BASS WOOD for engine mounts ?

Keep your eye out for old Maple bureaus being thrown away. One single small drawer-panel would yield enough wood for all the bearers you'd ever need. They're generally around 3/8" thick.. so all you need to do is rip a strip on a table saw.

You know I have soma blk. walnut , cherry , mahogany that is cured but I was thinking weight ? //That's a good idea about the draws I see them a lot on the sides of the road . getback

Hard rock Maple is usually what is available in hobby stores and works well. Pecan and Hickory are the hardest woods you can find in the USA and would work also if you can find it.

Here is a chart to see where different hardwoods rack and stack.

http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/articles/view/pro/22/276

Don't be too concerned with the weight as the amount used is not that much.

Ron

I personally would use any of those woods you mentioned. Maple is just plentiful and cheaper. I think that the Walnut might be the heaviest.. not sure about that. I don't think it's as heavy as Oak though. I've ripped Cherry down to 3/8" square on my table-saw. I'm just very careful and use a push-stick.. as well as a good sharp carbide tipped blade. I ripped a 1/8"w. strip from some 3/4" Walnut for my Reed Speed model's wing. I needed a tough stub-spar for the wing-mounted gear legs. The only wood you need to "buy" is sheet-balsa and Birch plywood. You can easily find hardwoods.. in surprising places like an old radio/TV cabinet.. TV tables.. not to mention old kitchen cabinets being thrown out for a kitchen remodel!

Here's a weird find.. This Bass-wood I found while cleaning out a garage, looked to me like I could use it somewhere on a model.



They're window blinds Eric! Thickness is .135" (1/8" strong..) x 2 3/8"w. x 24"L. no warps. I'm thinking it might make decent spar stock for a built-up wing, using two pieces laminated together.

that's cool Man , I can get some weight off of some of my other woods I have the walnut already cut though , ha is that a new TRADE  icon I see?? the spar with that wood wood bee good getback And thanks Ron checked that site out good stuff !!

Bass will crush. If you built already oversized drill holes filled with epoxy, good stout stuff like resin with a filler or JB weld, then redrill the next day.

If you are firewood diving, regular soft maple is just as bad, or worse.

Pecan, hickory, hard (sugar) maple, locust (black or yellow), osage orange (hedgeapple), or white oak (often shipping pallets) should be good choices. Bamboo flooring is also a better choice than bass (select heavier pieces).

Here's some information overload.

http://www.wood-database.com/

Phil

Good thread. I was lucky enough to have learned about maple drawers when we refurbished our bathroom a couple of years ago, I have a bunch of it now.

Over the years, i've often used thin CA to harden various pieces of wood. You might take a piece of your 3/8 Bass wood, set it on a piece of wax paper and soak the crap out of it with CA...boom, rock hard beams.

If the Bass was what I had on hand right now for a TeeDee .049

I would simply build my engine crutch with epoxy glue then do a half arsed job of light fiber glassing the entire assy, drill my engine holes, add the blind nuts and move on to the rest of the build...If TeeDee bolted tight shows a heavy depression on the wood /FG face--- I would put thin aluminum strips under the engine ears

No Virginia I would not do this for .15 or larger but the dinky TeeDee and the bolts are not that likely to crush the Bass wood if it is helped out with CA as suggested or Epoxy and the light Fiber Glass

I've used it for 1/2A's with no problem. I don't think it would take a bunch of hard crashes on a hard circle though. I would not use it for anything bigger than 1/2A. I have bought hardwood at Home Depot and ripped it down to the right sizes, you can make a bunch in no time at all.

Nobody is showing any love for poplar? It's a little soft when compared with other woods but for bearers it has always worked well for me. I bought several 1/4" and 3/8" X 24"sizes at Lowes but I have misplaced them somewhere "in the pile". The search for them continues.

Bob