i need help on how to fire harden wood. i tryed to hold it over a fire with these long mertal rods and the wood that i was trying to harden chought on fire. i need help. it is for a school project, how the medval people harden there wood.
2006-12-22 14:02:05 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
I think you or the teacher are confused. On old wagons there was a piece called a moldboard, it was actually very thin steel.
try this web site
www.lostcrafts.com/Blacksmith-50.html
2006-12-22 14:17:13 · answer #1 · answered by T C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
grlginus has it. The trick is to stick it under the fire to bake it where the oxygen can't get to it to cause combustion. This is why just sticking it in the flames causes it to catch fire; Too much oxygen. The other thing is the type of wood you use. Nowadays, tree farms provide ideal conditions for growing trees fast. The problem with this is that the cell wall structure is large and the wood is then "soft". That is, ring structure is large because the tree grew so fast. In old days there were no tree farms and trees grew slow. The rings were tight and the wood dense. Try to find some very dense wood like maple and experiment with that. Avoid exotic woods! They are expensive and burning some of them could be dangerous.
2006-12-23 09:26:16 · answer #2 · answered by Bill G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
type fire hardened wood into google you'll get some interesting stuff eventually.
What I'm getting is that you stick the wood under the fire to dry it.
this compresses the cell structure for lack of better phrasing.
you don't want to char the wood but more bake it.
sounds like a lot of practice is involved in perfecting that talent.
2006-12-23 01:58:45 · answer #3 · answered by octopussy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There was and still is a way to use a wood fire to harden steel. It was use for swords and plows.
The basics is heat the steel and then cool very quickly in water.
2006-12-22 23:15:25 · answer #4 · answered by rlbendele1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have worked on old houses before, and the original wood is so hard, you couldn't nail into it with just a hammer. As wood dries, and ages, it seems to get denser. Maybe a kiln could speed up the process.
2006-12-23 00:05:39 · answer #5 · answered by poppyman54 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as I know, there is no way to make wood harder, other than drying it. The best way to dry it is to let it dry naturally or use an oven (kiln). I've never heard of 'hardening' wood.
2006-12-22 22:21:24 · answer #6 · answered by normobrian 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i believe the aincent used something called a broom tree if your not in messapatiama cant tell u were to fnd one
2006-12-23 13:31:16 · answer #7 · answered by bbbob60 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would think that holding it directly in the flame is you problem...as someone said....baking it would be better...try to protect it from the flame while still maintaining the heat
2006-12-23 08:38:14 · answer #8 · answered by dana L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋