Posted on 10/22/2021 12:08:18 PM PDT by Red Badger
A steak knife made from a new form of hard wood was able to slice through meat with easeBo Chen VIEW 1 IMAGES --------------------------------------------------------------------------
By experimenting with alternative methods of wood processing, scientists have come up with a new hardened form of the natural material that can be fashioned into sharp knives and sturdy nails. The team reports the resulting knives are nearly three times sharper than a standard dinner table knife, and can even be thrown into the dishwasher after use.
This hardy new form of wood is the handiwork of scientists at the University of Maryland, who set out to supercharge the material's natural strength, which lies in the cellulose packed inside. Cellulose is the primary component of wood, accounting for 40 to 50 percent of the material, and itself has a higher strength-to-density ratio than many engineered materials, including ceramics, metals and polymers.
But the remainder of wood, made up of the binding materials hemicellulose and lignin, dilutes its overall strength and limits its applications. The authors of the study set out remove these weaker parts of the wood while preserving the cellulose structures.
“It’s a two-step process,” says senior author Teng Li. “In the first step, we partially delignify wood. Typically, wood is very rigid, but after removal of the lignin, it becomes soft, flexible, and somewhat squishy. In the second step, we do a hot press by applying pressure and heat to the chemically processed wood to densify and remove the water.”
The hardened wood was then carved into a knife and coated in mineral oil, which counters the natural tendency of cellulose to absorb water, extending the lifespan of the material, preserving the blade's sharpness and making it dishwasher safe. According to the team, the hard wood knife is almost three times sharper than a stainless steel dinner table knife and is 23 times times harder than natural wood. It was used to cut through a medium-well done steak with ease.
“The strength of a piece of material is very sensitive to the size and density of defects, like voids, channels, or pits,” says Li. “The two-step process we are using to process the natural wood significantly reduces or removes the defects in natural wood, so those channels to transport water or other nutrients in the tree are almost gone.”
Separately, the team used its new hard wood to produce nails, which were not only rust-resistant but just as sharp as regular steel nails. The scientists demonstrated this by using their wooden nails to hammer together three wooden boards, which they did without inflicting any damage on the nails.
The scientists hope this new form of wood can come to offer an eco-friendly alternative to steel and ceramics, which need to be forged in furnaces at extreme temperatures. More research will be needed to ascertain exactly how energy efficient the production process is, but the scientists are optimistic about the ultra-hard wood's potential.
“In our kitchen, we have many wood pieces that we use for a very long time, like a cutting board, chopsticks, or a rolling pin,” says Li. “These knives, too, can be used many times if you resurface them, sharpen them, and perform the same regular upkeep.”
The research was published in the journal Matter.
Source: Cell Press via EurekAlert
Better stock up now.
Before the.. “IT’S INVISABLE ON AN AIRPORT/ COURT ROOM SCANER” crowd bans it.
when you limit the walnut bowls of law abiding citizens, only criminals will have walnut bowls.
The problem is you need a saw made of the same wood as the knife.
“In the first step, we partially delignify wood. Typically, wood is very rigid, but after removal of the lignin, it becomes soft, flexible, and somewhat squishy. In the second step, we do a hot press by applying pressure and heat to the chemically processed wood to densify and remove the water.”
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Sounds like how you make traditional linoleum.
My first thought also. Boys will be making them in shop.
Like the infamous Glock smears when the Glock came out…’only purpose is as a weapon of terror, can’t be detected by metal detector’…
[[The scientists hope this new form of wood can come to offer an eco-friendly alternative to steel and ceramics,]]
Stripcutting forests is now in vogue apparently?
Does it come from the Ginsu tree?
Coming soon to a jihadi airline passenger near all of us?
Lorena Bobbitt said to be interested-
Pure gold dissolved in cyanic acid is used to delignify the wood. 🤪
If you had a couple, eventually you would have a pair of chopsticks. Recycle! /s
“Is it dishwasher safe?”
Oops.
From the article: “...and can even be thrown into the dishwasher after use.”
Yeah, I almost asked that immediately but decided to read the article to see if it addressed it. It didn’t.
It did say it’s harder than regular wood, but it didn’t say how hard it is compared to steel, or even aluminum or copper.
It may only be good for a steak or two... i.e. good for an interesting news story or conversation piece in your dining room, but not “real world” practical.
A solution to a non-problem. Who among us has ever agonized over cutting a steak?
It should be easy to smuggle onto a plane.
Well. Better than wooden penises, ashtrays, or spoon holders.
It may not hold an edge for long, but it just needs to stay sharp for about half the flight.
Clickbait.
The headline says this wood knife is three times sharper than a steel knife.
Pretty impressive, until you learn the actual comparison is with a standard dinner table knife. You know - the ones that aren’t sharp at all.
I bet it’s twenty times sharper than a steel ball-bearing.
The oil is to stop the water penetration, so...maybe?
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