You've got to see this! The Splinter

That is rich!

-- He said wood...http://hickbyassociation.blogspot.com/

That’s something I could get into…......... Just tooo big… LOL

-- Brian's Table Top Toys http://home.mountaincable.net/~bgraham/

Beautiful! I wonder if it catches fire if you go too fast… :-)

-- Living on the square...

I’ll take one :)

-- Tyler, Illinois

WOW that is awesome.

Thanks for the link.

-- Hope Never fails

Cool, but I think I’ll stick to my TR3. Thanks for the link.

-- Bruce from Central New York

That’s amazing! Thanks for posting it. I’m not sure I’d want to drive it. I wonder if they’re making a wooden airbag for it, too? :)

Simply amazing. Hope they don’t plan on going 200 mph in it. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Very nice ride, not “your Father’s Woody station wagon” ...

-- Scott, Camping the "Compact Way", www.cttct.com

All kidding aside: maybe jockmike 2 wouldn’t go 200 in it but remember that a lot of air racers (airplanes) were and some still are made from wood and they fly around 200. Wood is good!! our origonal “green” composite material. This project is awesome. You guys have to got to this site and see some of the photos on flicker too. There’s one photo with a rolling gantry jig/tool/device along the base of the car. Kind of like a CNC router rig but maybe just for measuring and getting it all symetrical and right. ....and then there was the Spruce Goose: if you ever get to Mcminnville, Oregon (s of Portland) ~ ya gotta see this thing!

”WOOD IS GOOD ! ”

Looks pretty good. No way that wood can handle 600HP though. It will just leave it a pile of slpinters.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I’ve got a case that says it will handle 600 HP. If you don’t believe it check out this
http://www.sprucegoose.org/aircraft_artifacts/exhibits.html
...and it wasn’t really made frome spruce: it was birch and the baby actually flew!

Where did they put the airbags and tweesers?

-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."

you all have no faith in the power of plywood.

you have to be careful… burning rubber could burn something else too.

-- making sawdust....

That’s incredible – hope they get a termite contract on it.

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

I know what my next project is now.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

OOOooooooooh! That thing is going 200 MPH standing still!

Will it be street legal?

-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.

I am surprised the wood would take the heat from the engine. Don’t think it would hold up in Iowa winters. Did they give any price for this? I don’t think I will buy stock in the company yet.

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

Duh. Next thing you know, someone will try to build a spaceship or submarine outta wood! Wouldn’t want to see it if it crashed. Nope, you couldn’t get me to invest in this company either ….

-- Nothing says "I love you" like a saw blade.

I’ve consumed that entire website in the last day or so. It’s a graduate student from UNC and his team that are building it. They have put a ton of thought and ingenuity into the design and execution. I’m a gearhead, too, so this is right up my alley.

Thier FAQ answers alot of the comments in this thread. I was pretty skeptical myself until I got sucked in…

David – No way, pushing against air vs concrete is no compairson. Steel cars need renforcement with that
much HP. The torque would tear it apart from a standing start. Maybe starting slow keep the torque low
would be the only to make use of the top end.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Their reasoning is that if you layer up veneers right and add enough resin, it becomes like any other composite material (i.e. carbon fiber).

Look at it this way, when you ram a car into a tree, which one usually comes out on top?

With a pair of Eaton M90s force feeding a Northstar, it should make heaps of low end torque. It will be interesting to see the results at the very least! Wonder if they’re going to put the engine on a dyno once its finally built and before they mount it in the chasis for the last time?

Muzhik,

I’m sure this was an honest mistake, but the Joe Harmon is actually a grad student at NC State, not UNC. I majored in Wood Products at NCSU, so I have a vested interest in seeing the Splinter succeed :)

PS: I looked at your gallery on this site…that jewelry box you made is AWESOME!

D’oh! Thanks for the correction, black_dog. Thanks for the comment on the jewelry box as well.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Splinter will succeed. Joe seems as dedicated as they come. I’ve read the entire blog. He has an entry for every day, to include Christmas and Thanksgiving, detailing the work he did for that day on the project… EVERY DAY! That kind of tenacity can only lead to success.

there N is qu ’ a word has to say C is splendid

-- jeanmarc manosque france

That is too cool.

Whether it works or not doesn’t change the fact it’s a beautiful design, and a tremendous undertaking.

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

I saw it at the IWF show in Atlanta this past August. It’s great in person, but I’ll be more impressed when it’s finished and actually driving.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

way cool…....

-- Todd, Oak Ridge, TN, Hello my name is Todd and I'm a Toolholic, I bought my last tool 10 days, no 4 days, oh heck I bought a tool on the way here! †

I seen this car when I went to Atlanta last year to the tool show. They did an awesome job on it.

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)

Now that could get under my skin!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Sweet

-- Wood and Glass they kick (well you know) Have a great day - Dug

On the subject of HP on wood…I once was considering building a homemade airplane, a Pietenpol. It was designed in the late 20’s, and people are still building and flying them today. Many have 110hp corvair engines hanging off the front attached to four 1” x 1” frame pieces….and the design is consider “overbuilt” by many!

One of the cool things about wood vs. aluminum airplanes is: aluminum will fatigue and break once it is flexed enough times- Wood does not. It is just harder to find tight grained aircraft wood now.

-- Jon

wow…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Mr. Howard Hughes built his gigantic flying boat The “Spruce Goose” out of wood entirely because during the war there was a shortage of aluminum (It was all used up in the contruction of war planes), no aluminum for research, it had 8 Eight Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radials (largest radial reciprocating engines ever built) each developing 3,000 HP and had a total Gross Weight of 400,000 pounds.

Oh, by the way another nickname this plane was called was: “Flying Lumberyard”

They had a whole article about it in Wood magazine a few months ago

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

You boys scare me at times:)

-- If you don't try you will never know if you can!

I, too, saw it at the IWF. Spent some time talking with Joe and his team.
The wheel spokes are made out of wood and they withstand torque greater than steel. I seem to recall they required 600 ft/lbs and the wood got to 750 ft/lbs.

The engine, for reasons I don’t understand, a Cadillac engine, had to be reworked to fire in a different order than originally manufactured. The engine wasn’t in it at the IWF

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Built right here in North Carolina too. Have seen sveral articles in magazines about this car.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

That was featured in an issue of WOOD magazine.

-- "Many years ago I chased a woman, only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: we both were crazy about girls."