In seeking the infinite wisdom of the more experienced, how does one go about bending balsa with the grain? I’ve heard from spraying the side away from the bend to soaking for up to 24 hours. What works and what doesn’t? Thanks…[:-scared]
Travis
Don’t forget to have fun!!!
well. if you are looking for a big bend. then what i do is soak it in HOT water. leave it for about 1 hour. then glue the planks into place. if the planks do not have to bend a great deal. i spray HOT water. onto the side that will not be glued. then glue them into place. the reason for this. is , i like using ca. and ca does not realy like water. what you can also do is to make the planks very small. like the planks on my IOM go from 1/2 inch . at the deck. to 1/4 inch at the bilges. to 1/2 inch at the keel. i know people are going to say. dont use balsa. balsa will absorbe water. this is true. how i get around that is too fibreglass the inside of the hull. so basicaly i have a fibrglass sandwich
i hope this help
cougar
long live the cup
Howdy!
I don’t have a great amount of experience planking, but I the one hull I did I didn’t need to bend the balsa. Admittedly I was using 1/8th inch stuff all the way around, but the hull itself was stiff and water proof. Paint job left something to be desired but oh well. Perhaps next time I’ll fiberglass the sucker… Then again, the hull is really friggin stiff and was super light…
Just curious, what type of hull are you thinking about building?
I’m working on a Footy class yacht. The sides, transom and bottom are balsa, and the deck is plywood.
Travis
Don’t forget to have fun!!!