Science Olympiad Student Center

I use 1/8*1/16 for some braces and 1/16*1/16 for some braces but I've changed to a new tower design with 1/16*1/16 that performed better than my 1/8*1/16. All the 1/8*1/16 will bassically go to waste and as I am low on 1/16*1/16 is it a bad idea to litterally strip off 1/16*1/16 from the 1/8*1/16 s...

[quote="Balsa ManNo pics at this point, but a quick set of numbers to consider, and check your numbers against: From design calcs- for a tower weight of just over 8gr; legs fm 1.45 gr/36" at 3.26gr; ladders (using 1/4 bracing interval - 0.9gr/36" for lowest ladder, 0.8gr/36 for ones above it) at 1....

[quote="Balsa ManNo pics at this point, but a quick set of numbers to consider, and check your numbers against: From design calcs- for a tower weight of just over 8gr; legs fm 1.45 gr/36" at 3.26gr; ladders (using 1/4 bracing interval - 0.9gr/36" for lowest ladder, 0.8gr/36 for ones above it) at 1.7...

I use 1/8*1/16 for some braces and 1/16*1/16 for some braces but I've changed to a new tower design with 1/16*1/16 that performed better than my 1/8*1/16. All the 1/8*1/16 will bassically go to waste and as I am low on 1/16*1/16 is it a bad idea to litterally strip off 1/16*1/16 from the 1/8*1/16 s...

Balsa Man, thanks for your data. What glue are you using? We've been using Titebond II yellow wood glue. Students apply it with a tooth pick to both pieces to be joined and remove excess. It really soaks into the fiber of the wood and when there is a failure it rips the wood. But I wonder if it migh...

Balsa Man, Sorry for the mis-leading info on the leg weights. The 1.2 to 1.5 gm was the cut length of the legs, 60.5 cm long. The 36 inch weights varied from 1.7 to 2.3 grams. The heavier one was the one that was 1.52 gm cut to 60.5 cm. Cut lengths of legs were 1.20, 1.27, 1.23, 1.51 grams. Like I s...

Time for a Balsa Man reality check.... Built for bonus, 5 cm square at the top and 22 cm square at base Legs -1/8 x 1/8 inch, 12#/cf balsa, 1.27 to 1.51 grams / leg (yeah, one was stripped a little heavier) Ladders - 1/8 x 1/8 inch, 7#/cf balsa, 0.73 to 0.90 grams / side X bracing - 1/64 x 1/16 inc...

Balsa Man... I hope people appreciate the work you do! Your research shows hours of testing, stuff I always wanted to do but never had time to. Sometimes hard to follow but I love the conclusion. Because of years of hands on building with different sets of students I can see your data follows our e...

Llamastwaimzjf wrote:Ohhhh true. What design would you recommend on braces? I mean if you have to many braces that is a lot of unnecessary weight, but if no braces at all then weaker tower.

See pages 10 and 17.

X's and ladders are what we used in 2012 to counter what we found was a twisting action that would occur when loading. We wanted to try "V" bracing (figure 1) on our first tower to see if it works and if it saves any weight that X bracing might have.