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Crushed wood is stronger than steel

nature.com

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Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#161

Post by dredmorbius »

Merad wrote: post #87
bpyne wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry to go on a tangent, but your comment reminded me of a book I read about the Chinese culinary culture pre-revolution. Chinese chefs had, and may still have, wooden cutting boards that were conditioned somehow such that they were as hard as stone. (There was also an implication that they resisted bacteria unlike normal wood boards when not scoured properly.) These boards were passed down from generation to genera…

Bamboo cutting boards are often advertised as having anti-microbial properties. No clue if there's any scientific backing to the claim, though.

My experience with bamboo is that it's far more vulnerable to mildew than similarly-utilised wood items.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#162

Post by scentoni »

noir_lord wrote: post #151
jacquesm wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, engineered wood is a mainstay of construction. But all of those processes were and are set up to be able to process a large volume in a relatively short time and leave very little to no waste, and what waste there is is sold off as fuel. Plywood - especially the higher grades - is amazing stuff. I visited a plywood factory in Ontario and it really opened my eyes to how clever and precise the manufacturing of var…

It is, the WWII Mosquito Fighter-Bomber was made from high grade ply and it flew faster than contemporary aluminium fighters, was incredibly durable (except for some de-lamination problems in hot humid far-east environs) and was actually stunningly beautiful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#163

Post by disantlor »

nugi wrote: post #159
ZenoArrow wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I've seen, it's become more popular recently (last 10 years).

Its a technique older than guitars, not recent at all. Maybe you just took notice?

well at the very least the technique has been packaged/marketed as “torrefied wood”, and i think that’s what is being referenced here

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#164

Post by jacquesm »

milesvp wrote: post #154
jacquesm wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, engineered wood is a mainstay of construction. But all of those processes were and are set up to be able to process a large volume in a relatively short time and leave very little to no waste, and what waste there is is sold off as fuel. Plywood - especially the higher grades - is amazing stuff. I visited a plywood factory in Ontario and it really opened my eyes to how clever and precise the manufacturing of var…

I too was surprised to find out just how much variety and quality of plywood there is. I always thought it was a relatively cheap, kind of crappy alternative to good lumber. But since I've started following hobby laser cutting, I've been finding out that good plywood really makes a difference if you want good results.

I've had really good experiences with birch based plywood of the better grades and for heavier applications a grade that is used in construction to make the forms for concrete casting.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#165

Post by Yetanfou »

If the wood ends up strongest with 45% of the lignin removed I'd try to engineer a species with a lower lignin content to begin with. So-called 'weeping' varieties (Weeping Willow etc.) get their specific hanging shape from a later onset of cell wall hardening due to delayed lignin deposition so those might be a good start.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#166

Post by Doxin »

brudgers wrote: post #136
aidenn0 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plywood is the best combination of strength, weathering resistance, and workability of any material I've yet used. MDF is way cheaper, but it is so much weaker pound-for-pound[1]. 1: One carpenter I talked to complained that MDF won't hold screws, and apparently this is a common complaint, but if you drill properly sized pilot holes and use sheetmetal screws it's pull-out strength is fine, particularly since you need…

The primary advantage of MDF is dimensional stability. Dimensional stability is highly desirable for surfaces receiving veneers or high pressure ("plastic") laminate finishes. It's not really intended for structural applications, but for furniture and cabinetry it can be a reasonable option.

Another advantage MDF has is that it's heavy. Granted for most things you'd rather have light, but for stuff like speaker cabinets and sound deadening you want heavy.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#167

Post by baud147258 »

djrogers wrote: post #122
baud147258 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the wood is load-bearing, once it has reached a sufficient degradation level, it'll collapse just as well as any steel beam. And since steel is usually embedded in concrete, it'll be protected for some time, increasing the time before it reaches a critical temperature and collapse. Still I thank you for your answer, it explained what I did not understand in your comment.

I think your assumption that steel is usually embedded in concrete is incorrect. It can be, but it's also often not. Have you never seen steel beam construction with exposed beams? It's not at all uncommon...

Where I live, most (nearly all) are reinforced concrete. I don't think I've seen a an office building or flat with exposed beams. Of course, the usual construction methods can be different from place to place.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#168

Post by JorgeGT »

noir_lord wrote: post #151
jacquesm wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, engineered wood is a mainstay of construction. But all of those processes were and are set up to be able to process a large volume in a relatively short time and leave very little to no waste, and what waste there is is sold off as fuel. Plywood - especially the higher grades - is amazing stuff. I visited a plywood factory in Ontario and it really opened my eyes to how clever and precise the manufacturing of var…

It is, the WWII Mosquito Fighter-Bomber was made from high grade ply and it flew faster than contemporary aluminium fighters, was incredibly durable (except for some de-lamination problems in hot humid far-east environs) and was actually stunningly beautiful.

The earlier de Havilland Comet was also incredibly beautiful and made by innovative woodworking techniques: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_DH.88_Comet?oldfo..., one of my favorite planes ever.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#169

Post by washadjeffmad »

ivanhoe wrote: post #101
tbirrell wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of a cutting board is to protect the things underneath it that are not as hard as stone.

Then you could just use a metal plate or glass, but we use the wood in order to protect the blade of the knife also. You'd have to re-sharp the chef knifes every few minutes if they were used on the surface harder than the blade.

You should, and it's called steeling.

There's a foil edge on very sharp knives that will wrinkle and fold after use on anything, even tomatoes, making the knife feel dull. It's not, and it doesn't require removing metal as with grinding or sharpening, but you can steel to realign that edge or strop to hone it depending on the blade and angle. Even if you don't work with blades often, you've probably seen this depicted in media.

It really doesn't matter what the cutting surface is to the knife if you have great technique. Since I don't always, I use thin, flexible plastic barriers. I would never recommend wood outside of having no other choices or using it as part of presentation, mainly because of cross contamination and difficulty in sanitizing if you cook sous vide or serve raw often.

Re: Crushed wood is stronger than steel

#170

Post by Zardoz84 »

Doxin wrote: post #166
brudgers wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The primary advantage of MDF is dimensional stability. Dimensional stability is highly desirable for surfaces receiving veneers or high pressure ("plastic") laminate finishes. It's not really intended for structural applications, but for furniture and cabinetry it can be a reasonable option.

Another advantage MDF has is that it's heavy . Granted for most things you'd rather have light, but for stuff like speaker cabinets and sound deadening you want heavy.

Also, MDF makes a bad material for speaker cabinets. A good speaker cabinet not only is heavy, it have a really good characterized sound qualities that MDF, plastic or cheap plywood can't give. Because that are expensive!
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