Scientists have found a way to harden wood to make a knife that rivals steel

Post by exolymph » Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 12:34 AM UTC

philips wrote: post #77

varelse wrote: post #24

When I was a kid I used to launch Estes rockets. They came with mostly balsa wood fins that would frequently break on landing. The balsa wood also absorbed paint unless you hit it with a clear coat first. This for some reason gave me the idea of rubbing Elmer's glue on to it, letting it dry, then sanding it and then painting it. Not only did it paint easily but I never lost a single fin again. The closest I came to t…

Thanks for this tip! My daughter recently got into model rockets and it seemed to me that untreated balsa wood was unlikely to last more than a few launches.

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 12:42 AM UTC

SamBam wrote: post #130

whyenot wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also created hardened wooden nails and hammered them into wooden planks. That seems like a better example.

Kind of. It took nearly two minutes to drive that skinny main though three skinny boards. A metal brad of the same size would go through that would in 3, maybe 4 whacks. The way they were hitting it looked either like they had never hammered before, or that they were afraid of shattering the nail.

Post by tootie » Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 12:54 AM UTC

TomK32 wrote: post #63

"We use chemicals to partially remove lignin. And after the first step the wood becomes soft, flexible and somewhat squishy" "The compressed material showed very little tendency to bounce back to its original thickness." I love the soft and squishy part, wondering whether it could be pressed into a form to make a bicycle frame to get away from the complicated process of laying carbon layers or the heavy weight of ste…

Post by krick » Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 1:13 AM UTC

a1369209993 wrote: post #127

Kungfuturtle wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://youtu.be/Oadf4KNYz-I

Thanks! Channel seems to be http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg3qsVzHeUt5_cPpcRtoaJQ , FWIW.

Post by eightysixfour » Mon, Oct 25, 2021, 1:20 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #118

pivo wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading something similar for the pins in an MG (or Triumph? not sure anymore) manual transmission. In this case the suggestion was to use peanut butter to hold the pins in.

One trick I discovered myself. When working on the car, your hands get very greasy dirty. It's impossible to wash it all off, it just has to wear off after a couple days. The trick is to rub your hands with Vaseline Lotion beforehand. Then the car dirt will wash right off.