[1] The tree is famous for its wide usage in woodworking, due to its softness and its high strength compared to its low density.

It is also used in the manufacturing of wooden crankbaits for fishing, makeshift pens for calligraphy, composites, surfboards, boats, "breakaway" props for theatre and television, and even in the floor pans of the Chevrolet Corvette.

Balsa wood is also popular in arts such as whittling, and in the making of baroque-style picture frames due to its ease of shaping.

However, it is also valued as a component of full-sized light wooden aeroplanes, most notably the World War II de Havilland Mosquito.

For example, the blades of wind turbines are commonly constructed of many balsa plywood cores and internal spars covered with resin infused cloth on both sides.

In table tennis rackets, a balsa layer is typically sandwiched between two pieces of thin plywood made from other species of wood.

More than 90% of the world's Balsa wood volume is prepared into end grain panels for the composites industry, mostly used as structural cores in the wind turbine blades.

Balsa is also used in the manufacture of "breakaway" wooden props such as tables and chairs that are designed to be broken as part of theatre, movie, and television productions.

The fifth and sixth generations of the Chevrolet Corvette had floor pans composed of balsa sandwiched between sheets of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic.

[9] Norwegian scientist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, convinced that early contact between the peoples of South America and Polynesia was possible, built the raft Kon Tiki from balsa logs, and upon it his crew and he sailed the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Polynesian Tuamotu Archipelago in 1947.

However, the Kon Tiki logs were not seasoned and owed much of their (rather slight) buoyancy to the fact that their sap was of lower density than sea water.

In parts of Africa and south America the leaves of the balsa tree are used to enhance the traditional panning method of extracting gold from ore.