Thats a tight radius to bend sheet.
How to bend balsa wood sheets.
You can get a bend radius of as little as two feet by bending 1 4 inch plywood whereas the minimum bend radius for 3 4 inch plywood is 12 feet.
How to bend balsa.
Now wet outside face and it may not crack when reduced to 1 4 in there is minimal weight gain with a laminated 1 8 piece versus solid 1 8.
The reason why we choose to bend balsa around such curves is for a couple of reasons strength balsa is strongest when the grain runs the length of the wood finish sanding with the grain produces a smoother surface economy it s cheaper to make a wingtip out of a strip of balsa than to use up a much larger sheet of balsa and having to discard the bulk of it.
Balsa wood is often the wood of choice when a woodworking project involves curves that require the wood to be bent.
The available methods of getting balsa to bend more can be broken down into the following sections.
How to bend balsa wood.
Anything can be the former.
I use a small bowl with a cup of water or so and a tablespoon of ammonia.
These radii increase if you bend the sheet along the grain of the wood instead of across it because splinters are more likely to form when bending along the grain.
Soak balsa in water and tape around a round former of maybe 2 5 inch diameter.
I then soaked the balsa sheets with windex then i clamped the peices to the form.
Economy it s cheaper to make a wingtip out of a strip of balsa than to use up a much larger sheet of balsa and having to discard the bulk of it.
Basswood is especially easy to bend so a steamer is ideal.
For more complex or tighter curves however use some.
I then have a small sponge to throughly wet one side of the sheet.
Special methods for bending balsa wood may not be necessary if the curve is a gentle one and the radius is large.
Let balsa dry before removing from former.
The wood may conform easily.
Stage 1 getting the wood flexible.
Food steamers are ideal and can be a good investment if you bend wood regularly.
I would use 2 laminations of 16th.
What i ended up doing is makeing formes in the shape that i needed to bend the balsa in.
To form sheet balsa first i have the sheet to near net size.
Just finished bending the balsa.
I used the windex method.
Right now they are still in the forms i am not sure now long to leave them in the clamps.
Find a jar can or a mailing tube to form the sheet around.
