Hi guys
About to start on a scratch build for a friend that will be a sharp learning curve.
Once I have aged the wood with vinegar and iron thats if balsa is one of the woods the recipe works on.
Any ideas as to what the best sealant for balsa wood is and how many coats it will take to do the job.
Balsa seems to soak up galons of anything you put on it including glue.
I would use something else but I have some balsa that’s just been taking up space for ages time to do something usefull with it or chuck it.
regards John
John,
A lot depends on what You are building and what kind of finish You want. With Balsa wood, it’s always best to use a sanding sealer first, before staining or painting.
Do a ‘‘Google’’ search…‘‘Sanding Sealer for Balsa wood’’ and take Your pick of MFGer’s and tips on uses.
I don’t care for the Vinegar trick for Balsa wood…it stinks and I believe it’s a old wives tale.
When I built wood ships yr’s. ago I used Dope, for sealing before staining or painting…Balsa, Basswood and Mahogany wood.
Take Care! [:D]
Frank
I haven’t had much luck using the vinegar/rusty steel wool thing on Balsa, it works pretty good on some Basswoods but not all. In my experience diluted India Ink works much better than the vinegar stuff. Probably be best to experiment with both on the wood you’re working with.
I haven’t had very much success scratch building with Balsa, for me Basswood is much easier to work with (cut & shape) than Balsa
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
I had pretty good results using sheet balsa for making sidewalks. Before painting I used gesso to seal the bare balsa. Gesso can be find in artcraft shores and is used to seal canvas, wood and paper. The streets on my layout are made with cardboard sealed with gesso and painted.
Bull’s Eye white shellac and diluted/ thinned w/ denatured alcohol work best for my needs. The amount of actual sealing can be controled by the thinning ratio. 1 shellac to 3 to 5 alcohol is a good start. Bull’s Eye also has the sanding sealer, which is basically the same just a stiffer ratio of dilution, can use that and thin furture if needed.
I used to use Deft laquer sealer, however the spray can product is far too expensive now for the job.
Hi guys
Thanks for the ideas
The vinegar and iron only works on some woods but it does work, I don’t know if balsa is one of them I am about to find out.
As for the smell I think I prefer the place to smell like a fish and chip shop rather than a paint factory any day.
Indian ink was mentioned as a stain what colour or mix of colours would you sugest.
If I can’t get the balsa to work it will be off to the craft shop for some heavy card I know that will work.
Balsa isn’t my favorite wood iether but the idea of just throwing it out seems a waste.
Especialy when the hobby budget is a bit tighter than normal at the moment
regards John
The guys here helped me with the finish on a similar structure with good success. My bet is that it would work just as well on balsa.
I used Zinsser Bullseye clear shellac to seal the wood and diluted india ink to age it as suggested. It really worked good. Then I went on to add stains to match my “prototype” look. Here is the prototype. You can see the aged look in spots where the stain has worn off.
And here is the model. The roof and front of the loading dock show the look without stain. You can make the gray darker or lighter depending on how much the india ink is diluted. Just experiment on scraps first.
Here is the finished structure. I just need to find a bunch more “junk” to lay around it to complete the scene.
