where it goes when they finish with it. Face it folks, we live in a finite world and we ain't in control.

Oldenginerod wrote:
Yep, I'm not "anti" any of that stuff, but just get frustrated at people's refusal to look at the bigger picture.  Sure, recyclers are doing their bit to reduce waste, which is great, but a lot of the "green" folk are pretty naive as to where the stuff they need comes from, and where it goes when they finish with it. Face it folks, we live in a finite world and we ain't in control.

True Dat Rod. I hope the next few generations might figure it out.
Seriously, this one of a few reasons my loving wife and I decided not to spawn.
Strange days indeed, strange days indeed(John Lennon).
  Bob

We both have skin in the game Rod, your a mechanic and make a living servicing internal combustion engines, and I'm just an ICE nut.

Seems like we just get it perfected, clean and efficient and they want to replace it with batteries. I'm not a fan. But, there are a whole lot of smart people that say this is the way to go.

I'm a tree hugger and love forests. I hate to see them burned up as they are doing intentionally in South America and accidently in the West USA. Clean up people first, those that toss their plastics into rivers and streams. Asia is a big offender. I hate to see what is happening in this world.

Not only that but invasive species like the emerald ash borer has killed millions of white and green ash trees. Hopefully the eastern white cedar replace the white ash which replaced the elm that was decimated in the 60’s from Dutch elm disease.

This small pile of ash is from 20 acres of swamp we had cut out that was dead.

I’ve planted 200 trees the last 3 years. Red and white oak, black cherry, and swam white oak. Hopefully 25% make it but it will not make up for what was lost so quickly the last few years.

Jason_WI wrote:Not only that but invasive species like the emerald ash borer has killed millions of white and green ash trees. Hopefully the eastern white cedar replace the white ash which replaced the elm that was decimated in the 60’s from Dutch elm disease.

This small pile of ash is from 20 acres of swamp we had cut out that was dead.

I’ve planted 200 trees the last 3 years. Red and white oak, black cherry, and swam white oak. Hopefully 25% make it but it will not make up for what was lost so quickly the last few years.

Well you ain't gonna be short of firewood

I’ve planted 200 trees the last 3 years. Red and white oak, black cherry, and swam white oak. Hopefully 25% make it but it will not make up for what was lost so quickly the last few years

That's hero stuff in my book Jason.

I remember when Dutch Elm took all the trees on our street in New Hampshire.  Currently the Pine Bark Beetle is taking all the pine trees in my back yard.  I have saved the grove in my front yard through the use of hose end sprayer pesticides but I'm afraid it's a losing battle.