davedoublem
Established Member
I require a craft wood of between 0.8mm-1mm for an ongoing craft project. I guessed being so thin the only suitable option would be balsa, which I'd never worked with before.
I went to a local craft shop and purchased a piece of what I thought was balsa and was actually very impressed with the sturdyness since it was only 0.8mm. It cut really well with perfectly straight cuts... No jagged edges etc.
To cut a long story short, I need to order multiple pieces regularly so had a good look online at various suppliers and went with a company that seemed to have good reviews for their balsa from other crafters. The balsa wood arrived and is so smooth yet seems very different to the wood I used. If I cut across the grain it doesn't give a fine smooth cut like the other did. Also if I press down heavily onto the wood it leaves indentation marks. The other wood didn't do this.
After a bit of research I think I've ordered basswood from the other craft shop but they don't have much stock so can't rely on them and I can't find any timber suppliers in UK that offer it in 1mm sheets, only independant shops reselling cut pieces.
The problem with some resellers of this particular wood (going on feedback) is that there seems to be some confusion with basswood and balsa. Lots of reviews on amazon for example from people saying they've bought balsa but it's definitely not balsa wood and some thinking they are buying basswood yet receive balsa instead. I can't afford to make another mistake so just wondered if I can buy basswood from any reputable suppliers in the UK.
I went to a local craft shop and purchased a piece of what I thought was balsa and was actually very impressed with the sturdyness since it was only 0.8mm. It cut really well with perfectly straight cuts... No jagged edges etc.
To cut a long story short, I need to order multiple pieces regularly so had a good look online at various suppliers and went with a company that seemed to have good reviews for their balsa from other crafters. The balsa wood arrived and is so smooth yet seems very different to the wood I used. If I cut across the grain it doesn't give a fine smooth cut like the other did. Also if I press down heavily onto the wood it leaves indentation marks. The other wood didn't do this.
After a bit of research I think I've ordered basswood from the other craft shop but they don't have much stock so can't rely on them and I can't find any timber suppliers in UK that offer it in 1mm sheets, only independant shops reselling cut pieces.
The problem with some resellers of this particular wood (going on feedback) is that there seems to be some confusion with basswood and balsa. Lots of reviews on amazon for example from people saying they've bought balsa but it's definitely not balsa wood and some thinking they are buying basswood yet receive balsa instead. I can't afford to make another mistake so just wondered if I can buy basswood from any reputable suppliers in the UK.
