Thread: neat trick

Yes thats is a neat trick and it actually works. (I tried it)

Hah. Very nifty. Going to have to give that a try.
I wouldn't have thought that the wood could compress that much and return so neatly.

I've done one of those, too.

Don't bother waiting the 2 days, though

I boiled, squished, drilled, and boiled again in about the time it took to type this.

Mine was from a bit of crappy-looking 4x2, so the slight distortion left from the squishing doesn't stand out.

The feedback I had suggest that you use something other than a nail, because a few people thought the nail was bent to insert, then straightened in place. Use a thermometer, test tube, or something else patently unbendable and unstraightenable.

Cheers,
Andrew

This is a neat trick. Good for making wooden hinges.

It made me think - I've heard of wooden plugs that are used to patch holes in boat hulls. The plugs swell in water to fill the hole.
I wonder if this pre-compression technique is used to make those plugs, so that they swell heaps in water.

I had a go at this myself. It works well. 5 min in boiling water each time, one day drying.

Originally Posted by arose62

I boiled, squished, drilled, and boiled again in about the time it took to type this.

You undid the clamp while the wood was wet and it didn't spring back and get in the way?
[Or are you a really slow typist?]

Originally Posted by Hermit

You undid the clamp while the wood was wet and it didn't spring back and get in the way?
[Or are you a really slow typist?]

If you clamped it strategic way you could drill it while it was still clamped.

Originally Posted by Irvs

If you clamped it strategic way you could drill it while it was still clamped.

Ha, yeah, that crossed my mind almost immediately after posting.

I wonder if it would work with hardwood?