Interesting new material - hempwood

[Jim Becker]

I tend to watch a lot of build videos for entertainment as well as for creative ideas, new techniques, etc. A recent viewing of a Chris Salamone/FourEyes project had a material that caught my eye where a product called hempwood was used for drawer fronts. So I ordered a sample to see just what this material was all about, how it looked and how it felt. Honestly, it's pretty kewel stuff and I can see interesting applications.

The material is quite dense...it reminds me strongly of Advantech and similar products in that respect...but that shouldn't be surprising as it's made by compressing layers of material taken from the hemp plants along with an adhesive to produce boards and panels. Where it differs is that the folks who make it pay attention to "grain orientation" for visual appeal and the result is both a "flat sawn" and "rift sawn" option based on while you prefer for a given need. I actually like the "rift sawn" orientation of the layers for show and that was what was used in the video that made me look twice. At any rate, it's always nice to learn about new materials including those that potentially cross the sustainability threshold. This particular product isn't likely for "every use", but I can definitely see applications. It can be cut, resawn, profiled, etc., in the same manner that any other wood or composite product can be worked, and it clearly isn't wimpy stuff. I may very well try it out for some project down the line just for grins.

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Oh, and the samples smell like fresh cut hay. :) No surprise there, either.

[Brian Runau]

But can you smoke it!

[Jim Becker]

But can you smoke it!
Probably, but I doubt it will be enjoyable... ;)

[Andrew More]

Interesting. Any idea if it responds poorly to moisture like a lot of compressed wood chip products like particle board?

[Michael Schuch]

There were at least 8 large hemp farms here in Central Oregon covering thousands of acres 3 years ago. Every single one of them is now out of business. They were all extracting CBD as their primary product and that market seems to have pretty much died after consumers figured out that all the benefits were pretty much just hype. Western Oregon had a much larger hemp investment and they are all pretty much belly up too. In case you are wondering a hemp field has an overwhelming dead skunk smell late in its growing cycle just like marijuana does. We could smell the hemp skunk for miles around a farm.

Locally a kid was arrested for stealing a hemp plant out of a large hemp field to sell to his high school buddies... LOL! (Hemp has pretty much no euphoria inducing THC like marijuana does.)

Without a high dollar product like CBD I kind of doubt there will be much in secondary products like hemp wood.

Cool to hear about new products though!

[George Yetka]

But can you smoke it!

I think the meat would taste better with more traditional chips/pellets, Ive been getting good results with the traeger signiture blend

It does have a nice look to it? Is it food safe(cutting board)?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have no interest in its recreational uses but would love to see industrial production advance. The law passed in the 1930s took a heavy toll on the rural communities in our area. Some of the old-timers I knew as a kid were poor, disgruntled, former hemp farmers. Wood pulp mills are very unpleasant places. Hemp fiber can be refined with a fraction of the nasty processes required for wood. There is a quiet effort being made to bring it back. I hope it can work. It can be grown without Anhydrous Ammonia and Glyphosate. I wonder if Hempwood dust irritates the nose and eyes like MDF does.

[Edward Weber]

Thanks for posting, as others have said, it's always good to hear about new materials.
My question is this, most all of these products rice hull MDF, hemp wood, bamboo, all of them are a good percentage of glue/resin. How does that affect the environmental aspect and the longevity of these products?
We've kind of gotten to a point with resins, that the wood, straw, grass, what ever, is only a minor part of the product, just a carrier for the resin.
Just some thoughts

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Hemp has very long fibers. It would be interesting to know more about the Hempwood process, what resins, and what the proportions are. I can imagine some interest in a Hempwood guitar or skateboard.

[Bill Dufour]

It reminds me of those big support beams that are made of compressed lengthwise wood fibers all glued together.
Bill D

[Richard Coers]

Good luck to them. Really small company right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uua964Y6BbA
There have been other companies attempt to do this, wheatboard using wheat straw, and Environ using dyed recycled newspaper and soybean adhesive. I tried both of them, but they dropped out as quick as they started. The wheatboard was a delight to cut, smelled just like my early days on the farm.

[John K Jordan]

…a product called hempwood was used for drawer fronts. …

I wonder if they carry our plan to carry woodturning blank sizes. Would be beautiful figure for turning. Even 2x2s would be useful.

[Jim Becker]

I wonder if they carry our plan to carry woodturning blank sizes. Would be beautiful figure for turning. Even 2x2s would be useful.

I know they had pen blanks, but didn't notice anything larger...but I wasn't looking for that. I don't see that kind of product as being an issue, however, as I suspect the initial compressed production is for thicker material which they then cut into the "boards" in the intended orientation. That's speculation on my part, but it feels likely.


Interesting. Any idea if it responds poorly to moisture like a lot of compressed wood chip products like particle board?

I will have to investigate that. It pretty much comes down to what kind of adhesive binder is used to make and compress the product together. Advantech and similar, for example, use a polyurethane type glue which is pretty darn water/moisture tolerant once cured.

[Jim Becker]

Without a high dollar product like CBD I kind of doubt there will be much in secondary products like hemp wood.


Hemp has been used in industry for a very long time. Rope, for example, as well as oils and many other products. The type of hemp used for industrial products isn't necessarily the same plants as the "recreational" materials are made from.

[Peter Schussheim]

Using their pricing for a 72" x 5.25" X 1" board, I calculated that it goes for $16/bf without considering freight cost. At that price, not even considering its aesthetics, this is going to be a tough sell in my opinion.

[Bill Dufour]

How is this any better then a PSL beam?
Bill D

https://www.weyerhaeuser.com/woodproducts/engineered-lumber/parallam-psl/parallam-psl-beams/

[Warren Lake]

hemp has been around forever. my mother talked about when I was a kid as it was used in clothing in europe, THC in hemp is super low think under 3 percent. Coast to Coast did a show in it years ago and in that it was said that hemp was made illegal and likely cause one super rich family saw it would cut into their pulp and paper profits. There are endless products made from it in health food stores up to at one point I think BMW and Mercedes used it in their car doors as it was super strong and light. Cheech and Chong also did in the van they were delivering only not hemp.

The coast show described it as a miracle plant for farmers as it could be grown between crops, grew super fast, didnt deplete the soil like other crops. They did say harvest you need special cutters as it was so hard and strong the usual stuff could not stand up to it

Guess they needed to get a tersa head.

[Jim Becker]

Using their pricing for a 72" x 5.25" X 1" board, I calculated that it goes for $16/bf without considering freight cost. At that price, not even considering its aesthetics, this is going to be a tough sell in my opinion.

I don't disagree...it's definitely a specialty material, but at the same time, I can see some applications where the visual will make it worth the cost, which if you think about it, isn't much different than highly figured solid stock in many species these days.

[Jim Becker]

How is this any better then a PSL beam?
Bill D

It's not better...for what glue-lam beams are used for. The benefit is that this material is made from a sustainable plant material.

[Mark Gibney]

Interesting, thanks Jim. I like how it looks from what I've seen online. I think I'll try to get my hands on some and see how I like working with it.

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[Jim Becker]

Yea, I really like the look of the "rift sawn" orientation like you show in that flooring, Mark. I could really get into that look...too bad it would be way beyond budget for my new shop building. LOL

The sample pack I ordered was $14 I think which pretty much covered the cost of USPS postage.

[Curt Harms]

I have no interest in its recreational uses but would love to see industrial production advance. The law passed in the 1930s took a heavy toll on the rural communities in our area. Some of the old-timers I knew as a kid were poor, disgruntled, former hemp farmers. Wood pulp mills are very unpleasant places. Hemp fiber can be refined with a fraction of the nasty processes required for wood. There is a quiet effort being made to bring it back. I hope it can work. It can be grown without Anhydrous Ammonia and Glyphosate. I wonder if Hempwood dust irritates the nose and eyes like MDF does.

There was an effort to promote hemp during WW II when traditional rope making fiber supplies were under Japanese control. A few wild descendants of those efforts can still be found in the midwest.

[Keith Outten]

The State of Kentucky only recently changed their law to allow farmers to grow hemp. For law enforcement it is very difficult to distinguish hemp from marijuana that contains THC. Hemp can be a very profitable crop that has many uses, its easy to manage and fast growing.

[Warren Lake]

gov stupidity or done by a rich family that stood to lose tons of money from it. This stuff is nothing new history is full of it. Find the coast show its stated in that show. You cant get high from it so why ban it. History of many uses for it.

[Earl McLain]

There was an effort to promote hemp during WW II when traditional rope making fiber supplies were under Japanese control. A few wild descendants of those efforts can still be found in the midwest.

I grew up near Nappanee IN and there was a regular supply of “ditch weed”, also known as “Nappanee Nasty”. While there was minimal if any THC, it was really cheap and easy to get. Harsh enough that the coughing/hacking got you dizzy enough to fall down—so it served it’s purpose. At least that’s what I heard. On a street corner.

I’ve seen a fair number of pics of pens turned from the hemp wood product, the look reminds me of black or red palm. Mixed reviews on how it turns small-scale (pens)…from easy with sharp tools to worse than black palm or bamboo. To me, there’s much better wood to turn small items, so I’ve not tried it.
earl

[Warren Lake]

I know nothing about it other than that show and likely 100 good uses for it. We been scammed enough times and this just one more of them. Imagine if the powers to be actually put us first.

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[Edward Weber]

https://www.britannica.com/plant/hemp

I like hemp oil as a finish, just one of a thousand uses this plant has.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Speakers with cones made from Hemp fibers are getting good reviews.