Balsa wood is a type of wood that has a uniqueness that is not owned by other types of wood. Balsa wood is a type of wood produced by a tree that grows in many tropical forests. Balsa wood-producing trees are known by the name of balsa trees. Balsa tree originated from humid forests in Central and South America. Apart from the two regions, the balsa tree is also widely spread in tropical forests in many countries one of which is the famous tropical forests in Indonesia. Balsa trees belonging to species of trees that have a very fast growth rate. In a period of less than 1 year, balsa tree can reach heights of up to 4 meters. And to get good quality wood, logging a good period for balsa tree is when the trees have been aged about 10 years.
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| Balsa Wood |
Balsa wood is a type of wood that have the property that is mild, soft, and supple. Balsa wood has a specific gravity of 0.28 maximum and minimum density reached 0.15. The colour of balsa wood is grayish white. Balsa wood is a type of wood that is very easy to do, like cut, cut and shaped, so the balsa wood is often used as an option in the manufacture of various tools such as the surfboard, children's toys, sports equipment, art carvings and sculptures, canoe, float and aeromodeling.
Although balsa wood is a mild kind of wood, but balsa wood has advantages in flexibility and strength levels are good. In addition, the balsa wood also has advantages not possessed by other types of wood, which can absorb shocks and vibrations very well. Balsa wood is not easily broken or collapsed when occur a shock. Because of these advantages, balsa wood used to manufacture building frame, especially in countries that often earthquake such as Japan. The use of balsa wood for manufacture frame buildings is very safe because it is not easily broken or collapsed. In addition, the balsa wood has the ability to absorb vibration and shock. Although the building of balsa wood that collapsed because the earthquake which is very powerful, balsa wood is still more secure than other materials because balsa wood has a very mild weight.
But in some countries, the use of balsa wood for frame buildings with lightweight materials are rarely. This is not because of quality problems or the scarcity of wood, but because so little public knowledge about the balsa wood. In fact, besides having a uniqueness that is not owned by other types of wood, wood that suitable for use as a frame buildings in this disaster-prone areas is also have very cheap prices. This is another advantage of balsa wood besides resistant to vibration such as earthquake.
The Tropical Wood
