Japs invent a way to make parts from scrap wood
Japs invent a way to make parts from scrap wood
Bad news for anyone married to a hoarder. There’s a new reason why your husband shouldn’t throw away those lengths of wood he’s been storing in the garden for years, in case they ‘come in useful for something’
Japanese car parts maker Chunichi Seiko has devised a way to make gears and bolts from wood scrap. The new parts are just as strong and wear-resistant as anything made from industrial plastic. Or so they claim.
The application extends beyond cars. Boffins claims they can make parts for consumer electronics. Sounds infeasible, but if they pulled it off it’d save fortunes on the oil and chemicals needed for making plastic parts.
The challenge was that any car part made entirely from wood are is hard to machine into complicated shapes. However, Chunichi Seiko first treats the scrap with hot steam in a pressurised chamber to break down cellulose and to fragment the constituents of the wood.
Having broken it down, the strength is then built up again.
Synthetic resins are then added to adjust strength and water absorbency, and additives are mixed in to prevent the gears and bolts from losing strength during the machining process.
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