Re: Issues with A2Z balsa wood?

From: Leo Pilachowski <leop_at_lyradev.com>
Date: Sat, 02 Mar 2013 03:46:04 -0000

Everyone,

First, let me give a disclaimer. I have not bought indoor balsa or any other balsa by web or mail order for over two years. All of my current planes, including the F1D's, are built from wood that comes from the local hobby shop or other nearby sources.

I think that those of you who have bought wood from A2Z lately have, for the most part, obtained the wood as described. The IMS wood is what is left from Tim's purchasing Lew Gitlow's stock. The IMS wood is sold as graded by Lew Gitlow and one cannot blame Tim if there is a problem. The Peck Contest wood is from the source that Peck used before Peck was purchased by A2Z. That wood is just like buying contest quality balsa at a local hobby shop except that the density grades are in smaller ranges. Just like the wood at the hobby shop, the grains and quality are not exact or perfect. And, unlike the local wood, one does not get to sort through the bin. One gets the sheet or sheets at the top of A2Z's stack. That said, I have purchased the Peck wood from A2Z in the past and got the wood as described in density and grain, the c-grain showing some c-grain on the surface but not pure and a-grain showing some a-grain on the surface but, again, not pure. This is what I expected. No one should expect the Peck wood to be quality of the specialty indoor sheets.

So, I think that the criticism of A2Z is unwarranted. A2Z is a business and needs to make a profit to stay in business. Selling specialty indoor wood today, with the short supply of good balsa lumber and the small market, is tough. This is why there are but one or two suppliers of specialty indoor wood still around. I appreciate that A2Z sells indoor flying products and I think the products sold are as described. In fact, without A2Z indoor fliers would be very much worse off.
Received on Fri Mar 01 2013 - 19:46:08 CET