Building Materials, Excluding Covering

[Lily Essence]

I've been looking around as well (aluminum, plastics, carbon, kelvar, etc) and have found that things weigh alot more than balsa in terms of g/ft... Honestly, I don't think my helicopter would use the strength that carbon fiber offers; balsa's strength does just fine, and weighs less...

Am I looking at the wrong things, or not being specific enough? Is there a site or store that sells helicopter sized pieces of light weight material? I'll keep searching for something lighter and as strong as balsa, but any nod in the right direction would be appreciated!

[theandrew]

Does anyone know of a material stronger but yet lighter than balsa? I've looked at carbon fiber, but I'm not convinced it's worth the time and energy. The reason I ask is for the new chinook style incentive. I have some designs, but keeping the weight low is a HUGE issue.

Thanks

I already made a Chinook style helicopter to 4.1 grams, a few tweaking and my scores could get ridiculous

Out of balsa? You didn't fly it at Southland, did you?

[chalker7]

Does anyone know of a material stronger but yet lighter than balsa? I've looked at carbon fiber, but I'm not convinced it's worth the time and energy. The reason I ask is for the new chinook style incentive. I have some designs, but keeping the weight low is a HUGE issue.

Thanks

Balsa is really your best bet. Carbon fiber is actually very dense and it is difficult to use a small enough amount to get down to weight. However, the good news is that since balsa is a natural material there is a huge variability in the weight of different sheets and sticks. What I would recommend is to choose the lightest and stiffest balsa wood available while being very careful with your construction (wood dimensions, glue use, covering, etc) to get down to weight. Browse through some of the archived forums on this site for Helicopter and Wright Stuff (and even towers/bridges) for some more detailed descriptions of reducing weight (in particular, search through jander14indoor's posts)

[chalker7]

I've been looking around as well (aluminum, plastics, carbon, kelvar, etc) and have found that things weigh alot more than balsa in terms of g/ft... Honestly, I don't think my helicopter would use the strength that carbon fiber offers; balsa's strength does just fine, and weighs less...

Am I looking at the wrong things, or not being specific enough? Is there a site or store that sells helicopter sized pieces of light weight material? I'll keep searching for something lighter and as strong as balsa, but any nod in the right direction would be appreciated!

Wood selection is really tough. You can get by at your normal hobby shop if you literally weigh every single stick/sheet before buying it, but this can be hit or miss and take quite awhile. You can buy preselected light balsa wood from places like lonestar balsa, but it is more expensive. Here's a link for their 4-6 lb/cubic foot stock (the light stuff) if you're interested. http://www.lonestar-balsa.com/Ordering/Order.php?PROD=2&
A2Z corp also carries indoor grade wood, but that is even more expensive. Here's a link for them. http://www.a2zcorp.us/store/Category.as ... ood+Indoor

[Lily Essence]

You can buy preselected light balsa wood from places like lonestar balsa, but it is more expensive. Here's a link for their 4-6 lb/cubic foot stock (the light stuff) if you're interested. http://www.lonestar-balsa.com/Ordering/ ... hp?PROD=2&

I'm eyeing the wood there, and 4-6 lbs seems a lot better than the stuff I've been buying at my local hobby shop, but Lonestar requires orders of at least 25 dollars + 12.50 for shipping (And then 8.25% tax on that since I live in Texas).

Have you ordered from Lonestar before? Are they dependable and the wood accurate to its description? I don't want to fork over almost 40 dollars for wood that isn't what I was expecting. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Also, what do they mean by "Grain selection is $.20 per sheet. Weight selection is an additional 25% of the cost of the sheet when available." (0.o) Does this mean I should add $0.20 to every sheet I'm ordering? or 25% since I'm looking at 4-6 lb wood? Confusing site... (=.=)

Second EDIT: What does AAA mean? I know what A(B,C) Grain is, but is AAA some sort of more specific way of saying "A Grain"?

[chalker7]

I'm eyeing the wood there, and 4-6 lbs seems a lot better than the stuff I've been buying at my local hobby shop, but Lonestar requires orders of at least 25 dollars + 12.50 for shipping (And then 8.25% tax on that since I live in Texas).

Have you ordered from Lonestar before? Are they dependable and the wood accurate to its description? I don't want to fork over almost 42 dollars for wood that isn't what I was expecting. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Also, what do they mean by "Grain selection is $.20 per sheet. Weight selection is an additional 25% of the cost of the sheet when available." (0.o) Does this mean I should add $0.20 to every sheet I'm ordering? or 25%? Confusing site... (=.=)

I have, and I like what I've gotten from them before. I would recommend getting together with your team and seeing what wood you need for towers (and any other events if you think you will use balsa there) and combining the order.
Grain selection means choosing A, B or C grain. Here is a good summary with images of what that means: http://pldaniels.com/flying/balsa/balsa-properties.html
Since you'll be stripping individual sticks off of sheets that you order from Lonestar (they only offer the light stuff in sheet form), it won't matter what grain the sheet is (A grain turns into C grain when you turn it 90 degrees on its side).
I'm not sure precisely what they mean by weight selection, but I would guess they are referring to exact density (like telling them you want sheets that weigh 5.5 lbs/cubic foot). I'm not connected to them in any way, so I'd say you'd probably be best off giving them a call to see exactly what they mean.

[chalker7]

Second EDIT: What does AAA mean? I know what A(B,C) Grain is, but is AAA some sort of more specific way of saying "A Grain"?

I'm not 100% certain what AAA means, but it's almost certainly not related to grain (there would be no reason for them to sell only A grain). I'd guess it is some description of the quality of the wood (that is, no knots, holes due to worms, etc.) Again, give them a call if you're confused.

[Lily Essence]

After receiving my order, I vow to never buy wood from online stores again. I have much better customer-satisfaction bringing my gram weight into my nearby hobby shop and weighing/checking every piece they offer myself before buying.

In my order, I asked for sheets of 1/16. They gave me 1/4. =.= (1/16 is pretty much the main reason I ordered.)
One of my 1/20 sheets has a horrible knot and crack. AAA grade my butt.

I hope, Chalker, that your service with that store has been loads better than mine.

I will most certainly be calling to question them...but I won't be ordering wood again.

[chalker7]

After receiving my order, I vow to never buy wood from online stores again. I have much better customer-satisfaction bringing my gram weight into my nearby hobby shop and weighing/checking every piece they offer myself before buying.

In my order, I asked for sheets of 1/16. They gave me 1/4. =.= (1/16 is pretty much the main reason I ordered.)
One of my 1/20 sheets has a horrible knot and crack. AAA grade my butt.

I hope, Chalker, that your service with that store has been loads better than mine.

I will most certainly be calling to question them...but I won't be ordering wood again.

That's strange, I've always had good results from them. I would definitely call them about it, the 1/16" for 1/4" mess up definitely warrants a replacement.

[iwonder]

After receiving my order, I vow to never buy wood from online stores again. I have much better customer-satisfaction bringing my gram weight into my nearby hobby shop and weighing/checking every piece they offer myself before buying.

In my order, I asked for sheets of 1/16. They gave me 1/4. =.= (1/16 is pretty much the main reason I ordered.)
One of my 1/20 sheets has a horrible knot and crack. AAA grade my butt.

I hope, Chalker, that your service with that store has been loads better than mine.

I will most certainly be calling to question them...but I won't be ordering wood again.

I've always used http://www.balsawoodinc.com/ for balsa wood, it's significantly better than the local sources I have in Houston, however they won't do any weight selection, and there's a $10 order minimum. Overall though, it seems worth it, not to mention it's relatively cheap.