Hi David

I'm having a hard time picturing what you are describing but do you know how many psi you are talking about in compression?  If you know that you can go to Diab-Barracuda to check the compressive strength of the cores for Divinycell.  If it's a concern, balsa will give you a pretty awesome amount of compressive strength and modulus.  You can also taylor the compressive strength  by varing the density of the balsa.  For very high loads, under bolted on fittings for example, I've switched from the common denities like 8 lb/ cu. ft. to 12 lbs.  For low loads, I've used 4-5 lb density in balsa.  This has a higher compressive strength than foam and outwardly is lighter in density but can sometimes end up weighing more due to resin absorbtion.  This can be largely mitigated by using AL600 coated balsa from Baltec which precoats the balsa to limit resin absorbtion.  Be aware however that if you sand the balsa, you will need to recoat the balsa with a "hot coat" to limit resin absorbtion later which can starve the interface and lead to poor adhesion.

For really high load stuff you can use end grain cedar (24 lb/cu ft) or fir (33 lb/cu ft) for core.  End grain will withstand compression MUCH better than grain running lengthwise since wood is like unidirectional composite.  It is afterall a natural composite (cellulose reinforced lignin).

Dan Newland

Super ES