Re: Bass vs Obechi

Actually I thought beech was what they used.

Bass (Lime or linden tree, wood)  is used a LOT these days in electric
models. Its possible to get great stiffness in a small dimension. Spruce
is to my mind inferior - its heavy, rough, doesn't sand well, isn't as
stiff, has a grain running every which way and it's coarse to boot.. and
tends to split. It PROBABLY has greater TENSILE strength, so if that is
what you want go for it. But usually I want a predictable wood which is
straight grained and stiff. Bass is it.

Obeche is light and not hugely strong, but its one of the few woods that
approach balsa weights, its very even grained and very fine grained, and
if you want fine detail on thin bits of balsa, obeche makes a decent
substitute.

Spruce may be the king of 'structural lumber' as bought for making
houses..although pine is in many ways a better finish, but in terms of
real hardwoods, it isn't in the running. Oak, mahogany, Iroco, Bass
obeche, ramin, beech..even poplar as used in lightply or birch as in
standard ply - these are all in many ways better woods.

One final gasp about basswood. Back in the thirties and early forties,
it was the specified wood of choice for engine mounts for gas engines
in the old free flights...often scratch buiilt from magazine plans and
basswood was always specified...  things change....
Frank

There's nothing wrong with spruce, except that it's a bit slow to stick with
cyano. You should drill pilot holes in servo bears whatever they're made of,
I just hold the servo in place and drill through the centre of the mounting
hole with a small dremel type drill.

Greg

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,