The future of wood

[screwpainting]

How long do you think it will be before wood is no longer the best material to make things out of wood with :?
I have a bad feeling that simply because I am getting back into my woodworking after some years, there will be some major new technical innovation that will be such an improvement on the real thing, we won't actually need or want to use the real thing!. This is obviously a sods law master plan to screw up my relearning all the wonderful things that make up creating in wood as we/I know it, of course.
I recently saw some plastic foam filled batten type stuff that the caravan company Baileys use in the construction of their caravan frames in order to gain from the weight benefits of this stuff. Looking at the likely progression of this product, I can imagine you would not necessarily need all the tools we use now to cut, shape and joint these type materials and could probably cut them with a laser or guillotine type thing for example. Add to this the 3D printing of components and the modern wood effect laminate product processes we now have and I can see how we are facing a potentially massive change in just what materials will be worth making available and in fact, using.
I don't know about you, but I am bone weary with learning curves, has there ever been a generation that has had to get their heads around such a relentless succession of ground breaking new ideas, change and tech like the modern 60+ geezer, especially over the last twenty years or so. Once upon a time, a man left school, served a decent 5-7 year apprenticeship and gained a skill set that would feed him for the rest of his life. Now, never mind zero hours contracts, it looks more and more likely that we will have zero hours skill sets!
As fast as a human develops a skill that has a value,it is destroyed by technology, globalballsupisation and price. So, how long have we got do you think, I mean, Jesus's dad was a chippy for Christs sake, that's at least how long the trade has been premier league!.
should I save up for that Lie Neil's son (or whatever its called) or look into into lasers, printers and inflatable Graflon board stuff.

Sorry, I just fancied a rant.

 

[NazNomad]

I think wood will always be the best material to make things out of wood with. :-D

However, we do need to be careful with it... It's not like it grows on trees.

 

[graduate_owner]

I have to agree with OP on the rate of technological change, with robots in factories, mobile phones which do everything you can think of, drones which can now be bought by joe public etc. Things seem to be getting out of control. I do think computers are handy though, especially for things like accessing woodworking forums. And who knows, we might soon have intelligent cars which use gps to detect the speed and location of other vehicles in the vicinity and respond accordingly to avoid accidents?

K

 

[custard]

It's an interesting question.

Before about 1600 there's little evidence that wood was admired for its inherent visual qualities, to have any value wood had to be painted, gilded, carved, or otherwise disguised. And you really have to get to 1700 or later before it's abundantly clear that the "woodiness" of wood was suddenly being taken seriously, and that craftsmen were widely and actively promoting the look of the timber itself within their creations.

So in the context of thousands of years of human civilisation it's only relatively recently, and for a relatively brief period, that wood per se has been regarded as beautiful or even decorative. For the overwhelming majority of our history wood was just the stuff that was used to make other stuff. So maybe wood may disappear completely from our homes. Indeed, if timber usage comes to be regarded as an environmentally "bad thing" it could happen pretty quickly.

My guess is it won't, and that wood will if anything become a more highly prized material than ever before. But hey, I can no more see into the future than the next man, so all any of us can do is guess.

 

[Fitzroy]

I like this kind of question as it gets the grey matter working. I wonder if some numbers comparing physical properties and price may help.

Cost per cuft of raw material
Pine aka whitewoood £5
Oak £35
Steel £80
Aluminium £150

The modulus of elasticity (stiffness) of some materials is as follows 10e6 PSI
Pine: 1
Oak: 1.5
Steel: 20
Aluminum: 10

Ratio of volumetric price to stiffness, as stiffness is a property of size not weight
Pine: 5
Oak: 23
Steel: 4
Aluminium: 15

Then looking at the weight for the same relative stiffness (density / stiffness)
Pine: 600 / 1 = 600
Oak: 900 / 1.5 = 600
Steel: 8000 / 20 = 400
Aluminium 2700 / 15 = 180

So what conclusions do i draw. Steel and structural pine are a similar price per unit stiffness, interestingly it's possible to fabricate something of a similar strength in steel for a somewhat lower -30% overall weight. Aluminium is a similar price to oak (my analog for a high quality timber) per unit stiffness, but three times that of structural pine, however it should be possible to fabricate something of similar strength for a significantly lower -70% overall weight.

For me this highlights that construction timber (pine) vs construction metal (steel) there's not much in it, both being plentifully available but butt ugly, i doubt there is a huge driver to find a better product for building say racking, pallets, potato boxes etc. Looking at finer materials there is a huge weight advantage in building from aluminium, and it's relatively cheaper than a decent quality wood, two good drivers to move from wood to aluminium in a demanding service, say aeroplanes. However a quality wood is only a little more expensive than aluminium on a raw material/unit stiffness basis, so if you did want to make some fancy composite to replace wood, both structurally and aesthetically, there is not much margin above the base material price to allow for further material processing and manufacture.

Personally i've actually always been amazed with the material properties of wood, it is a very clever composite material, and it grows on trees so it's relatively inexpensive when you compare it to high spec manufactured materials. There is a great article, which I can't find, comparing a bamboo framed bike and a carbon fibre framed bike, looking at strength to weight, cost, environmental impact etc etc, it concludes world class races should be on carbon fibre bikes but the average 'mamil' should be on a bamboo framed beauty.

Ciao,

F.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Is a robot going to visit your property and make and fit bespoke furniture and cabinets? Not in my lifetime that's for sure

 

[Bodgers]

For me this highlights that construction timber (pine) vs construction metal (steel) there's not much in it, both being plentifully available but butt ugly, i doubt there is a huge driver to find a better product for building say racking, pallets, potato boxes etc. .

There is a reason why SPF timber dominates in house building for roof trusses, stud carcassing...

 

[No skills]

If we stop cutting down trees we will be in trouble, in a few generations time there won't be any room to move

 

[cowfoot]

Is a robot going to visit your property and make and fit bespoke furniture and cabinets? Not in my lifetime that's for sure

I was having a discussion with my Dad about this over Christmas - he was worried about automation putting everyone out of work. I pointed out that there are people who'll clean your car by hand in Sainsbury's car park right next to a machine that does the same thing. They're usually busier than the machine as they charge less and do a better job.

 

[petermillard]

Is a robot going to visit your property and make and fit bespoke furniture and cabinets..?

I imagine there's a few customers out there who are convinced that it's already happening

 

[Mike Jordan]

Current concerns about man made plastics persisting in the environment, being consumed by fish and other animals which form part of the food chain, may in time cause us to look more sensibly at the long term effects of using them. One sometimes overlooked advantage of all timbers is their inbuilt ability to be naturally recycled as fuel or by decay.

 

[rafezetter]

Current concerns about man made plastics persisting in the environment, being consumed by fish and other animals which form part of the food chain, may in time cause us to look more sensibly at the long term effects of using them. One sometimes overlooked advantage of all timbers is their inbuilt ability to be naturally recycled as fuel or by decay.

I worked in the plastics industry for many years and often thought of the situation of replacing old wood fascias and the like with plastic in conjunction with recent "scares" about oil availability. I'd surmise that as it does indeed become harder to get oil, wood will make a comeback for the mundane things.

It's also far easier to make something from wood than another material requiring an entire factory for it's manipulation.

 

[RobinBHM]

Both pine and spruce have been plantation grown for many years in Northern Europe. In Sweden the rate of planting exceeds harvest so is a sustainable material.

Ive no doubt that in time natural forested timbers will become restricted and more plantation grown timbers will come on stream. Red Granfis for example.

There are huge Siberian larch forests so maybe that will become more popular, especially as our love for Russia grows!

 

[No skills]

Might be needing a geiger counter to check the timber over then.

 

[tomatwark]

Might be needing a geiger counter to check the timber over then.

But it will help the fossil fuel issue, as you will need less electric, as your furniture will glow in the dark.

Seriously though, there will always be a demand, but what will happen is different types of timber will be used depending on what is available.

Although I severed my apprenticeship working with solid wood I am increasingly impressed with some of the laminates that are now made, and if you think about it the average life of a kitchen is about 15 years it makes sense to use them along side solid wood.

The will always be a small market for heirloom pieces like Custard make though.

 

[No skills]

Having watched a few things on Chernobyl and seen how the local birch trees seem fairly unaffected by the long term radiation (but all the pine and others have died) I've been wondering exactly where all the Russian birch ply comes from

On a slightly more serious note.. I think there's going to be an ever increasing amount of real timber used - but - there will be a lot less species available to use - huge mono cultures of pine and oak maybe.
We won't have to worry about Facebook or Skynet taking over the world, pine or oak furniture land will rule us all - with ikea in second place using up all their waste :lol: