What Type Of Wood Do You Use?

[lastvautour]

Outstanding workmanship. I can only dream of being that good. Thank you for posting.

Lou

[K_mars]

Currently, professionals who make prototypes of plastic models use chemical wood.

[Gearup]

That is really amazing workmanship on the mold plug. Wow.
I use spruce mainly as I find it nice to work with. Plus it was the type of wood used it full-scale aircraft. Different species though. Basswood if I have a piece that fits the need such as size or carving detail. Have started using maple for thinner airfoil sections as it is really strong. I recently used boxwood (Buxus) for turning some details for like wheels. It is a wood that holds fine detail very well. It is a small shrub wood.
Fraser

[K_mars]

Basswood is good. I'm looking forward to finding the best material available.

The 1944 model textbook also details the material wood.
The reason why I was able to publish under the supervision of the Japanese Navy in January 1944, when the war situation was bad, was because of the production of the "Identification model", but the content is completely a hobby. English, which was "language of the enemy" in 1944, is also used abundantly. The word "solid model" is used.
Kenji

[Gearup]

Thanks for sharing the info about the book.
Fraser

[Jim]

I am fortunate enough to have an abundant supply of basswood. which carves easily and hold fine details well. Some came from billets I bought at a local lumber store. I have an even larger supply from a tree harvested in my property. A logger cut down a great volume of trees on the perimeter of my yard for firewood some years ago: maple, ash, hornbeam, poplar, aspen, basswood, etc. I asked him to leave me two 6-foot logs of basswood, which he did. A friend brought them to another fellow who had a small sawmill, and he cut them into billets about 3 feet long by 18" wide by 10" thick. I  let these dry for several months, then cut them into various-sized blocks with a table saw and band saw. I've got more than enough really nice, knot-free basswood to last me several lifetimes!

I've used walnut in many models. Especially good for laminated propellers. It carves and sands well, but it can get stringy at times. Also have used cherry, poplar and purpleheart in a few models. And in my opinion, nothing is better for making struts than bamboo. Barbecue skewers, cut into thin strips, are ideal.

A couple years ago I built an open-backed five-string banjo: maple turned on a lathe for the rim, maple and mahogany laminations for the neck, and ebony for the fingerboard and peghead/ heel cap overlays.

[lastvautour]

I agree with Jim, struts from bamboo are the best. Skewers or place matts made from bamboo are a cheap source.

Lou