WoodwoodExotic
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
Densityhow balsa compares
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
Lumber sizeswhat balsa weighs in each nominal size
Lumber size databaseDressed sizes are the same for every species — a 2x4 is 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 in in oak as much as in spruce. What changes is the weight, and that is derived here from balsa's density of 0.16 g/cm³.
Tools used on itmatched on the wood family, not on this page
All toolsCircular SawCountersinkDrillHole SawImpact DriverJigsawMitre SawRandom Orbit SanderRouterTwist Drill Bits
Which tools work a material is a property of the family (Wood), not of the individual species — so this list is the same on every wood page, and changes when the tool data changes rather than when this paragraph does.