Posted on 02/18/2018 11:28:50 PM PST by LibWhacker
I have become more of a nerd in my old age and one of the things I try to follow online is new technologies. It is difficult to decipher the realistic vs fantastical and we also do not hear of many of the best ideas because lots of folks are trying to patent the next big thing.
Materials science will make our world much better in the future as will other technology. One of the most unique ideas that came to mind was combining this technology with the vacuum insulated glass that is emerging. Think about the energy efficiency rating you would achieve with these materials in a structure!
If it can be produced for less than the expensive plastic decking that is allegedly made from recycled materials, it could be a real winner.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-higgins-boat-wood-steel-and-purpose
“Higgins foresaw and prepared for the coming war better than most. As a mark of his prescience, he bought the entire 1939 production of Philippine mahogany and stored it at personal expense, at his boatyard. He knew it would be desperately needed soon, and it was. One of his first wartime contracts was to build PT boats, all of which required mahogany as the primary deck material.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonite
Masonite is a type of hardboard made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood fibres in a process patented by William H. Mason.[2
Masonite was patented in 1924 in Laurel, Mississippi,[6] by William H. Mason, who was a friend and protégé of inventor Thomas Edison.[7]
Masonite is formed using the Mason method,[10] in which wood chips are disintegrated by saturating them with 100-pound-per-square-inch (690 kPa) steam, then increasing the steam or air pressure to 400 pounds per square inch (2,800 kPa) and suddenly releasing them through an orifice to atmospheric pressure. Forming the fibers into boards on a screen, the boards are then pressed and heated to form the finished product with a smooth burnished finish. (Later a dry process with two burnished surfaces was also used.) The original lignin in the wood serves to bond the fibers without any added adhesive. The long fibers give Masonite a high bending strength, tensile strength, density, and stability. Unlike other composite wood panels, no formaldehyde-based resins are used to bind the fibers in Masonite.
Thanks for the information. Interesting use of the byproduct.
*** “The material does not protect quite as well as a Kevlar sheet of the same thickness—but it only costs about 5 percent as much, he notes” ***
A Freeper last week mentioned/remembered an expensive Motorcycle Helmet advertisement ... “If you have a $10 head, buy a $10.00 helmet”
70-story wood skyscraper being built in Tokyo
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/feb/16/plyscraper-city-tokyo-tower-wood-w350
Thanks, that perfectly answers the question. BTW, I’ve been to the WWII museum in New Orleans and I loved it.
The item I was happiest to see was the authentic Enigma machine from the German sub; but then I did crypto in the military... Only a trip to Benchley Park would be cooler!
Last year, they had a pristine example of an 88 on display.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.8_cm_Flak_18/36/37/41#PaK_43_and_KwK_43
The new display that most impressed me was Col. Tibbets’ wristwatch that he wore on 8/6/45.
This means no more particle board furniture.
You know the kind that is very heavy and breaks easily.
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