Experimental Clock Made With "Wooden Plastic" Gears
by TreeHugger 
on 05.27.05
These clock gears are made out of a "wooden plastic". They were used to make a large clock exhibit at the World Expo 2005 held in Aichi, Japan. It's true that composites of wood and plastic and been previously developed. In this instance though, the clock gears are made out of 100% waste wood. These materials are heated at 392°F in a high-temperature steam boiler, to break down the wood fibers.
The resulting material is dried and powdered. The powder is then re-heated and pressed into disc-shape. In the end, there is little difference in strength between gears made of wooden “plastic” and those made of conventional plastic. One wonders if the embodied energy in this process makes it all worth while. Perhaps when compared to the production of plastic or metal? :: Clock Exhibit [by Justin Thomas]
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Has anyone come up with any recipes to make this stuff using a conventional home oven?
I think that they are delignifying temporarily with the steam and then melding the cellulose fibers under intense pressures. When it cools down the lignin re-cements itself and the resulting new structure is rather wood-like, but with non-linear and hence stronger structure. It is also possible that the makers are not telling us everyting. My hunch is that they are adding some acrylic resins or modified urethane resin to keep it strong and shear resistant. If its to be a money maker then secret ingredients remain so.
In 17th century america, very sophisticated clocks were made out of wood as a form of import substitution- they were only allowed to buy from england and it was very expensive. from A Brief History of American Clockmaking:
Eli Terry appeared upon the American clockmaking scene. To him goes the credit for being the first to mass-produce low-priced clocks. Terry has been described as the last of the craftsmen and the first of the industrialists. In 1807 Terry accepted an order for about 4,000 wood movements; he completed the order about 1810.
To some extent he was helped by the Jefferson Embargo of 1807-9 and the War of 1812-14, both of which severely restricted the importation of material from England. In 1814 Terry produced a 20" shelf clock which he patented in 1816. The beautiful Pillar and Scroll clock followed. Seth Thomas purchased the right to make it. The lower part of Terry's clocks were fitted with a glass plate on which was painted a design, although enough of the glass was left clear for the swinging pendulum to be seen.
A boom in clockmaking in Connecticut occurred in the 1820s and clocks began to be sent all over the country. Then a bizarre situation arose:
Clocks were used for barter in place of money. This situation ended abruptly when the depression of 1837 brought the American clockmaking industry to a complete standstill. It also saw the end of the wooden clock movement.
This post reminds me of a technique using microwave ovens. I imagine that delignification does occur at the elevated temperatures that wood must get to in the microwave (look out! it catches fire fast!). The timber can then be press moulded, and the resulting product is stronger than could have been made using the original timber.
I previously knew of a firm in connecticut which manufactures (d??) wooden gears for my Daniel Pratt all wooden gear clock. Does anyone know of such a firm?