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

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

#151

Post by themodelplumber »

User23 wrote: post #150
themodelplumber wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From this passionate reply it sounds like your feelings have been hurt, 100%. But is it really fair to expect me to read a 20 page pdf on the strength of some rhetorical hand-wave? You could just say it: The unknown makes you uncomfortable. Do you think everything that was invented was just a cheap copy of what we had in the past? The logic here is underwhelming. The strange emotion is also unimpressive.

See how the bullshitter recoils on being named and doubles down with more bullshit.

Anger and name calling, not returning to the topic as invited. Got it, you've written yourself a covert contract in which it's OK to be unfair, so I'm done here. And please stop letting PDFs do your thinking for you.

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

#152

Post by jdnier »

I'd like to see how this material behaves when formed into kitchen utensils like wooden spatulas and spoons rather than a knife. Would the density be more like metal (heavy)? Maybe it would scratch a nonstick surface like a metal utensil. But if I could have my wooden utensils in a form that wouldn't wear down or fall apart eventually from water and heat exposure, that would be great.

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

#153

Post by wrycoder »

robocat wrote: post #122
WalterBright wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Isn’t barrier cream for mechanics designed for that use?

Liquid Glove

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

#154

Post by kragen »

jdnier wrote: post #152

I'd like to see how this material behaves when formed into kitchen utensils like wooden spatulas and spoons rather than a knife. Would the density be more like metal (heavy)? Maybe it would scratch a nonstick surface like a metal utensil. But if I could have my wooden utensils in a form that wouldn't wear down or fall apart eventually from water and heat exposure, that would be great.

No, the density of cellulose is about the same as the density of other plastics, about 1-1.5 g/cc. For kitchen use, it does have the advantage over many other plastics that it's a thermoset; like teflon or phenolic, it won't melt, and unlike phenolic, it won't outgas toxic gases at ordinary temperatures (though who knows about the side products of the lignin-removal reaction). However, it is fairly hygroscopic, so it might not hold up as well as other plastics to water exposure, and especially to heat exposure while humid.

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

#155

Post by kragen »

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…

Yeah, sandwich panels are so strong it's almost supernatural.

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

#156

Post by Razengan »

danarmak wrote: post #94
agumonkey wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just reminds me that paper moved fast enough can probably already cut meat

I got a papercut and I'm made out of meat!

Obligatory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They're_Made_Out_of_Meat

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

#158

Post by robbedpeter »

WalterBright wrote: post #149

I'm curious about its application to light airplanes. The article also says it won't rust like iron, but didn't say it wouldn't rot!

It's likely to be very resistant to fungi, without all the convenient gaps and holes. Treating with borax or other antifungal chemicals would be easy, but that's a problem that would kill the structural part of a house whether or not the nails are wood.

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

#159

Post by Ekaros »

convolvatron wrote: post #88
themodelplumber wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is conflating people who want or need to use steel with those who don't. Look at the JunkFoodTasterDotCom YouTube channel for example. He always cuts stuff. He uses a plastic knife. He's not an engineer. That is more to my point: Steel isn't needed in a surprising number of knife use cases. I'm not surprised that an engineer wants to speak on behalf of steel and its properties. But that probably won't stop produ…

what? steel works well. its really cheap - both in economic and physical terms. it recycles perfectly, and if you do leave it in the ground on the water, its not going to harm anything. lasts a really long time, more with care. seems like a really great design fit. Maybe there are better opportunities elsewhere?

Also I would argue that good design and modern quality stainless steel last forever in such things as cutlery. And forever here is decades. Probably centuries if stored even somewhat sensibly avoiding worst possible conditions. Not to forget how easy and resilient as material it is to clean.

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

#160

Post by saghm »

Kungfuturtle wrote: post #121
a1369209993 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Meanwhile there's a great youtube channel where a guy makes razor sharp chef's knives out of random fragile materials like jello. Do you have a link? Search isn't producing anything useful for me. (Particularly to the jello video, but I can't find the channel either.)

https://youtu.be/Oadf4KNYz-I

Wow, I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen to the knife at the end, but it certainly wasn't getting turned back into jello and eaten!
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