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All About Guns What's your weapon of choice, and why? Discuss the beloved speargun here!

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Old 12-19-2012, 06:11 PM   #1
Behslayer
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Thermally Modified Wood

Anybody have any experience with this? Sounds interesting..
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Old 12-19-2012, 06:19 PM   #2
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

I used to cook with it before I installed a gas grille. You are refering to charcoal, right?

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Old 12-19-2012, 06:52 PM   #3
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Yeah. I only know about petrified wood.

Got a link to the process or an example J?
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Old 12-19-2012, 07:54 PM   #4
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

I'm just learning about it. I have heard of bringing woods to Cellular Collapse in Kiln drying to make them less prone to swelling/bowing/warping. Maybe this is the same process. The question is does this process improve the characteristics of readily available North American hardwoods to the point where they can match Oily Tropical Hardwoods resistance to Salt Water intrusion and rot. Imagine if we could use Maple, etc. etc. with the same characteristics of Teak. Or imagine if this process were used on Teak, Padauk, other Tropical Oily Hardwoods... we could have a Superwood..
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Old 12-19-2012, 08:33 PM   #5
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

They have used heat-steam to bend woods for 100s of years. Kilns to dry it. Pressure treating of wood so it is insect resistant. I am sure if they can get it very dry, it may soak up oils, or resins. Kind of like they use wood stabilizers to make woods more resistant to wear and water, in carved woods, knife handles, etc. I do know there is a very limited point that all that can penetrate. And I do wood carving and some of the guys use flame burnishing to seal or help with keeping the surface good.
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Old 12-19-2012, 08:44 PM   #6
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

I'm thinking that this is about collapsing the cell structure of a wood so that it cannot absorb moisture, becomes harder, bone dry.. A buddy who makes Firearms told me to look into it. The interesting points he stressed were that it did not become heavier and became harder and stronger.. Wondered if anyone had ever gotten their hands on this stuff? or am I being spoofed..
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Old 12-19-2012, 09:31 PM   #7
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

vector marine has used it for years ,he calls it "american teak" it is treated hickory . i havent used it so i dont know how it works out .
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Old 12-20-2012, 08:37 AM   #8
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Ahh North American Teak... so all those stocks out there are proof of the pudding? Interesting stuff.

Begs the question, if you can get Teak starting with Hickory. Imagine what you could get staring with Padauk or Mahogany, etc. etc. etc. or Teak... i.e. starting the process with an oily hardwood?

Another interesting claim is that the wood is actually lighter than it starts. Not sure if this is just a loss of waterweight? Or could you somehow, change the SG of a Wood through Thermal Processing? Ie could you make Merbau or another dense wood more suitable for Spearguns?

Found this:

Question: "What is the difference between regular teak and american teak ?"

Answer: "American Teak is the trade name for thermally enhanced hickory. Domestically harvested hardwoods, like hickory, oak and others, are kiln dried to 0% moisture content. Then in the same kiln they are impregnated with chemicals and stains which raises the moisture content to about 4%. The overall process makes the wood appear and perform like exotic hardwoods such as teak, ipe, etc. The thermal process was developed in Europe and has been used there to produce decking that performs and looks like more expensive exotic counterparts. I think of it as being similar to applying Smith's Penetrating Epoxy to your wood but the thermal process gets the sealer all they way through the lumber and seals at the cellular level. Dimensional stability is increased 2 to 3 times that of regular exotic hardwoods. In addition to the above differences American Teak is 1/4 the price of teak, is sustainable and is easy to work.

Comments:
"Interesting, thank you."

"I've tried laminating the American Teak, which is a crap way of describing wood that would otherwise be chipped and the results were a little less than what I would have wanted for the costs."

Who out there has worked with this stuff. "North American Teak" or Thermally Modified American Hardwoods? It sounds good. Sounds like it could be better depending on the starting material?

Last edited by Behslayer; 12-20-2012 at 09:01 AM.
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Old 12-20-2012, 09:16 AM   #9
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Here's an opinion from a buddy that runs a very busy furniture factory.

"I have not heard to many good things about the Thermal modified wood, I have heard that it breaks down in an outdoor environment."

One thumbs down..
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Old 12-20-2012, 11:07 AM   #10
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

I made a gun out of one of Dean's (vector marine) blanks about four years ago and with an epoxy finish it held up very well. The gun shot the fish in my avatar and is now semi-retired in Florida shooting other grouper. It is a dense wood (similar to working with Paduk) and smells like you are smoking fish when you work it on the router. No ballast lead needed on the 55" gun I made due to the wood weight. I think it is a good cheap alternative for practice wood or first time builds as well.
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Old 12-20-2012, 02:47 PM   #11
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

One thumbs up.

Would be interesting to find out if you can do a small batch of Padauk anywhere?
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Old 12-22-2012, 03:06 PM   #12
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Interesting, I have heard about pressure & heat treating cedar for arrow shafts. It is supposed to make the wood harder and resist warping while staying light. The idea of a super hard wood is cool.
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Old 12-22-2012, 10:44 PM   #13
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Quote:
Originally Posted by Behslayer View Post
One thumbs up.

Would be interesting to find out if you can do a small batch of Padauk anywhere?
Try it:http://www.itr.nl
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:07 AM   #14
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Memo,

RFW Presses. Those are cool. They use them for Engineered flooring in Indonesia. Nice for T Laminating. You can press in two directions.

Did some more research. I'll get my hands on some of this stuff after the Holidays. But my initial thoughts are it might not be suitable for the Muzzle of a big gun.. I keep hearing the word Brittle.. which I guess makes sense..
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Old 12-23-2012, 08:14 AM   #15
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Re: Thermally Modified Wood

Quote:
Originally Posted by Behslayer View Post
I'm thinking that this is about collapsing the cell structure of a wood so that it cannot absorb moisture, becomes harder, bone dry.. A buddy who makes Firearms told me to look into it. The interesting points he stressed were that it did not become heavier and became harder and stronger.. Wondered if anyone had ever gotten their hands on this stuff? or am I being spoofed..
Would that make the wood more brittle and prone to breaking under stress? Some of the strength if wood comes from its ability to bend under pressure, I'm thinking of ash and hickory but other woods do this also. Would collapsing its cellular structure change that?
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