enrique iglesias Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 My name is Enrique Iglesias, I'm from Spain. I am a sport pilot, and building my own plane, France design. For various reasons I have now the possibility to produce plywood okume very fine thickness, 1.5 mm, 2.5 mm, 2 mm and more.... I would like to ask if among model builders is an interest in fine okume plywood, before starting to manufacture in quantity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 9 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 if the wood is anything like your songs then maybe not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Miller 4 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Phil Not very nice! The guy has only asked a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 of course that my wood is better than the songs of my cousin, of course, I will fly with my plywood..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanyak Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 It would be a good thing to know the prices just in case they are of interest. By the way Enrique I am from Spain too. Kind regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Welcome to the forum Enrique....always nice to see non UK members... I didn't know what Okume Plywood was but a quick Google tells me its very high grade plywood often used in boat & aircraft manufacture...... So is anyone interested...? I would say yes definitely but it depends on the price etc.....I doubt you'd be interested in shipping one square foot of 2mm plywood to me for my latest project so maybe you need a UK distributor. Perhaps the way forward is to approach some of the UK based kit manufacturers....DB Sport & Scale, PB Models, Chris Foss Designs maybe, Avicraft, SLEC perhaps. My own LMS runs BalsaMart & is a highly respected supplier of Balsa wood.....You might like to contact RCM&E magazine & arrange to send some samples over for review.....RCM&E have several columnists who build traditional models.....they could "test" your plywood.... I believe there are some people who (whisper it) build model boats as a hobby.....I would guess this may be a good outlet for your plywood too...... Good luck with your venture....maybe your efforts can save Spain from the ravages of the Euro.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Enrique If your product is even only slightly better than what we call "Liteply" you could be onto a winner (don't like it ),although I believe that Lite ply is actually of "composite construction" though. Myron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daithi O Buitigh Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Back (years ago) when I was flying control line, we always looked for 'marine ply' as it was far superior in strength than the equivalent 'standard' ply (as well as being lighter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I believe this is what we might know as Gaboon Ply which is a high quality African hardwood based ply and something I've heard of but never (knowingly) used. It's a marine ply, more flexible than birch ply but not very rot resistant so apparantly needs proper sealing all round. The plywood usually used in the UK is Birch Ply, Enrique, perhaps you could give us some info re. the benefits of Okume - Daithe's reply above indicates it could be very suitable for our applications? BTW Myron, I was rather surprised to see Lite Ply mentioned as a material for full size aircraft construction - but this was trademarked so perhaps "our" liteply is an inferior product? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanyak Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I think okume plywood in Spain is the same liteply in UK and therefore it is perfect for aeromodelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I googled "Okume Plywood" & got lots of hits...several seemed to indicate it was used in aircraft & boat building...This is a typical result. As Martin sez the "good" ply I use is resin bonded birch or marine ply & you can see the multiple layers...very light & stiff. The lite ply I use occasionally for very low stress applications has a smooth browny red outer layer & then an almost white inner layer....its kind of "OK" for light weight applications but I would never use it for firewalls or wing braces..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I hope not! In general, Liteply is no use for structural components and heavier/less veratile than balsa with a propensity to warping! (Posted just after Steve) Interesting - the liteply I've seen is quite light coloured - not at all red or brown. Edited By Martin Harris on 09/05/2012 15:08:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 From Wikipedia......here Come on Enrique....we're dying to know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Ah yes...a good piece of lite ply is one that doesn't warp on the way home......... Can be useful for lightly stressed formers if you get a flat bit!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 What we need to know is the weight per square foot for each thickness.Then we can compare with proper liteply.If it's a West African material how come it's being exported from Spain?All the normal ply importers will have bulk shipments from source and likely to be much cheaper, unless this is just offcuts or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 hi guys, thank you very much for the replies, sorry for my bad English ... Plywood is a tree okume African, light, density: 440kg/m3, birch 570kg/m3 easy to wordk, cut... resistant and can be made thin (few trees to make fine plywood, birch, okume, poplar ...) Okume is the name of the tree, also known by Gabon (country of africa with many trees okume) In France is well known and used for aircraft, Robin, Jodel .... plywood is ideal for aviation and nautical. the weight, for example 1 plywood complete 2500x1220mm and 1,5mm thickness, is about 1.100 grams (1.1 kg) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Your English is excellent Enrique...much better than my Spanish......"Si" & "no" & "muchas gracias" & "por favor" is about as far as I get......I have no idea what plywood is in Spanish... OK so it seems that your Okume Plywood is similar to what we know as lite-ply here in the UK. Could still be interesting though.....especially at the smaller sizes....my LMS sells liteply down to 3/32" or about 2.5mm so 2 & 1.5 might be interesting. How do you intend to sell it Enrique...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I cannot see how you can expect to compete with the major timber importers who bring timber into the country by the shipload.2mm Liteply is being sold retail at 1.44 pounds a square foot ( about 305mm by 305mm ) including VATor 33 pounds for a 2400x1200 sheet. That is about 28 pounds a sheet without VAT.It might be better to buy a laser cutter and turn it into kits!Edited By kc on 09/05/2012 18:04:38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 hello a question. what material is liteply?, is poplar wood?, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W-O Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Posted by enrique iglesias on 09/05/2012 20:40:32: hello a question. what material is liteply?, is poplar wood?, I think it depends where it has been made, or where the wood had been imported from, I'm fairly certain that one piece of light ply I had was made with Falcata in the middle. Ply seems to be very overpriced in the UK, possibly because I don't know where to buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 When I have the firsts plywood okume, I can send small samples, and yourselves compare the product. I like to have a small piece, a remnant of your liteply, can someone send me a small piece? 10cmx10cm enough.. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hi Steve. My local Hanson Timber stocks good quality 1.5mm Birch ply and can even supply down to 0.8mm. Downside is 1200 x 1200 sheets, but much cheaper than buying from shops. Unfortunately they don't do balsa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted June 4, 2012 Author Share Posted June 4, 2012 Hello again guys. I have already ready the first test of my okume plywood, I'd like to share some plywood for testing. Does anybody want to try?. Thanks. Enrique a. Iglesias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enrique iglesias Posted July 5, 2012 Author Share Posted July 5, 2012 Hello Kevin, Tom and the others builders.... Would you like to try my plywood?. Of course the shipping and cost is free. I would like to hear your opinions. I think you will like this material Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.