4 ms·

Stronger than steel... I guess you won't be nailing it, I guess you'd have to prefab parts so you could drill through with like a carbide endmill since, unlike

by elif 1y ago

Stronger than steel... I guess you won't be nailing it, I guess you'd have to prefab parts so you could drill through with like a carbide endmill since, unlike steel, you can't just use a magnetic drill like you would for field drilling holes.

elif 1y ago
On second thought, while that makes it less practical for western construction, this material would be extremely suitable for Japanese framing methods.
- timdiggerm 1y ago
  Do they not use saws?
  - elif 1y ago
    They actually use mostly chisels, but my point is that every cut in every structural member is done custom by hand at the warehouse in advance. i.e. where tooling is most flexible
AngryData 1y ago
Im willing to bet steel drill bits in a hand drill will still drill through it, it will just take longer like if you were drilling a notoriously hard wood like hickory. In practice you might need to actually go with smaller pilot holes and work up to bigger bit, rather than the average contractor method of jamming a half inch drill bit directly into some pine and forcing it through. But its not like anyone who regularly drills holes doesn't know that denser or harder materials need to be drilled with progressively increasing drill bit sizes.
mrits 1y ago
I'd imagine you'd use it for load bearing. This would mean a lot of the only framing could be cheaper and easier wood to work with.
perlgeek 1y ago
Stronger (tensile and compressive strength) doesn't necessarily mean harder. Maybe hardened steel tools can actually cut it fine.
eth0up 1y ago
Take ipe for example. It's janka hardness is around 3600, which is >< double what most consider a hardwood. It drills fine, with some caveats: 1. It's very dense 2. The first hole is usually easy enough, but consecutive holes become more and more difficult. 3. This is much less a factor of density than of silica content. Silica sands the metal. Carbide and cobalt bits can help a lot, but the silica always wins. Worthy note: High silica wood dust, eg from ipe, may as well be considered worse than asbestos. It's evil stuff and will destroy your tools and your lungs inevitably. Edit: while I don't know the silica content of a wood that's roughly twice the (janka) hardness of ipe, such woods also seem to drill ok, depending on the bit. Two examples are Lignum Vitae and Quebracho. The latter, I think, means axe breaker and was named appropriately. Edit 2: it's Day of the Insidious and Relentless Typo. Nailing any of the mentioned woods is about as practical as nailing your own hammer. Either the nail will bend before making a dent, or the wood will split.

by elif 1y ago

elif 1y ago

On second thought, while that makes it less practical for western construction, this material would be extremely suitable for Japanese framing methods.

timdiggerm 1y ago
Do they not use saws?
- elif 1y ago
  They actually use mostly chisels, but my point is that every cut in every structural member is done custom by hand at the warehouse in advance. i.e. where tooling is most flexible

AngryData 1y ago

Im willing to bet steel drill bits in a hand drill will still drill through it, it will just take longer like if you were drilling a notoriously hard wood like hickory. In practice you might need to actually go with smaller pilot holes and work up to bigger bit, rather than the average contractor method of jamming a half inch drill bit directly into some pine and forcing it through. But its not like anyone who regularly drills holes doesn't know that denser or harder materials need to be drilled with progressively increasing drill bit sizes.

mrits 1y ago

I'd imagine you'd use it for load bearing. This would mean a lot of the only framing could be cheaper and easier wood to work with.

perlgeek 1y ago

Stronger (tensile and compressive strength) doesn't necessarily mean harder. Maybe hardened steel tools can actually cut it fine.

eth0up 1y ago

Take ipe for example. It's janka hardness is around 3600, which is >< double what most consider a hardwood. It drills fine, with some caveats: 1. It's very dense 2. The first hole is usually easy enough, but consecutive holes become more and more difficult. 3. This is much less a factor of density than of silica content. Silica sands the metal. Carbide and cobalt bits can help a lot, but the silica always wins. Worthy note: High silica wood dust, eg from ipe, may as well be considered worse than asbestos. It's evil stuff and will destroy your tools and your lungs inevitably. Edit: while I don't know the silica content of a wood that's roughly twice the (janka) hardness of ipe, such woods also seem to drill ok, depending on the bit. Two examples are Lignum Vitae and Quebracho. The latter, I think, means axe breaker and was named appropriately. Edit 2: it's Day of the Insidious and Relentless Typo. Nailing any of the mentioned woods is about as practical as nailing your own hammer. Either the nail will bend before making a dent, or the wood will split.