Puzzler for the wood-workers

[Wigwam Jones]

OK, they give away the secret, but I admit, I did not guess correctly as to how they did it.

http://hackedgadgets.com/2013/07/08...campaign=Feed:+HackedGadgets+(Hacked+Gadgets)

 

[240sx4u]

I know how this was done, because I have seen other variations on the same subject. Very cool though!

 

[NEMOaudio]

You can easily break the left piece then glue it in place.

 

[mr greg]

Yep, seen it done. A clue is the angle of the nail.

 

[mr greg]

You can easily break the left piece then glue it in place.

Nope. Not broken and not glued.

 

[Wigwam Jones]

You can easily break the left piece then glue it in place.

From the article:

Before you watch the video below have a close look at the picture above and guess how this was done. There are 3 slots cut into a piece of wood, there is a real solid nail placed in the wood. Each section of wood including the outer sections are solid (just as it looks). You would not be able to remove the nail by sliding it. This was a real puzzler for me and I wouldn’t have guessed how it was done without watching the video…​

 

[JohnMac]

I couldn't stand it and had to peek at the video. Never would have guessed. Pretty cool.

 

[John James]

Whodathunkit?

 

[HTHMAN]

I wonder what kind of wood was used.

 

[JHS2RT]

Clever

 

[Fisherdude]

That is so cool. How ingenious!!

I wonder what kind of wood was used.

Looks like plain fir or pine. Softer the better, I assume.

 

[NEMOaudio]

You can easily break the left piece then glue it in place.

From the article:

Before you watch the video below have a close look at the picture above and guess how this was done. There are 3 slots cut into a piece of wood, there is a real solid nail placed in the wood. Each section of wood including the outer sections are solid (just as it looks). You would not be able to remove the nail by sliding it. This was a real puzzler for me and I wouldn’t have guessed how it was done without watching the video…​

First I made my statement than I watched the video. It didn't say that you have to guess how it was done without breaking anything. When you glue the piece in place, I would call it's solid.

The video doesn't show how the wood returned to it's original shape. I'm not shure that it will be straight as in the picture.

 

[cubby01]

The video doesn't show how the wood returned to it's original shape. I'm not shure that it will be straight as in the picture.

Yes it did.

 

[usedto]

The video doesn't show how the wood returned to it's original shape. I'm not shure that it will be straight as in the picture.

Back in the late 90s I was inspecting a lot at a military base when I spotted a stack of lumber that included 10" X 10", 12" X 12", and various other sizes of large timbers, mostly 20' long. Some of them were twisted up to about 30 degrees, and most were bent. I called the local lumber yard, and partnered up with the owner on the deal. I bought the lot, then he had his trucks pick them up and haul them to a nearby pressure treater to get them ready to sell.

He called me down to his yard the day the first load showed up. The timbers were all perfectly straight, untwisted, and no bows. The treater said they had never seen lumber soak up ALL of the treating material like these did.

It's amazing what you can do with wood after it gets soaked with water.

 

[Bstable]

I would never have guessed. Very cool.

 

[NEMOaudio]

Yes it did.

It showed when it was put in the boiling water then in the next frame the wood was back to it's original shape.

I'm just asking. By simply putting the wood in boiling water it will return to it's original shape, without any external pressure, just like in the first process? - Of course than I will ask how much time you have to boil

 

[Andyman]

Cool!!

It makes a ton of sense too. One of the tricks for repairing dents in wood is to use an iron and a wet cotton cloth to steam the fibers plump again and swell them up to fill the dent. This basically uses the same principles back and forth to do the trick.

It probably works best with soft grainy woods like that pine or fir as they are more elastic than the harder dense woods. I don't think you'll see too many of those made out of oak

 

[jsisk]

Great trick.

 

[GuyK]

It showed when it was put in the boiling water then in the next frame the wood was back to it's original shape.

I'm just asking. By simply putting the wood in boiling water it will return to it's original shape, without any external pressure, just like in the first process? - Of course than I will ask how much time you have to boil

It was placed in the water first to soften the fibers so the tab could be squeezed. The video showed that he left it clamped for 2 days, then drilled the holes for the nail, inserted the nail, and replaced in the water to re-expand.

I would think it would only require 45 min or so to soften enough to work with (dependent on wood species). Squeezing the saturated wood will wring out a bunch of water from the piece, so it would need to re-absorb moisture to expand to orignal size. This is why he placed it back in the water at the end. It doesn't need to be left to dry before inserting the nail as shown.