A note on Obeche; I have been a cabinetmaker and furniture designer, and now I make airplanes. Obeche, for some reason, enjoys a certian mystique within the realm of model aviation. The reality is that Obeche is the the bottom feeder of hardwood veneers used mostly in industry for substrate level applications. It is not exotic, it is cheap. It's advantage for wing sheeting is its relativly tight grain, and it has little character(susceptability to shape or dimension change), and it is light. But as noted, other woods come very close to its density.. Why not use poplar? or some other wood? mostly 2 reasons, availability of proper widths and the propensity for all american veneer mills to cut their veneers to 1/42" or thicker, which yields a significantly heavier end product. Obeche in thin veneer under 1 mm are difficult to work with for large wings. Even flitch cut veneers tend to split as you look at them sitting on the bench. European builders use Ayous and Obeche in 1+ mm thicknesses making it easier to handle. I used to use Obeche for Pegasus wings, I now use 3/32" balsa. The cost is comparible, the supply constant, and the performance and weight about equal. Obeches one advantage is it's harder surface, but in thin veneers that point is not so significant. John Derstine
-----Original Message----- From: Larry Taylor [mailto:cvrcsoaring@;earthlink.net] Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 2:22 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [RCSE] Large sheets of Obecchi, Where? I'm looking for some large sheets of Obecchi. My wing has a 18" root on my Air Tug that I'm building. Apx 6ft long sheets will be needed. The plans called for Balsa, but I think Obecchi would be stronger. Larry Taylor KF6JBG E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web http://home.earthlink.net/~cvrcsoaring/cvrc.htm CD for Visalia Fall Soaring Festival 5th and 6th Oct. 2002 New Club Web Site: www.cvrcsoaring.com RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
