Scientist invent "Liquid Wood"

[Paul Snowden]

No, they haven’t made a form of Viagra you apply directly to forehead. Some German scientists have made Arboform, a renewable plastic that can be cast by machines, but acts exactly like wood.
It uses an element of wood known as lignin, which is found in every board and plank around the world. It’s also a byproduct of the paper-making process, with 130 million pounds of it being burned each year instead of being put to use. Throw in some natural fibers, some flax, and some resin, and you’ve got a plastic that can be formed and cast, but it rots like wood and doesn’t require any trees to be cut down.
http://cdn.gs.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/arboform-300x264.jpg


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Can't wait to pour myself a new dresser :)

[Martin Shupe]

Hmmm...

I wonder how thin you can make it?

Can it be blown into milk jugs?

Soda bottles?

I think it's great, just think somes uses might still require plastic.

As a former forester, I like stuff made from wood!

[Danny Hamsley]

It uses an element of wood known as lignin, which is found in every board and plank around the world. It’s also a byproduct of the paper-making process, with 130 million pounds of it being burned each year instead of being put to use.

Actually, lignin is a by-product from pulping wood that is burned in Recovery boilers at the mills to generate all the steam and electricity that is needed by the mill. It is an extremely important energy source, and without it, the pulping process would not be economical.

[george wilson]

Looks like a burl,from what I can see. I wonder how heavy and dense it is,or is it light weight and unsubstantial?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It's just a plot to expand a market and sell a bunch of molding equipment. Call me cynical!:rolleyes:

[Vince Shriver]

You're cynical, Ken.

[Drew Sanderson]

Great info, and thanks for sharing.

[Hugh Jardon]

Throw in some natural fibers, some flax, and some resin, and you’ve got a plastic that can be formed and cast, but it rots like wood and doesn’t require any more trees to be cut down.


Fixed it for you :)

[Tom Welch]

That's what they said about partical board and MDF. Question is, is this stuff any good, or another substandard wood substute. I guess we will have to change the name from wood working to plastic working? What temp will it melt. Will I have to buy plastic glue, instead of wood glue? Is the dust toxic when machining the stuff? Will the finished project look like one of those fake wood plastic dash boards? The list goes on...........
No thanks, I think I'll stick to wood.

[george wilson]

What glue do you use to stick yourself to wood?

[Derby Matthews]

Cyanoacrylate


- it works EVERY time - in a jiffy! :D

[Alan Schwabacher]

As mentioned, Arboform is not wood, it's a plastic that's made from wood byproducts of paper manufacture. Plastics can be made from lots of feedstocks. Oil is preferred mostly because it's so cheap. Shoot, we burn the stuff.

Some years ago the molecular machinery to make a useful plastic was cloned into some grasses. All you needed to do was dry the grass clippings, dump them into an extruder, and you could injection mold cellulose-reinforced plastic parts. It seemed a simple and biodegradable approach to plastics. Why didn't it go anywhere? It was too expensive! Oil is still cheap compared to almost anything else. And perhaps it ran up against the European bias against genetically engineered things, as it was Swiss.

[Steven Green]

I wonder if you could pour your own handles for socket style chisels?

[johnny means]

I what way does Arboform "act exactly like wood" As far as I can tell, every inanimate objects acts exactly like wood.:confused:

[john bateman]

"but it rots like wood"

They should have left that part out.

[Tom Welch]

George, :rolleyes: Titebond of course. You should have known, I only use natural manmade chemicals. :D

[Mike OMelia]

"but it rots like wood"

They should have left that part out.

I don't think so... perhaps "biodegrades" would have been a better term. Point being, a plastic water bottle made of the stuff won't be in the landfill 100,000 years from now. Its a good thing.

Mike

[Myk Rian]

That's what they said about partical board and MDF. Question is, is this stuff any good, or another substandard wood substute.
Coming to your neighborhood Ikea store soon.

[David Helm]

As mentioned, Arboform is not wood, it's a plastic that's made from wood byproducts of paper manufacture. Plastics can be made from lots of feedstocks. Oil is preferred mostly because it's so cheap. Shoot, we burn the stuff.

Some years ago the molecular machinery to make a useful plastic was cloned into some grasses. All you needed to do was dry the grass clippings, dump them into an extruder, and you could injection mold cellulose-reinforced plastic parts. It seemed a simple and biodegradable approach to plastics. Why didn't it go anywhere? It was too expensive! Oil is still cheap compared to almost anything else. And perhaps it ran up against the European bias against genetically engineered things, as it was Swiss.

Plastics were originally made from casein (milk) a very cheap product. They went to oil because of the power of the oil companies and their lobbies. Plastics don't need to be made from oil, and paper doesn't need to be made from wood.

[dirk martin]

Plastics were originally made from casein (milk) a very cheap product. They went to oil because of the power of the oil companies and their lobbies. Plastics don't need to be made from oil, and paper doesn't need to be made from wood.

Man, I just have a hard time believing this is true.
Now, I know the lobbying power of the oil industry is staggering...but with the increase in recycling, and the public so much more educated, I'd think that if someone made plastic milk bottles, that were not made from oil, but from milk, it would be a huge success. Unless, it was a lot more expensive. Hmmm, I just don't know what to think about that one....

[Neal Clayton]

George, :rolleyes: Titebond of course. You should have known, I only use natural manmade chemicals. :D

techincally everything is natural, we don't import things from outer space (yet..)

just have to know the right proportions ;).

and avoid these guys when we get to the space importing part...

[Doug Carpenter]

Arboform is......people!!

Same as soylent green:D

[ian maybury]

:rolleyes: Not to cause offence, and pardon my cynicism - but given the experience of our lifetimes I struggle to get excited about another potentially mainstream synthetic product.

I doubt there's ever been one where raw material production (even of natural stuff like wood) doesn't harm the environment, consume large amounts of energy and other resources and make large amounts of waste in harvesting, processing and distribution; in use damage our health and when disposed of as garbage fill our world with damaging and long lasting junk....

[Larry Rasmussen]

and also although clearly a much different product there is some parallel with the stranded bamboo product. Standed bamboo is the most evironmentally friendly of the bamboo products. They basically take the whole plant and integrate it into some type of substrate so the bamboo strands are running the long way. Natural looking stuff to a point, I put in a dining room "hardwood" floor made of it. Really really tough and harder than just about any of the wood and especially bamboo choices.

Thats what made me think of the cast business only being in inititial making of it- says they use some fibers and other stuff, likely some solids are cast into the product. Can't you just about smell the odor from the hot table saw blade causing a little scorching? Anyhow the stuff is about 30 to 40% more expensive than the natural bamboo but a much better flooring product.

So I doubt it would melt, cast or burn once made. Or did everybody know that as obvious and are yoking - like the dresser pouring artiste. If you keep at it enough years you can integrage the holes for the pulls into the original casting. That's why I started by pouring garage cabinets first when I could have gone old school and used MDF. A skill builder.

Ah speaking of garage cabinets. Now I know it's time to get to work.

Larry R
Seattle

[Derby Matthews]

You take the fun out of EVERYTHING Neal!:D

[Derby Matthews]

We could go in the exact opposite direction here and start growing bamboo dressers - like the Banana and Chicken in Woody Allen's "Sleeper". Might put this site (and a lot of US!) out of business though!


Uhhhh, nevermind!

Like you said, back to work!