Even though I was careful, it happened. I was applying a wash on a piece of balsa, was very careful in blotting up, etc., but it still warped. What to do???? I wet the other side and placed it in one of the inexpensive 8" Exacto sky blue colored clamps and set aside for a few hours. It came out dry and stiff as, well, a board. Another Lesson Learned and again with a solution.
I've been priming and sealing the back side of those pieces and reinforcing them with basswood strips for bracing.....Keep in mind, you may still get warping with humidity changes over time.....
A lesson learned from wooden ship building is to heat it up with an iron. BUT I have never used an iron on such soft wood before. I would imagine a very low setting would work though. Mr X
I saw the first part of the thread title and your name. Had to see what it was. Man am I dissapointed. To avoid warping from moiture build plastic models. Works for me.
Hey! Consider yourself lucky. I don't abuse just anybody ya know. You can even ask Rrrr. She'll tell you I am very selective in my victims.
I used to build furniture. Even fine baltic 3/4-inch plywood (at least nine plies, sometimes 13 or 15) would warp if painted on one side. Balsa is for airplanes. You can get the same thicknesses in basswood, and probably cheaper. It cuts much cleaner, and is much stronger. Styrene also warps when painted on one side. I have not used balsa for 30 years. With a sharp knife, or a modest rotary sander with an 80-grit paper, I can shape birch, beech, oak, and maple almost as quickly as balsa. Sure, if I built a model airplane out of maple, it probably wouldn't fly--just taxi around on the ground until it hit a bump and nosed the propellor into the dirt.
