Wood Splitting

This discussion area is for basic structure building concepts. Not intended for advanced concepts.
*Good Example: Balsa can bend with the addition of boiling water.
*Good Example: Triangle is the strongest shape for most applications of bracing.
*Bad Example: Balsa can hold X pounds under these conditions.
*Bad Example: Use this shape for this application.
Basically I want you to think a design through with the basics instead of someone else thinking through your design for you.
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soccers56
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:15 pm

Wood Splitting

Post by soccers56 »

So i have this new problem that i've run into with balsa. So I'm doing something along the lines of this:
Front:
http://geocities.com/soccers56/random/B ... /front.bmp
Side:
http://geocities.com/soccers56/random/BoomPics/side.bmp

I connected the two pieces with a little bit of gorilla glue, since the CA woudlnt' hold the load at all at the joint. But now the new problem that I have is that while the Gorilla glue stays intact, the block on top shears while the bottom stick remains intact. I have to figure out a way for the block not to split, because I have to make this joint hold 2-3 times its current load without adding much weight.

One idea I have is to soak that top block in thin CA, but that doesnt' seem like the most weight-efficient way. Does anyone know if rotating the balsa block on top to change the direction of the grain will bee better, and which direction would be the best? the current direction is by far the easiest, but it doesn't seem to hold that well. [/url]
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)
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