Re: Bass vs Obechi

Bass is about as good as it gets for hard balsa replacement - its a fine
grained stiff and even wood. Makes great struts and spars.

Obeche is lighter and not as strong. I have used it on very small models
to make e.g. wing and tail outlines..its very fine grained and sandable,
and in fact I reckon that 3/32" obeche sanded well down weighs the same
a 1/8" hard balsa, and is more reliable and sands better.

Hi,

I bought a couple of strips each of 1/8" x 3/8" obechi and bass wood today to
use as servo bearer reinforcements having got tired of slicing up 1/8" plywood
into strips.   I didn't buy spruce because it has a tendency to split when you
put screws into it.

I know it doesn't matter much for this application but can anyone tell me the
differences in these two woods (obechi and bass) when it comes to aeromodelling
?  Bass seems like a vewry good quality quite hard balsa and I would seriously
consider using it for wing spars and fuselage longerons where balsa's
variability can be a nuisance.  I know obechi is used for skinning foam wings
which presumeably means it's good for making into veneer but what is it good for
in strip form ?

Any comments welcome (probably :-)

Cheers,