Hello all,

I just got some 8' balsa strips to make a surfboard, and it's amazing how light this stuff is. a 4"x4"x8' bundle of the stuff weighs just a couple of pounds and cost $139 without shipping. I am just wondering if anyone has integrated it into any kayak designs. (pics please) I was surprised at how relatively cheap it was. I was also happy to get 8' lengths and could have gotten 12' lengths if not for shipping constraints. Here's another cool thing- it's so light that you can ship it quite cheaply if you can come in under the radar of "dimensional weight." (Industry standard is LxWxH divided by 133, and then use the higher of either the actual weight, or the dimensional weight.) The cardboard box and bubble wrap actually weighed more than the balsa!

As a side note, here's a great problem to have- the shortest lengths of mahogany I can get on island is 12 feet up to 16 feet, and they sell it in 1", 2", and 3" thicknesses up to 12" wide. Maybe I can't get cedar, but at least I can get good mahogany! To rub it in, I have checked this stuff out pretty good and I am quite certain it is Cuban Mahogany.

Okay, so I was bragging but you guys can go to the local hardware and get clear spruce and cedar which for kayak building kinda trumps my mahogany. I am, however, going to make the most beautiful mahogany workbench ya ever saw- check out the latest special annual edition of Fine Woodworking Magazine. It's all about shops, tools, workbenches, and jigs- oh my. They have a great plan for a workbench. Just beware of the pics on the back of some lucky guy's timber-framed workshop- drool, drool.