Get 20% off on unique rings hand-crafted from impressive exotic materials at Thorum with the coupon code: Skall20
https://thorum.com/

There are a few ways to harden wood and make it more useful as material for buildings, tools, and even weapons and armor. How about taking it to the next level, with a treatment that makes it able to withstand getting stabbed with a screwdriver? It can even be molded, so imagine everything that can be done with leather, but now it's harder than even the densest exotic hardwoods. Fascinating stuff!

** Time Stamps **

00:00 – 00:41 Intro / Research article
00:41 – 01:48 Thorum rings
01:48 – 02:32 What wood is made of
02:32 – 03:57 How they densified basswood (23 times harder!)
03:57 – 05:32 How does it compare to metal?
05:32 – 06:11 Potential for making armor
06:11 – 07:49 Application in construction (nails)
07:49 – 09:25 Can a HW knife REALLY be 3x sharper than steel?
09:25 – 10:19 Usefulness / TRANSPARENT augmented wood
10:19 – 10:39 Inspiration for fiction (Solarpunk, high-tech elves)
10:39 – 12:47 Historical “what ifs” (improved war clubs & armor)
12:47 – 13:12 Daggers, swords, axes made of super wood?
13:12 – 14:55 Final thoughts / outtakes / outro


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** Sources **

Hardened wood as a renewable alternative to steel and plastic
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...!
   • Researchers Make Wood Stronger than S...  

Researchers Make Wood Stronger than Steel
https://www.voanews.com/a/4270554.html

https://phys.org/news/2021-10-hardene...

Schematics overview of the major wood components, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/S...

Transparent wood: the building material of the future?
https://phys.org/news/2019-11-transpa...

Wood Hardness Chart
https://www.schenckandcompany.com/woo...

Wood hardness according to Brinell scale
https://www.floor-experts.com/hardnes...

Hardness of mild steel, bronze, oak
https://material-properties.org/mild-...
https://material-properties.org/bronz...
https://material-properties.org/oak-w...
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/bh...

Pacific Island War Clubs from Polynesia
https://www.new-guinea-tribal-arts.co...


** Music **

Outtakes:
"Little People At Work" by Horrorpen
https://opengameart.org/content/littl...
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license (CC BY 3.0)

Outro:
"Highland Storm" by The Slanted Room Records
https://theslantedroom.github.io/stev...
Used with artist's permission


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