I'm sorry for all my shipmates who use balsa, the delay must be very frustrating. As I've said before, I found I was allergic to balsa a few years ago and have managed with timber from builder's merchants mainly, ever since. The only wood I buy from model sources is lime strip in various sizes which I use for deck planking, bulwarks etc.

Cheers, Nerys

Latest from SLEC
To all you lucky people in UK!

Hi Doug.
Thanks for the links...very informative.
The announcement on the SLEC site that drspock mentions makes interesting reading too.
https://www.slecuk.com/important-information
Rob.

And here's why Doc. Straight from the 'Horses mouth'. These guys deal in the stuff and monitor the markets!
https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3080227/china-turbine-makers-winded-after-ecuador-lockdown-leaves-them-without

But in Europe-
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/lumber-data-trends/Balsa-Wood-Subsitute-Developed-for-WInd-Turbine-Blades-286518311.html
Cheers, Doug 😎

Hi Roy,
If you check the SLEC site,they confirm that the Chinese are paying well over the odds from a supplier in Papua New Guinea.To use as the core for wind turbine blades.

Doc.

Good to hear it's only balsa Nerys that gives you a lot of other wood to work with.
Rick

Hi Rick, Yes, it's only balsa that affects me, yet I worked with it for years as a kid during the war with no effect making model aeroplanes. Just as well it is only balsa because I've worked with wood more or less all my life. Model boats today, I buy lime strip from the model shops, but the rest of what I use comes from builders merchants. Just means a bit harder work.

Cheers, Nerys

Having an allergy can be a pain in the rump but to balsa that's bad if you build .Is it all wood or just balsa.
Rick

Good luck on finding anything in Jobg Ian - busy ordering some from my secret supplier - some Balsa for a Laser customer and Liteply for the actual job she wants done - plus some more for my stocks.
PM me with your email - once I have sorted out my order will let you have contact details . Suggest you stock up while you can - definitely wont be any more arriving here for a good while. By the way last Obeche I found in SA was in the 90's in Boksburg when a model shop was closing down - finally cleared out his storeroom and found some - bought it all - only about 10 sheets.
Also found some sets of fittings for Fireboats in his storeroom, both Keil Kraft and a Piper set - snapped them up cheaply and years later sold them on E bay in UK - wont believe how many bids there were for them. Felt embarrassed at the final bid amount for the KK ones as they were poor quality compared to the Piper set- offered to reduce the price - but the buyer insisted on paying what he bid - so gave him free postage instead................ Enabled me to stock up on a lot of stripwood etc before returning to SA

Hi Nerys,
For someone who dose not use Balsa wood to make models you do a fantastic job.

Martin555.

In Jo'burg I literally have to go a search by driving around looking for Obechi, Balsa and decent ply! When I find it it doesn't come cheap. Most model shops here cater for the ARTF Planes nobody builds these days and the dealers charge what they want☹️☹️

Interesting to read about the balsa shortage, but for once, it doesn't affect me in any way, I'm allergic to balsa. If I use it, I come out in a rash, my lips swell up and I feel rotten.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Roy,
"How big a wind turbine blade can you make from balsa???"
From balsa alone not a lot I guess Roy.🤔
But used simply as the core shape and coated with pressed and baked carbon-fibre up to at least 70m I understand😮
Cheers, Doug 😎

OK Folks,
Let's finally try to get this issue in perspective!
(As in some other threads some folks are going off half-cock, jumping on the Band-Wagon, without knowing the facts!)
"... so China now purchase all the stocks just to make our lockdown more depressing."
Yes Martin you are right, in a way, China has a lot to do with this balsa shortage, if indirectly.
But what many don't seem to realise is that 95% of the balsa wood produced for commercial usage comes (or came pre-COVID19🤔) from Ecuador!
Since Ecuador has become the South American country most badly affected with the Corona virus it has resulted in a total lockdown which, amongst many other things, has strangled the balsa production and export🤔 Having visited Ecuador several time that makes me very sad☹️

Yes, the Chinese need it for Wind Generator blades. It's used as a lightweight core which is then covered with carbon fibre.
(Roy: titanium is no longer used if it can be avoided (and it can); it's much too expensive and the major source is in Russia!!! As the Blackbird constructors learned to their cost! The CIA had to create a bogus cover company to acquire the titanium needed to build the SR71s back in the Cold War/USSR days 😂🤣)
The Chinese used to get their balsa from Ecuador and all was hunky dory ... until Corona☹️. So not surprising that they now are desperately grabbing everything they can get from the few producers in SE Asia. Not Australia I'm afraid JB🤔
For once the Chinese appear to be behind developments😀
For some time now european manufacturers of wind turbine blades have been using an alternative lightweight honeycomb structure for the blade core made of PET, like some of us use in our 3D printers. No sign of titanium in recent docus and reports that I've seen CB.
(Just Google 'Balsa shortage' and you'll find some interesting current reports from commodity dealers!)

Whatever; if you need balsa for your projects buy what you can find ASAP folks.
Cheers All, whatever you build your boat with - KEEP IT UP, and above all HAVE FUN BUILDING AND SAILING👍
Doug😎

How big a wind turbine blade can you make from balsa???
I saw a programme on TV about Wind Turbines and the blades were Hi tech stuff, computer designed, titanium hollow reinforced!

Is it April in China? the 1st!

Regards Roy

And now this thread has made a complete circle and gone right back to the start !!
😆
Rob.

Apparently the Chinese are buying all the balsa for building wind generator sails.Who'da thought it!

Re - as regards price - 3mm x 100mm x 1m sheets vary from R 40 to R80 per sheet for example

Just paid 89.6 Rand ($8 NZ) for the same sheet here Peter from the art store,- usually between $5-$8 a sheet depending where you shop. Gets expensive building models, almost better off building a real boat if you scaled the price!, as everything you buy for a model (paint, f/glass resin etc) usually has to be bought in full sized quantities, and you might only use 5% of a tin and the rest can go to waste. It would be nice if the prices were scaled to match the models😁
JB

Hi Red.
Like Hens Teeth (or Rocking Horse S..T if you prefer) i think you are talking about my model making budget LOL!!!!!!

Martin555.

Problem is in SA any kind of model building material other than balsa is like Hens Teeth (or Rocking Horse S..T if you prefer) Have a small stock of Basswood bought many years ago - and Obeche planks bought in my youth - some scribed Obeche decking was even found at Westbourne Models in the early 2000's. Lucky enough to find Liteply here at one stage - now again available at a hefty price - triple what I originally paid. Balsa is still available - but you have to be very careful as regards price - 3mm x 100mm x 1m sheets vary from R 40 to R80 per sheet for example .
There is a lightweight wood from the Zambezi Valley - used for tourist gee gaws like masks at Victoria Falls. Used as a substitute for Balsa in Rhodesian days under sanctions . Not sure if you could still find any - possibly whole logs but nothing else. Not sure I fancy trying to cut planks as its incredibly dusty. However if you use brown shoe polish on it - looks just like polished teak - hence the use for masks................
its also the wood my Avatar Police Boat is built from - kit produced by a friend in Rhodesia.

I have used balsa.I prefer basswood to build with as it doesn't break as easily.Sometimes just as hard to find.Lets hope we still are able to get balsa if needed.
Rick

Hi red,
China introduced us to Covid and caused us to be in lockdown, so we try to pass the time making our Balsa wood models, so China now purchase all the stocks just to make our lockdown more depressing.

Martin555.

Hi Peter.-hope the Aussies don't loose their production, as a lot of what we get comes from there (not sure if it's grown in Aus or elsewhere). I am sure the Americans won't let their supplies go as modelling is huge there. Either way, balsa is in short supply here at the moment due to chunflu effect and I buy a few sheets here and there as I find them. Seems to be an abundance of the big sizes,( not a lot of 1-4mm sizes) - maybe I might stock up on a few of those for future slitting, just in case😀 You can never have too much balsa!😁

If the worst happens there is always foam and f/glass, (basswood and ply are still common also) so we'll always have something. My 80s 40" tug was carved from a poly block and completely glassed as an experiment, and came out quite well, was light and unsinkable.
JB