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-   -   Lonestar Balsa is back (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=4648)

tbzep 02-07-2009 07:51 PM

Lonestar Balsa is back
 
George Gassaway posted on the Old Rockets list that Lonestar is back and I thought some of you might want to know. I know they were one of the main sources of balsa for many modelers, both R/C and Rocketry, and probably some vendors too.

http://www.lonestar-balsa.com

Doug Sams 02-07-2009 09:17 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
George Gassaway posted on the Old Rockets list that Lonestar is back and I thought some of you might want to know. I know they were one of the main sources of balsa for many modelers, both R/C and Rocketry, and probably some vendors too.

http://www.lonestar-balsa.com
That's great news. Talking to Don Magness, it was questionable whether they were gonna reopen. In the Metroplex here, we used to make a run down to their old place once a year or so and stock up. I look forward to doing that again :D

Dou

.

CPMcGraw 02-07-2009 10:32 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Sams
That's great news. Talking to Don Magness, it was questionable whether they were gonna reopen. In the Metroplex here, we used to make a run down to their old place once a year or so and stock up. I look forward to doing that again :D

Dou

.


I noticed in the address he's relocated, instead of rebuilding:

LONE STAR BALSA
12058 S. Profit Row
Forney, TX 75126

He had been in Lancaster...

Doug Sams 02-08-2009 09:37 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by CPMcGraw
I noticed in the address he's relocated, instead of rebuilding:

LONE STAR BALSA
12058 S. Profit Row
Forney, TX 75126

He had been in Lancaster...

Yeah, I saw that. Either way, it's a bit of a haul across town. Lancaster is 30-45 minutes away on the south side of Dallas, and Forney is due east, about the same length drive (from Plano).

But it's worth it once a year to see all that balsa and all their other stuff. It charges me up a bit :)

...

Not sure what caused the fire, but I hope they have better protection at the new place. At the old one, the balsa dust in the air - with no machines in operation - was pretty bad. In addition to grain elevator explosions crossing my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't potentially harmful to be breathing that stuff over a long term. In just a short time in their shop/warehouse picking out some balsa, I found the dust noticeably irritating.

Doug

.

tbzep 02-08-2009 10:11 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug Sams
Not sure what caused the fire, but I hope they have better protection at the new place. At the old one, the balsa dust in the air - with no machines in operation - was pretty bad. In addition to grain elevator explosions crossing my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't potentially harmful to be breathing that stuff over a long term. In just a short time in their shop/warehouse picking out some balsa, I found the dust noticeably irritating.



Heck, I even find sanding balsa irritating. :p

Any type of dust in the right proportion with air is just waiting for an explosion. It makes me wonder if they could employ a ventilation system to help with the dust. There's no way to completely eliminate it, but I think a significant chunk could be bitten off.

Doug Sams 02-08-2009 10:21 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
It makes me wonder if they could employ a ventilation system to help with the dust.
Oh, for sure. I can't remember the details - it's been a long time - but I called on a customer years ago who made monitoring systems for grain elevators. These were tied into the air handler systems to maintain safe dust levels.

With today's tech, they can monitor just about anything. The chicken farmers have equipment to monitor and control the urea/ammonia levels in the air. Of course, if you've ever been in a chicken house, you'll know why :)

Doug

.

o1d_dude 02-08-2009 11:13 AM

Pretty much anyone who works with balsa can become sensitized to the dust.

After 50 years of balsa butchery, I do all my sanding out of doors these days and I still wear a dust mask.

Shreadvector 02-09-2009 09:00 AM

Balsa supply is tight - in the past this has been the result of electrical windmill construction (cores of blades) and military pallet construction (cores of pallets with aluminum skins and aluminum extrusion edges).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/463L_master_pallet

Nice link to AAR in there. I worked with them and visted a few times, but I never asked them if they had surplus balsa sales. If you're in Cadillac MI, you might want to find out if they do.


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