Balsa Wood

berylbite

berylbite

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I want to build a uke, I've never delved into wood work so I want to make it out of a friendly wood. Noticing that I have alot of balsa laying around, I wonder if I could make an all balsa ukulele.

Is this a horrible idea?
Is the wood strong enough to fight the tension of the string?
How are the acoustics?
 
My guess is that it would be both not strong enough for the tension, and the sound would probably be low quality. Just guessing on the sound.
 
Some violin makers and classical guitar builders have experimented with using balsa as a core material in a laminate with some success. Other than that, balsa absorbs vibrations instead of reflecting them.

Brad
 
'Ere we go again... I guess this is why we have this section.

Balsa, like all woods, comes in different grades. In the late 70's Guitar Player magazine in the UK ran an article on a luthier experimenting with balsa as a top wood. He liked it. He was using a 'hard' grade...
 
On the up side. If it doesn't sound good, you could always attach wings and make it into a model airplane. :) But seriously, I can only imagine using Balsa as the top and even then, you'd probably need to construct the bridge as you would a banjo or archtop as it seems impossible to mount it on the top without ripping it right off when you apply string tension.
 
Don't you lot read? It has been done on a guitar. Balsa comes in very hard grades! It is in fact a 'hardwood'. That stuff you see in model shops is graded. You can get really hard stiff stuff that is used for micro light models which need fine cross section but great strength.
 
Pete Howlett said:
Don't you lot read? It has been done on a guitar. Balsa comes in very hard grades! It is in fact a 'hardwood'. That stuff you see in model shops is graded. You can get really hard stiff stuff that is used for micro light models which need fine cross section but great strength.
Click to expand...

Is there a reason you are so rude?

Yes, balsa is a hardwood, but it is softer than all softwoods.

Did you ever hear a the Janka scale?
Spruce as a hardness of around 660
Redwood is around 350
Cork is around 200
Balsa ranges from 75 to 100 depending how hard the grade is.


Maybe you should read some more yourself
http://www.sizes.com/units/janka.htm
http://www.ifloor.com/about-flooring/janka-hardness.html
http://www.fastfloors.com/article.asp?a=57
http://www.righteouswoods.net/Balsa.html
 
berylbite said:
I want to build a uke, I've never delved into wood work so I want to make it out of a friendly wood. Noticing that I have alot of balsa laying around, I wonder if I could make an all balsa ukulele.

Is this a horrible idea?
Is the wood strong enough to fight the tension of the string?
How are the acoustics?
Click to expand...
I know this is an old thread, but I have just built a Tenor Ukulele from Balsa. It has a sweet sound, and is actually louder than my traditional Tenor Uke. I have posted some photos and a link to a short YouTube video. Did you ever make yours?
 
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