Hi,
I found a "fluid" which should be able to both glue and impregnate wood. I am going to try it on some birch bark shives and make some short pieces of rod handles and reel seat inserts and then cut them up/break them to examine penetration, strength etc..

If it works to that point I would like to know how it will hold up over a period of time - like 10 years.

Now 10 years is a long time to wait and I'm thinking that there must be some way to accelerate the aging process - extreme heat, extreme cold, moisture etc etc..

Has anyone done this and what would you suggest would be the minimum "stress" test required ?

Peter

Awesome.

I broke a lot of knives testing for heat treat. 5 gallon bucketfulls of time and effort, gone but not forgotten, and definitley not for nothing. Make'm, and break'm. Extreme cold? Your local welding supply can make up some dry ice, ask them about it, and you can freeze your test peices. Get a styrofoam chest, rig a rack above the dry ice, and your your peices should chill to the min. temp in a half hour to 45 minutes. Dont set them on the ice, many materials will "burn" on direct contact. I think you can figure out "extreme heat". Propane, oxy acetalene, alcohol burner or whatever. Time is often the crucial factor, as glues or bonding agents soften and harden. Cycling heat can often reveal flaws, things crack when their fatigue life is reached. Like high heat in the oven for 2 hours, then air cool to room temp., and into the dry ice chest down to - whatever degrees, then repeat. Its alot of time and effort, but if you dont have access to lab. equipment, and you are using common household items, it can be done. Just go till you break it. Please write about your new "fluid", and the results of your tests, in a future post, I'm always curious about the properties of bonded materials, and the bonding agent involved. Levi

I had a friend who used to age decoys he had carved by placing them on the roof of their house - that should give you plenty of accelerated aging in a much shorter time - still, 10 years worth might take you a year??? Try it!

Chuck Ungs

Peter Mulbjerg wrote: "... there must be some way to accelerate the aging process - extreme heat, extreme cold, moisture etc etc.. "

YES, Peter, there are ways to simulate and accelerate aging, and that is how it is done in industrial testing. But you would have to invest in temperature and humidity or atmosphere controlled chambers that can cycle and / or be stable for long periods of time (weeks or months). There are calculations and tables for temperature elevations and the corresponding accelerated rates of reactions, but they are NOT linear functions (they are usually exponential) and subject to non-ideality.

Peter - For your purposes, you may find that BURYING the item in the soil ~ 6 inches deep, where rainfall can seep down onto it, is a very convenient and realistic age accelerator. Just make sure the grave has a marker so you can find it again. Let the soil microbes and the natural temperature and moisture cycles work for you. I would guess that one month of interment would be equivalent to ~ one year of hard daily use. Soil fungi are especially well designed for disintegrating wood, so this is about as perfect a model as you can get for free. Courtesy of the Creator. -Cliff Hall+++, Gainesville, FL-USA*****

Thank you for your suggestions guys - as I will be doing several samples made in several ways I will use some of your methods to try and destroy the samples :-)