Question on Plywood

[merlin]

Now down here in NZ we get Plywood, MDF and that's about it, my Q is... What is Balsa wood, Basswood and now another has risen Paulownia Wood Plate.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to get 3mm/1/8 ply here, prices are through the roof every where...any help on these names please... Merlin...

[OCtoolguy]

Balsa wood is extremely light and soft, They make model airplanes out of it. Basswood is harder and is the wood of choice for carvers. They other one you named, I've not heard of it. Best of luck to you. 

 

[John B]

Bunnings have Balsa, it is very light and as Ray has said, it is used for model planes etc. Also to make dolls house furniture. Quite expensive and very restricted in sizes.
I did a little research on Paulownia and it seems to be quite a new timber on the market. The prices are reasonable a 2.4 metre length of DAR 90 x 30 mm Radiata pine is $31.90 compared to $37.92 for Paulownia. Mind you the Paulwonia price is as of 2019 so it probably is quite a bit dearer now.
http://paulowniatimber.com.au/index.php

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by John B

[TAIrving]

Found an article in Wikipedia about Paulownia. It says that Paulownia is the fastest growing hardwood and compares it to balsa.  It is almost twice as dense as balsa and has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than balsa.  

The following is copied from the Wikipedia article.  

Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia states:

Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, and warp-resistant. It is the fastest-growing hardwood. It is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye. The silvery-grey wood is sliced into veneers for special visiting cards.^[19][20]

A Japanese Kobundō (小分銅), 95–97% gold, "Paulownia" Kiri (桐) mark, Kikubana (菊花) emblem, 373.11 grams, Japan

It is important in China, Korea, and Japan for making the soundboards of stringed musical instruments such as the guqin, guzheng, pipa, koto, and gayageum.^[5] More recently it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars,^[21] as the core for lightweight touring skis,^[22][23] and for surfboard cores.^[24] It is used in guitars as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood.^[21]

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, TAIrving said:

Found an article in Wikipedia about Paulownia. It says that Paulownia is the fastest growing hardwood and compares it to balsa.  It is almost twice as dense as balsa and has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than balsa.  

The following is copied from the Wikipedia article.  

Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia states:

Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, and warp-resistant. It is the fastest-growing hardwood. It is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye. The silvery-grey wood is sliced into veneers for special visiting cards.^[19][20]

A Japanese Kobundō (小分銅), 95–97% gold, "Paulownia" Kiri (桐) mark, Kikubana (菊花) emblem, 373.11 grams, Japan

It is important in China, Korea, and Japan for making the soundboards of stringed musical instruments such as the guqin, guzheng, pipa, koto, and gayageum.^[5] More recently it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars,^[21] as the core for lightweight touring skis,^[22][23] and for surfboard cores.^[24] It is used in guitars as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood.^[21]

I wonder why it is considered "hardwood".

[Eplfan2011]

21 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

I wonder why it is considered "hardwood".

Any tree that either produces a seed with either a fruit or a shell is considered a Hardwood. Useless fact # 541 that i somehow know

[OCtoolguy]

15 minutes ago, Eplfan2011 said:

Any tree that either produces a seed with either a fruit or a shell is considered a Hardwood. Useless fact # 541 that i somehow know

I did not know that. Has nothing to do with density?

[Eplfan2011]

45 minutes ago, OCtoolguy said:

I did not know that. Has nothing to do with density?

Not that I know of .... I can't tell you any more than what I said, it's just one of those useless facts you pick up. You could Google it if your interested to know more.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Eplfan2011

[OCtoolguy]

7 minutes ago, Eplfan2011 said:

Not that I know of .... I can't tell you any more than what I said, it's just one of those useless facts you pick up. You could Google it if your interested to know more.

I'll take your word 4 it.

[Bill WIlson]

2 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I did not know that. Has nothing to do with density?

Nope.

Longleaf Southern Yellow Pine, a "softwood" has a Janka hardness rating of 870, which is higher than African Mahogany, Silver Maple, Sassafras, Alder and Poplar.  All hardwoods.

[merlin]

Thanks guy's I found some info as well and found it grows and milled in Australia and NZ, never new that And back in the 70's I was working in wood mills go figure...

...Merlin...

[OCtoolguy]

13 minutes ago, merlin said:

Thanks guy's I found some info as well and found it grows and milled in Australia and NZ, never new that And back in the 70's I was working in wood mills go figure...

...Merlin...

Good on ya Mate!