balsa wood airplane

Great Woodworking Projects Made With Balsa Wood

balsa wood bridge

Example for a good balsa wood project: balsa wood bridge

Balsa wood is a very lightweight and durable material. This gives it versatility as well and makes it easy to work with. These characteristics are the reason such wood projects are so popular and easy for woodworkers of any level. The most basic of projects include building a wooden bridge, a model airplane and a model tower, all three of which will be sturdy and will be able to support a reasonable amount of weight. You can work on these projects using nothing more than balsa wood and glue and in addition to being super simple, they allow you to get creative with your building skills.

Balsa Wood Bridge

You can build this particular wood project by putting a little bit of engineering knowledge into the whole process.  The first things you need, to be able to build your balsa wood bridge, is a combination do basic physics, building and engineering techniques. If you wish to approach the project by keeping in mind the official balsa wood competitions which take place all over the world, you ca use balsa wood planks, dowel and glue, to give your imagination a work out. The benefit of keeping these competitions in mind is that they set a certain limit on how much your finished balsa wood project should weigh and this way you can set straightforward goals as well. Competing against other is the ultimate incentive to pushing yourself further than you are usually used to, you can use this drive to make your project closer to realistic functions and use real life bridge building tricks.

Balsa Wood Airplane

These kind of projects involving model airplanes are usually built for two purposes; flight or display. Nowadays, there are kits available in the market for this very purpose and can be used without a lot of hassle, as they

balsa wood airplane

Balsa wood airplane example

come with everything ready-made and just need to be out together. If using a kit is not how you want to tackle this particular task, you can always get airplane plans and build the model airplane from scratch. The process involves cutting the wood according to the measurements given, assembling it piece by piece and finally finishing it off by putting over an airplane skin.  There is a large amount of information, including tips and tricks, available on the internet which can help you build a wooden airplane. If you want to fly the model airplane, all you need to do is add an engine and get a remote control and you are good to go. The engine and controls are available with the building material in ready-made kits.

Balsa Wood Tower

The great thing about using balsa wood is the sense of competition it can instill into you. There are many people who make towering structures from scratch, using this kind of wood. Just like in bridge building, there are competitions all over the globe in which people come together to see who can build the strongest balsa wood tower. Your goal should be to build a tower that will support the most weight, this can be achieved by following specific measurements of length, width and height.  Building such a wooden tower is a task that requires you to combine aesthetic design with hard science, to give rise to a structure that is both light weight and visually appealing, at the same time.

Balsa wood projects of this kind and many others, are not only an entertaining hobby but, they are also helpful in honing your woodworking skills and creativity. Always put your skills to the test to make them even better.