How Much Do You Know About Balsa Wood Structures

Balsa wood is used widely in crafting projects, model-building and competitions since it is light and cheap but also fairly strong for its weight and size. And this unique characteristic makes the balsa wood becoming more and more popular among those model builders. Making a balsa model is very simple, but how to make it strong is difficult for many model makers. If you want to learn the steps to make a model strong, you can read the article belows. You should prepare some tools before you start the work: pen and paper, 1/8-inch balsa wood, 1/16-inch balsa wood, ruler, marker, utility knife or scissors and wood glue or white glue.

Step 1
Before you start to make the model, design it first. Your design should suit your requirements. According to your needs, draw a rough draft. You can design the support system after drawing an outline. When you finish drawing, the multiple angles of the structure should be involved. When you see the picture which is drawn roughly, you can get further inspiration to help you design the structure more finely.

Step 2
According to the amount of balsa wood which can be used to build the structure, you can estimate the scale and height of your structure. Measure the lines of your drawing on paper and add up the lengths and use this measurement to estimate the scale. Set a ratio between the length of the lines of your drawing on paper and the length length of balsa wood you have, and finally, you can use the ratio that is simplified to calculate every part of the structure.

Step 3
Mark on the balsa wood according the length of the design. Make the marker is clearly to see. Use a utility knife to cut the balsa wood into pieces on the basis of marker you have just made. And then glue them together depending on your design. You will need to wait a few minutes to wait the glued pieces to dry.

Step 4
Build your balsa structure from the bottom to the top. After you have build the whole structure, you may need to wait for a night to make the structure dry. Sometimes, your design is not good enough and your structure may fall down. In that case, you will need to start the job again from the first step.