Balsa Wood: How to Choose, Cut, and Shape It for Your Projects

Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree, is a large, fast-growing tree native to the Americas. It is the sole member of the genus Ochroma.[1] The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, with the name balsa being the Spanish word for "raft."[3]

Ecuador supplies 95% or more of commercial balsa. In recent years, about 60% of the balsa has been plantation-grown in densely packed patches of around 1000 trees per hectare (compared to about two to three per hectare in nature). The trees are harvested after six to ten years of growth.

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Balsa lumber is very soft and light, with a coarse, open grain. The density of dry balsa wood ranges from 40 to 340 kg/m3, with a typical density around 160 kg/m3.[5][6][7] Balsa is the softest wood ever measured using the Janka hardness test (22 to 167 lbf).[8] The wood of the living tree has large cells that are filled with water. This gives the wood a spongy texture. It also makes the wood of the living tree not much lighter than water and barely able to float. For commercial production, the wood is kiln-dried for about two weeks, leaving the cells hollow and empty. The large volume-to-surface ratio of the resulting thin-walled, empty cells gives the dried wood a large strength-to-weight ratio because the cells are mostly air. Unlike naturally rotted wood, which soon disintegrates in the rainforests where balsa trees grow, the cell walls of kiln-seasoned balsa wood retain their strong structure of cellulose and lignin.[9]

Because it is low in density but high in strength, balsa is a very popular material for light, stiff structures in model bridge tests, model buildings, and construction of model aircraft; all grades are usable for airworthy control line and radio-controlled aircraft varieties of the aeromodeling sports, with the lightest "contest grades" especially valuable for free-flight model aircraft. However, it is also valued as a component of full-sized light wooden aeroplanes, most notably the World War II de Havilland Mosquito.[9]

Balsa wood is often used as a core material in composites; for example, the blades of many wind turbines are partly of balsa. In table tennis bats, a balsa layer is typically sandwiched between two pieces of thin plywood made from other species of wood. Balsa wood is also used in laminates together with glass-reinforced plastic (fiberglass) for making high-quality balsa surfboards and for the decks and topsides of many types of boats, especially pleasure craft less than 30 m in length. On a boat, the balsa core is usually end-grain balsa, which is much more resistant to compression than if the soft balsa wood were laid lengthwise.

Norwegian scientist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, convinced that early contact between the peoples of South America and Polynesia was possible, built the raft Kon Tiki from balsa logs, and upon it his crew and he sailed the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Polynesian Tuamotu Archipelago in 1947. However, the Kon Tiki logs were not seasoned and owed much of their (rather slight) buoyancy to the fact that their sap was of lower density than sea water. This serendipitously may have saved the expedition, because it prevented the seawater from waterlogging the wood and sinking the raft.[10]

Balsa wood is also a popular wood type used in the arts of whittling,[9] and surfing. In the making of picture frames, balsa was often used in a baroque style because of the ease of shaping the design.

"I have just received my first order with your company and wanted to tell you how happy I am with the quality of the wood. The sitka is straight and measurements are consistent. The plywood is not warped which can happen from time to time and the balsa sheet is very consistent which will make finishing more easy. I look forward to doing business with you again, as I have to get more blocks as well as more balsa." - Thank you for your review Sahag!

"Thank you for a great shipment, contents arrived in excellent condition due to your great packaging. I ordered extra as I am used to seeing some warped or damaged basswood and balsa. Yours was straight and of great quality." - Thank you for your review Victor!

I just received my order for 24 ea. 3" x 36" X 1/16" balsa wood sheets and I am absolutely thrilled with the quality of your product! It has been next to impossible to find good quality balsa wood in the Brandon, Florida area, and you can be certain that I will be ordering from you again, and again. Sincerely, Thank You!

Exotic Balsa Wood Dowels and Wheels are Hand Crafted. With much experimentation, invention, and design we were able to manufacture the once impossible round balsa wood dowel. Balsa Wood dowels cannot be cut with normal dowel cutting equipment -- rather they have to be produced by hand. Dowels may be sanded with 150 to 400 grit sand paper in most cases during the finishing stage. Balsa can vary between 3# (foam weight) - 40# (oak weight) for pounds per cubic foot (lbs/cuft) but the most common densities are 8-16 pounds per cubic foot. Balsa dowels are used for fishing, jousting, towers, bridges, structures, rc models, balsa rods, and craft projects.

Ecuador established itself as the top balsa exporter in 2015. By 2017, the country had doubled the value of its annual exports to $150 million. China is the biggest market for Amazonian balsa, accounting for 85% of the 77,140 tons Ecuador exported in 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, Ecuador exported $28.7 million worth of balsa, $18.4 million of which went to China.

The Pastaza River Basin is one of the areas most affected by the balsa industry. There, the Pastaza, Bobonaza, Curaray, Villano, Copataza and other rivers are used as logging access routes, with satellite imagery showing their banks increasingly pockmarked by deforestation. Sources tell Mongabay Latam that the logging has been so intense that balsa has been completely removed from some areas.

Belén Páez, the director of Fundación Pachamama, which advocates for Indigenous and environmental rights, is working with other researchers on a balsa management plan to address the impacts the trade is having on the Ecuadoran Amazon. She said loggers are starting to harvest other timber species in areas that have been denuded of balsa.

Mashienta expressed concern that the balsa industry may be leading to increased drug use in Indigenous communities. She alleged that after logging commercially valuable tree species, the loggers plant illegal crops like coca and marijuana.

Peas said he is in talks with the Swiss company Plantabal to design a program that would train communities to harvest balsa without damaging the surrounding environment. Manari Ushigua, former president of the Sapara Nation, is leading an initiative to produce online lectures that explain the symbolic importance of the forest and how it contributes to Sapara religious beliefs and practices.

Funding provided by BASF through the North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials (Program Manager Dr. Marc Schroeder; Dr. Holger Ruckdaeschel and Dr. Rene Arbter) is gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Timo Ylönen and Ms. Rita Hatakka from Aalto University (Finland) are thanked for their support in determining the chemical composition of balsa wood. Dr. Paavo Penttilä and Dr. Seppo Andersson from University of Helsinki (Finland) are thanked for their support with the X-ray scattering measurements and data analysis. Carolyn Marks is thanked for her work on sample preparation and TEM imaging, performed at the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which is supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF Award No. ECS-0335765. CNS is part of Harvard University.

I nearly wrestle my bun for the package of balsa when it arrives in the mail! The fruity goodness makes her feisty and excited to get hold of one of these! Fling and then chew! Worth every penny for the bunner-joy!

Midwest Products Genuine Balsa Wood is ideal for creating models, doll houses, crafts, and so much more. The premier wood for modeling projects, these balsa wood pieces are dried in special kilns to reduce their water content, giving you a lightweight wood with high strength-to-weight ratio. They ca...

The balsa wood industry was no exception. As many manufacturing facilities either temporarily shut down or slowed production to a trickle, the demand for balsa wood dropped dramatically. This adversely affected many processes and farmers both in the tropical regions and around the world. The market for balsa wood is starting to pick up now that a vaccine has been found. Many experts predict that the recovery for the balsa wood industry will be rapid.

Many airplane manufacturers are choosing to use balsa wood because it makes them weigh less. This helps them use less fuel when taking off, take off faster, and land faster and safer. It also makes them stronger and more flexible. The same is true for the companies that make helicopters and hovercrafts.

Developing nations like India and China and developed nations like Japan and Australia are modernizing various industries. This is also driving demand for balsa wood and creating incentives for balsa wood processors to make a new generation of wood products that are safer, more flexible, stronger, lighter in weight, and have more innovative uses and applications.

Corelite is a major American player in the global balsa wood industry. It has managed to remain profitable by creating a sustainable competitive advantage by investing heavily in research and development. This allowed it to create a new generation of balsa wood products that have more innovative uses and are safer for use in various products that humans use and interact with like boats and airplanes. 2ff7e9595c