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Holliday Obrecht
02-01-2012, 08:56 PM
We are building a German designed ULF-1 micolift sailplane and have been doing weight comparisons between the metric size spruce indicated on the plans in whole mm and the nearest sizes available in inches here in the US. In most cases we must select sizes slightly larger in inches. This could produce a serious weight penalty for the finished aircraft. Does anyone know a source of metric sized spruce here in the US, or a company that will mill in mm??
Many thanks, Holliday Obrecht

David Darnell
02-02-2012, 09:56 AM
Just curious, what sizes does it call for?

I'm having a hard time remembering it, but think there's a Canadian company that custom cuts wood to size. Western Spruce or something along those lines.

I'd suspect though if you built with the bigger US sizes, the weight differential would probably not be that much- I'd suspect in the neighborhood of 5 lbs.

Holliday Obrecht
02-02-2012, 12:27 PM
David, typical sizes called for are mostly sitcks, e.g. 7 x 6, 6 x 5, 6 x 3 mm, etc.
Holliday

DanMBugsy
02-02-2012, 06:05 PM
My business uses Sitka Spruce for a special project. If you email me a cutlist, we can give you a quote.
Dan@valleywoodcraft.com

Dan Malone

steveinindy
02-02-2012, 06:24 PM
David, typical sizes called for are mostly sitcks, e.g. 7 x 6, 6 x 5, 6 x 3 mm, etc.
Holliday

Millimeters or centimeters?

braywood
02-03-2012, 12:11 PM
Most woodworking/cabinet maker type shops will have a parallel sander - may not be the name of it, but it is a large piece of kit that will sand, single, multiple, or very wide sheets of material to whatever thickness you need.
If you are concerned about the weight - and not the cost of turning that lovely Spruce into sawdust, I am sure you could have the imperial measurements sanded down to the metric size.

I agree with the other reply you got that the difference in weight will be small - an Excel spreadsheet with all the pieces listed will soon tell you the exact theo weight difference between the 2 mesurement systems.
Without a doubt - the metric system is a whole lot easier to use!!

Good luck, happy sanding!!

Mark B.

HCM
03-05-2012, 07:56 PM
I might be a little late to help but Wicks Aircraft will supply metric sizes of spruce. I get all my spruce from them cut to metric sizes to save on the sawdust in my shop.