Interesting sounding material, I'd be interested to see what they use it for, do you cut it with conventional methods I saw something about moldability in the early part of the process. Too many question and way too dangerous to be doing in a garage, that's for sure.
I'd be interested to see what happen after some thermal cycling tests, how it survives the elements over an extended period of time. Lots of stress testing needs to be done before any real world applications can be claimed. Problem is the claims are made, an article written and published but it really has no validated info, just claims of superiority. Based on what I did read I have to say this about 1 of the 2 chemicals they mention.
NaOH (click on link to left for full MSDS) is Caustic and very dangerous, Na2SO3 is a Caustic and (from PubChem MSDS sheet)
- Health Hazard
Causes severe burns of eyes, skin, and mucous membranes. (USCG, 1999)
Excerpt from ERG Guide 154 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Non-Combustible)]: TOXIC; inhalation, ingestion or skin contact with material may cause severe injury or death. Contact with molten substance may cause severe burns to skin and eyes. Avoid any skin contact. Effects of contact or inhalation may be delayed. Fire may produce irritating, corrosive and/or toxic gases. Runoff from fire control or dilution water may be corrosive and/or toxic and cause pollution. (ERG, 2016)
Strong corrosive action on contacted tissues. INHALATION: dust may cause damage to upper respiratory tract and lung itself, producing from mild nose irritation to pneumonitis. INGESTION: severe damage to mucous membranes; severe scar formation or perforation may occur. EYE CONTACT: produces severe damage. (USCG, 1999)
Liquid is extremely corrosive to the eyes, nose, throat, upper respiratory tract, and skin. If ingested can form large volume of gas and lead to a gas embolism. (USCG, 1999)
Corrosive, Reactive - 1st degree
It's nasty stuff and should never be handled by anyone unfamiliar with the chemical and it's inherent dangers without at the very least the safety protocol from the MSDS in front of them.
Just lookin' out for you folks, remember how when we were kids they used to give us mercury in our bare hands to play with. Didn't look for cuts or scratches, they just poured a couple ounces in your hand and let us poke it and play around with it while they explained it was a liquid metal.
People have been tryin' to artificially create a type of metallic wood by using one form of hardening agent or another, tryin' to replicate fossilized woods, basically we've been tryin' to make a stabilized wood, improving it's strength till we achieve a material as light and good lookin' as wood but strong as steel.
A lot of great ideas but in the end it's a durability issue, I don't think until they come up with a way to infuse titanium at the cellular level we're just chasin' rainbows and unicorns. I don't think in my lifetime I'll see a stabilized wood as strong as steel or carbon fiber. Even if they ome up with something as strong the question of durability, how many cycles can it successively complete before the failures become predominate ?
I don't ever see it replacing steel in the knife industry when materials like CF, G-10 and Micarta already fit the bill for most of what they claim their material does. I wish them a lot of luck, with such broad claims their gonna need it. One last comment, American manufacturers require a lot more info and destructive testing info before switching from a known to an unknown. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
Well at least I'm subscribed to the thread now
Always lookin' to show off the South African maker JD Ellis' work, here's a knife that shows how far you can go with conventional modern materials replacin' what were previously metal components. For example liners, bolsters and frame. In the case of the Lanny's Clip the frame is G10, liners are linen micarta, bolster are canvas micarta as are the scales.
We already have an abundance of artificial building material available, you have to admit though, Mr Ellis most certainly exhibits a unique understanding of the properties of micarta and how to make it do his bidding.
