Quote:
Originally Posted by NyCityKId
I still stand by my opinion that metal is a better structural material than wood. A well designed metal chassis is lighter and than a wooden chasis of the same strength.  The chassis does look very nice though  |
For the same strength you will be extremely hard pressed to design a metal chassis with the same weight as wood. Baltic birch plywood is approximately 4 times less dense than aluminum. Another neat feature of the plywood chassis is the ability to absorb impact without permanently deforming, something that aluminum does not fare too well with. Using interlocking tabs and glues effectively creates one giant composite frame without the need for any fasteners saving even more weight over aluminum.
Ultimately it is up to the team to decide what materials to use but it would be extremely unwise to make blanket statements about a material without fully understanding it's properties.