How to Use Balsa Density Grades
Most balsa wood is very lightweight, commonly used for fishing floats and model airplanes. It is cut from rain forest trees, mostly in Central America, that grow quickly and are very porous. But there are great differences in the weight of balsa, and balsa is graded solely on weight. The wood can weigh as little as 4 pounds per cubic foot or as much as 24 pounds for the same volume. Usually, the lighter the weight of the wood, the lighter it will be in color and the more it will cost. And, graded balsa always costs more than ungraded.
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Instructions
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Use "light" and "extra light" balsa, which weighs less than 10 pounds per cubic foot, to build airworthy model airplanes. Expect to pay at least 40 percent more for light balsa.
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Construct ultra-light model airplanes from "contest grade" or "ultra light" balsa that usually costs about twice as much as ungraded balsa. This balsa grade usually weighs 6 pounds or less per cubic foot.
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Build weight-bearing components of model bridges and weight-bearing, model railroad features of heavy balsa that weighs more than 14 pounds per cubic foot, or of extra-heavy balsa that weighs more than 19 pounds per cubic foot. These balsa grades are also difficult to find and expensive.
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Make fishing lures and floats, sculptures and most models out of either medium-grade balsa, which uniformly weighs 10 to14 pounds per cubic foot, or ungraded balsa. Ungraded balsa may vary in density, but it is the least expensive and most easily obtained form of the wood.
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References
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