A vast majority of model builders cut their own balsawood strips. The main reason being that you have more control over the size, density, and quality of the wood. An added benefit is that it is less costly to cut your own strips. For example, a piece of 1/16 x 1/8 balsa 36" long may cost $1 a piece, and a 3" wide sheet of 1/16" x 36" long costs about $2. The 3" wide sheet can make 24 pieces of 1/16" x 1/8" stripwood at a cost of $.08 each.

There are basically two methods of cutting your own stripwood. The first method is to buy a balsa wood stripper. These devices use a razor blade or X-acto knife blade to cut the wood to a preset thickness as you slide the cutter along the length of the sheet of balsa.

If you are unable to find a wood stripper like this at your local hobby shop, then you can cut wood the 'old fashioned' way with a straightedge ruler and a single edge razor blade. To do this you simply lay a ruler down on the piece of wood, set the width of the cut, and then cut the strip off with the razor blade. This photo shows me using the wing rib template to set the width of the wing spar cut (1/8" wide). I would suggest buying a 24" long ruler, and cutting off the sheetwood to 22" or 23" long.

Here is the ruler preset to width and ready to cut.

Now cut down the edge of the ruler, using it as a guide, to cut your strip of wood. Make sure that the razor is vertical when cutting.

After you cut the wing spars, you can cut out the 1/16" sq. stab wood in a similar manner. You can use the thickness (1/16") of the wing spar as a guide to setting the depth of the cut.

Here are the cut strips.