Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale)
Being a hardwood that can be cut with a craft knife has made balsa the ultimate wood of empowerment and placed it at the heart of millions of children’s play factories. Balsa wood evokes many material memories, with its powdery white, lightweight warm surface which can be scored with a fingernail. It is recognized as the best material to work with simple tools, and has an informality and accessibility compared to some of the more noble woods such oak.
It is easy to forget that the physical properties and appearance of wood are dictated by the climatic conditions in those parts of the world in which it is grown. This richness of variation in growing environments gives it something like the qualities we associate with ...
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