WoodwoodHardwood
Balsa
The lightest commercial timber. A hardwood by botany but softer than any softwood here, used for model building, buoyancy and as a core material inside composite sandwich panels.
Properties
- Family
- Wood
- Category
- wood
- Species
- Ochroma pyramidale
- Density
- 0.16 g/cm³ · 160 kg/m³
Applicationswhere balsa is normally specified
Model buildingBuoyancyComposite coresInsulation
Practical notes
- Density is for air-dried stock at about 12% moisture content
- Very wide density spread — model grade and structural grade differ greatly
- Hardwood by botanical grouping despite being far softer than pine