Source for wood blanks

[FlyingS]

Looking for recommendations where to buy wood blanks. Especial big enough for fuselages.
Thanks guys
Harv

[johnnytodd]

Hi Harv,

I buy bigger pieces of basswood online from Nationalbalsa:

http://www.nationalbalsa.com/Default.asp

Smaller boards I buy at Hobby Lobby

[FlyingS]

Thanks John, I've seen the small blanks at Hobby Lobby. I also got some scrap and some full length boards from my local cabinet maker (free) they are 1" thick. I'm concerned (having never done this) if there would be a problem glueing two pieces together to get a thicker piece for fuselages?? although the wood is kiln dried and I have laminated pieces of wood for smaller carvings and haven's had a problem.

[johnnytodd]

I have laminated pieces with good results.  Try to get the seam along the center line and grain in same direction.  Generous amounts of glue and clamping. 

[Pete1616]

Hello, Harv

I have a friend in Welland who teaches carving. Not too long ago he picked up a good supply of bass wood....As I recall they were planks 6" XX 5"....about 8' long.

If you want to carve a large model, it would be cheaper to sent him to pattern, he'd cut it out and sent only the wood you need. From Niagara to Pennsylvania can't cost much.

[Flying T]

in   SC at my local foodlion store I picked up a block pac of kindling
by mountaineer, www.indlbr.com 1"sq x 12".  I get at least 2 model
fus from each. pine few knots,can be part 1/2 x 1/4 also. mixed.about
50 per pk.

[lastvautour]

Lumber yards normally have bits and pieces of clear pine. However they will charge you the going rate, but at least you cab manage your budget better.

Lou
PS I just picked up 3 four ft boards for $9.00. Just s few knots but lots of good clear wood.

[Jim]

Midwest Products (https://midwestproducts.com/) sells basswood sheets, blocks and strips in all sizes online at affordable prices.

Here in Upstate New York my local lumber company sells basswood by the board foot. I've bought some and had it cut to a manageable length, then re-sawed it to size at home. Use it for fuselages, ship hulls and for fishing lures.

The national chain big box hardware stores, Lowes and Home Depot, sell poplar billets, which make excellent carving blanks for fuselages and ship hulls. Poplar holds an edge very well.

Lastly, while this may not be for everyone, it's food for thought:  Last fall a fellow I'd hired to brush-hog my back field asked if I'd be interested in selling some of the trees in my hedgerows. Said he'd log them off judiciously, cut them up and haul them out. He'd  sell them for firewood at around $100 a cord, and pay around $10 a cord. I'd been wanting to thin out the hedgerows so I said sure. He pointed out the different species of trees to me he was interested in, one of which was basswoods -- which I never even realized were there! I asked him to save me two straight basswood logs, around three feet long, which he did.

He did the cutting in January and hauled it all out by Memorial Day. A friend of mine took the two basswood logs to an old fellow he knows who owned a sawmill, and at my request, sawed them each into three-inch-thick planks. These I chop-sawed into 1-1/2-foot long blocks, the straightest of which I then re-sawed into 3-inch square blocks, perfect for fuselages. The rest are a bit off-square. Before I re-saw them, I'm going to buy a jointer-planer and shave them square before re-sawing them on the bandsaw.

As I said, not everyone can do that. but the idea of building a model out of wood cut on my own land is pretty cool, and I've got enough basswood now to last me until they slam the lid over me!

[Boomerang]

Way to go Harv. The ultimate in recycling.

Cheers

Gordon

[R.F.Bennett]

You can find some extraordinary aged woods at architectural salvage yards. Clear and tight grained that just isn't available except at high cost. Ask them to show you their wood moulding cut-offs. These are pieces that are usually 8 feet and under and are more of a burden to them than a benefit. My favorite is my local Habitat for Humanity store. You can also buy an old pine solid wood door. They sell for 10.00 to 30.00 dollars after the hardware is removed. Make sure it hasn't been re-glued with modern glue. A good sign is a very narrow door about 32 inches. In the US they are no longer up to building code so people don't want them. Just be aware that some of this stuff may have lead paint on it, you can get test kits at your hardware store of home center. The value wood is in the side rails and center rails, the center panels can be cut for model display bases.  When in doubt, ASK, these people want to see this stuff recycled. As long as it's not some exotic hardwood or carved by a master you can get good prices as long as you know how to recognize good wood. Don't be afraid to make an offer, bring some pics of models if you have too, it does encourage them to help you. Window frames can be good too. 

XRay