Wood Knives and Nails

[Derek Meyer]

I read this article today on Ars, about a process to harden basswood that is relatively cheap and easy to do. It looks very interesting.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/watch-this-wooden-knife-cut-effortlessly-through-juicy-medium-well-done-steak/

Anything that reduces the use of plastic is a good thing in my book.

Derek

[John K Jordan]

I read about that in a different article that didn't have as much detail. When I told my wife her first thought was wondering if people could use knives made from the hardened wood to get weapons past metal detectors used for security. (She reads a lot of murder mystery books.)

I did pause at this statement in the link you provided:
"They also studied the hardened wood under a microscope, noting a significant reduction in defects like voids, channels, or pores used to transport water and other nutrients in the living tree."
It seems odd to consider pores in wood to be "defects"!

JKJ



I read this article today on Ars, about a process to harden basswood that is relatively cheap and easy to do. It looks very interesting.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/watch-this-wooden-knife-cut-effortlessly-through-juicy-medium-well-done-steak/

Anything that reduces the use of plastic is a good thing in my book.

Derek