Turn Those Razor-Planed Shavings into Balsa for Propellers

Written by Don Slusarczyk Free Flight Indoor Column As seen in the April 2016 issue of Model Aviation. For many years, as I razor-planed down my glider wings, I wondered if those shavings of wood could ever be reused, especially when they were from a nice piece of 1/4-inch, 4- to 5-pound C-grain balsa. Most of that great wood ended up as scrap in the garbage can. The curls of balsa were very tight and the wood was cracked, so it was not usable. This was something one simply accepted when making a glider. Throughout the years, I saw that some people were actually successful…