Is it possible to biuld a vehichle out of wood

[Egon]

Now, Morgan may still be forming their fenders on an English wheel..but those are not massed produced or cheap to purchase.

To the best of my knowledge the standard Morgan is still hand formed and assembled on an individual basis.

 

[Redneck in training]

Friend of mine used to make beautiful sale boats from mahogany veneer. He made a concrete negative mold for the shell. Then bought waste mahogany strips from a furniture factory. The factory was selling them as fire wood for very little money.
Then he assembled large crew of people to hold the strips in the mold while adding more strips with epoxy glue. When all the strips were in the mold it was covered with plastic and sealed around perimeter. Then he used a vacuum pump from milking machine to evacuate the air under the plastic and kept it evacuated until the epoxy hardened.
The mold was finished with very smooth surface and waxed with paraffin. It produced very good surface quality for the boat shell.
This way it is possible to make quite complicated three dimensional shapes such as automobile parts.

 

[Soundguy]

i like the idea of the layered laminate with epoxy.. remind sme of a high quality wafer plywood.

soudnguy

 

[forgeblast]

Would it be stronger to rive the wood instead of cutting it on a sawmill?

 

[RoyJackson]

i like the idea of the layered laminate with epoxy.. remind me of a high quality wafer plywood.

soudnguy

Strong stuff, but expensive to work with it (labor intensive).
IIRC, they've used this for some racing yachts

 

[foggy1111]

I suppose anything is possible.....you could even chisel if from stone. But....why would you?.....when you have so many other choices for better materials. Duh! :confused2:

 

[DAY]

Berks County, Pa is the home of Fleetwood, where Cadillac sent their chassis to have the body built. The area was well known for the construction of wooden vehicles, from carriages to farm wagons. (Conestoga is in neighboring Lancaster County.)

For a glimpse of the future, check out the carbon fiber construction of Indy cars. (Or the B-1 bomber!)

 

[Egon]

But....why would you?.....when you have so many other choices for better materials. Duh!

Composite constructions just may be in the future.

Wood has more strength than steel weight wise. Designers may start making use of this characteristic.:thumbsup:

 

[DAY]

Wood has more strength than steel weight wise.

Plus, wood is an all-natural, renewable, environmentally friendly material.

But for strength, NOTHING is stronger than spider silk!:thumbsup:

 

[skspurling]

Yes, riving is stronger, because you don't sever the grain. Wood is natures composite material. The main thing to understand for the streingth of wood is that the grain of the wood is arranged so that the material flexes allong its leingth without breaking. There is quite a bit of spring in there, and it absorbs vibration very well. When you saw the wood, you end up with shorter sections of continuous grain, and put more stress on the "Glue" that hold the small fibers together. Composites are very interesting materials. Wood is just a naturaly occuring example of one.

As far as SoundGuy's comment about welding cast, I know a lot of excelent welders, including my dad and my FIL. They have both welded cast when college educated experts said it was not recommended. It was just enough to get by, but they don't ever expect it to have the durability it had before. You can seal a leak, but don't ever expect it to hold anything like new. And it is always hit and miss. People think welding is reforming the material. It's not. If your lucky and skilled, you can get close. A repair on wood using the apropriate techniques can aproximate welding in streingth and durrability. More likely than not, if you want original performance the technique would be the same with wood or metal... Throw it away and buy a new piece.