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Balsa Weight for Various Densities

Balsa is one of the lightest woods available, and in many respects has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any wood - even oak. The chart at the right gives a comparison of a few familiar wood types.

Hobby grade balsa is harvested in the jungles of Ecuador, kiln dried, cut into large blocks, and shipped to the U.S. for final cutting and sanding. Most balsa from hobby shops is in the 8-10 lbs/ft3 realm. The rock-hard stock that nobody wants is sent to the airplane kit manufacturers ;-)

Before being discovered as an ideal source of wood for model airplanes, balsa trees were cut and assembled into raft for floating down the river. In fact, the word "balsa" is Spanish for the word "raft." Balsa has been widely used by the military for air-drop pallets, and in fact, during World War II, balsa wood for models became scarce because the Army Air Force needed it for operations. Bamboo and other reeds were tried by modelers as a substitute wood, but it never could replace balsa.

Wood Properties
SpeciesWeight
lb/ft3		Stiffness
Strength		Bending
Strength		Comp-
ression
Strength
Balsa8727075
Balsa10100100100
Balsa14156161149
Spruce28230260289
Yellow Pine28222277288
Douglas Fir30241291341
Hickory50379638514
Oak48295430366
Basswood26261288288
Black Walnut37301506512
The charts below for weights of standard hobby shop balsa sheets, sticks and blocks were calculated from a simple formula that takes the density of the of each piece of balsa and multiply it by the volume. For 48" lengths, multiply each 36" value by 4/3 (1.333).

Example:

A 3/16" x 3" x 36" sheet of balsa has a volume of 20.25 cubic inches (in3), which is equal to 0.01171875 cubic feet (ft3). A piece of balsa with a density of 8 lbs/ft3 is the same as a density of 128 oz/ft3. So, to find the weight of the balsa sheet, multiply 128 oz/ft3 by 0.01171875 ft3 to get 1.500 oz. A 48" length would weigh 1.500 oz. x 4/3 = 2.000 oz.




BALSA SHEETS
Weight in Ounces, Density in Pounds/Foot3
36" Length6810121416
1/32"x2"
1/32"x3"
1/32"x4"		0.125
0.188
0.250		0.167
0.250
0.333		0.211
0.313
0.417		0.250
0.375
0.500		0.291
0.438
0.583		0.333
0.500
0.667
3/32"x2"
3/32"x3"
3/32"x4"		0.375
0.563
0.750		0.500
0.750
1.000		0.625
0.938
1.125		0.750
1.125
1.500		0.875
1.313
1.750		1.000
1.500
2.000
3/16"x2"
3/16"x3"
3/16"x4"		0.750
1.125
1.500		1.000
1.500
2.000		1.250
1.875
2.500		1.500
2.250
3.000		1.750
2.625
3.500		2.000
3.000
4.000
3/8"x2"
3/8"x3"
3/8"x4"		1.500
2.250
3.000		2.000
3.000
4.000		2.500
3.750
5.000		3.000
4.500
6.000		3.500
5.250
7.000		4.000
6.000
8.000
1/16"x2"
1/16"x3"
1/16"x4"		0.250
0.375
0.500		0.333
0.500
0.667		0.417
0.625
0.833		0.500
0.750
1.000		0.583
0.875
1.167		0.667
1.000
1.333
1/8"x2"
1/8"x3"
1/8"x4"		0.500
0.750
1.000		0.667
1.000
1.333		0.833
1.250
1.667		1.000
1.500
2.000		1.167
1.750
2.333		1.333
2.000
2.667
1/4"x2"
1/4"x3"
1/4"x4"		1.000
1.500
2.000		1.333
2.000
2.667		1.667
2.500
3.333		2.000
3.000
4.000		2.333
3.500
4.667		2.667
4.000
5.333
1/2"x2"
1/2"x3"
1/2"x4"		2.000
3.000
4.000		2.667
4.000
5.333		3.333
5.000
6.667		4.000
6.000
8.000		4.667
7.000
9.333		5.333
8.000
10.667


BALSA BLOCKS
Weight in Ounces, Density in Pounds/Foot3
36" Length6810121416
1"x1"
1"x1½"
1"x2"
1"x2½"
1"x3"		2.000
3.000
4.000
5.000
6.000		2.667
4.000
5.333
6.667
8.000		3.333
5.000
6.667
8.333
10.00		4.000
6.000
8.000
10.000
12.000		4.667
7.000
9.333
11.667
14.000		5.333
8.000
10.667
13.333
16.000
2"x2"
2"x2½"
2"x3"		8.000
10.00
12.00		10.666
13.333
16.000		13.333
16.667
20.000		16.000
20.000
24.000		18.667
23.333
28.000		21.333
26.667
32.000
3"x3"
3"x4"		18.00
24.00		24.00
32.00		30.000
40.000		36.000
48.000		42.000
56.000		48.000
64.000
1½"x1½"
1½"x2"
1½"x2½"		4.500
6.000
7.500		6.000
8.000
10.00		7.500
10.000
12.500		9.000
12.000
15.000		10.500
14.000
17.500		12.000
16.000
20.000
2½"x2½"
2½"x3		12.500
15.000		16.667
20.000		20.833
25.000		25.000
30.000		29.166
35.000		33.333
40.000


BALSA STICKS
 Weight in Ounces, Density in Pounds/Cubic3
36" LengthQty.6 8 10 12 14 16
1/16"x1/16"
1/16"x3/32"
1/16"x1/8"
1/16"x3/16"
1/16"x1/4"
1/16"x3/8"
1/16"x1/2"		16
16
8
8
4
4
2		0.125
0.188
0.125
0.188
0.125
0.188
0.125		0.167
0.250
0.167
0.250
0.167
0.250
0.167		0.208
0.312
0.208
0.312
0.208
0.312
0.208		0.250
0.375
0.250
0.375
0.250
0.375
0.250		0.292
0.438
0.292
0.438
0.292
0.438
0.292		0.333
0.500
0.333
0.500
0.333
0.500
0.333
1/8"x1/8"
1/8"x3/16"
1/8"x1/4"
1/8"x3/8"
1/8""x1/2"		4
4
4
2
1		0.125
0.188
0.250
0.188
0.125		0.167
0.250
0.333
0.250
0.167		0.208
0.312
0.416
0.312
0.208		0.250
0.375
0.500
0.375
0.250		0.292
0.438
0.538
0.438
0.292		0.333
0.500
0.667
0.500
0.333
1/4"x1/4"
1/4"x3/8"
1/4"x1/2"
1/4"x3/4"
1/4""x1"		1
1
1
1
1		0.125
0.188
0.250
0.375
0.500		0.167
0.250
0.333
0.500
0.667		0.208
0.312
0.416
0.625
0.832		0.250
0.375
0.500
0.750
1.000		0.292
0.438
0.583
0.876
1.166		0.333
0.500
0.667
1.00
1.333
1/2"x1/2"
1/2"x1"		1
1		0.500
1.000		0.667
1.333		0.832
1.666		1.00
2.00		1.166
2.333		0.1333
2.667
3/32"x3/32"
3/32"x1/8"
3/32"x3/16"
3/32"x1/4"
3/32"x3/8"
3/32"x1/2"		8
8
4
4
2
2		0.141
0.188
0.141
0.188
0.141
0.188		0.188
0.250
0.188
0.250
0.188
0.250		0.234
0.312
0.234
0.312
0.234
0.312		0.281
0.375
0.281
0.375
0.281
0.375		0.326
0.438
0.326
0.438
0.326
0.438		0.375
0.500
0.375
0.500
0.375
0.500
3/16"x3/16"
3/16"x1/4"
3/16"x3/8"
3/16"x1/2"
3/16"x3/4"
3/16"x1"		2
2
2
1
1
1		0.141
0.188
0.281
0.188
0.281
0.375		0.188
0.250
0.375
0.250
0.375
0.500		0.234
0.312
0.469
0.312
0.469
0.625		0.281
0.375
0.563
0.375
0.563
0.750		0.326
0.438
0.656
0.438
0.656
0.876		0.375
0.500
0.750
0.500
0.750
1.000
3/8"x3/8"
3/8"x1/2"		1
1		0.281
0.375		0.375
0.500		0.469
0.625		0.563
0.750		0.656
0.876		0.750
1.000
3/4"x3/4"11.1251.5001.8752.2502.6253.000
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