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You've got to see this! The Splinter

Project by cpt_hammer posted 584 days ago 2324 views 6 times favorited 41 comments Add to Favorites Watch

A woodworker’s dream. A 600-hp car made out of wood. I found this on Toolmonger website the other day. The scary thing is that they are actually building it!! They have several sponsors and I can’t wait to see the final product. Check out the blog of the construction and the details of the design a Joe Harmon's Website. By the way, it’s name is “The Splinter”


41 comments so far

View DannyBoy's profile

DannyBoy

439 posts in 744 days


posted 584 days ago

That is rich!

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

View toyguy's profile

toyguy

699 posts in 716 days


posted 584 days ago

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

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

View JasonH's profile

JasonH

137 posts in 706 days


posted 584 days ago

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

-- Living on the square...

View Woodshopfreak's profile

Woodshopfreak

390 posts in 620 days


posted 584 days ago

I’ll take one :)

-- Tyler, Illinois

View Mario's profile

Mario

880 posts in 930 days


posted 584 days ago

WOW that is awesome.

Thanks for the link.

-- Hope Never fails

View brunob's profile

brunob

1465 posts in 1048 days


posted 584 days ago

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

-- Bruce from Central New York

View Muzhik's profile

Muzhik

128 posts in 1016 days


posted 584 days ago

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? :)

View jockmike2's profile

jockmike2

7222 posts in 1125 days


posted 584 days ago

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

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

View schaney's profile

schaney

24 posts in 587 days


posted 584 days ago

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

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

View David's profile

David

89 posts in 594 days


posted 584 days ago

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 ! ”

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9497 posts in 867 days


posted 584 days ago

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.

View David's profile

David

89 posts in 594 days


posted 584 days ago

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!

View Roz's profile

Roz

441 posts in 665 days


posted 584 days ago

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."

View ratchet's profile

ratchet

285 posts in 665 days


posted 584 days ago

you all have no faith in the power of plywood.

View motthunter's profile

motthunter

2079 posts in 677 days


posted 584 days ago

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

-- making sawdust....

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5970 posts in 944 days


posted 583 days ago

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

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

View Blake's profile

Blake

2715 posts in 753 days


posted 583 days ago

I know what my next project is now.

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

View rikkor's profile

rikkor

11338 posts in 753 days


posted 583 days ago

OOOooooooooh! That thing is going 200 MPH standing still!

View Bradford's profile

Bradford

783 posts in 701 days


posted 583 days ago

Will it be street legal?

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

View ND2ELK's profile

ND2ELK

6065 posts in 652 days


posted 583 days ago

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

View GusRod's profile

GusRod

28 posts in 627 days


posted 583 days ago

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.

View Muzhik's profile

Muzhik

128 posts in 1016 days


posted 583 days ago

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…

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9497 posts in 867 days


posted 582 days ago

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.

View Muzhik's profile

Muzhik

128 posts in 1016 days


posted 582 days ago

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?

View black_dog's profile

black_dog

1 post in 582 days


posted 582 days ago

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!

View Muzhik's profile

Muzhik

128 posts in 1016 days


posted 581 days ago

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.

View jeanmarc's profile

jeanmarc

1750 posts in 595 days


posted 567 days ago

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

-- jeanmarc manosque france

View Lee A. Jesberger's profile

Lee A. Jesberger

3709 posts in 858 days


posted 567 days ago

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

View Chris Wright's profile

Chris Wright

345 posts in 359 days


posted 342 days ago

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

View Todd Thomas 's profile

Todd Thomas

4825 posts in 327 days


posted 280 days ago

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! †

View Les Hastings's profile

Les Hastings

948 posts in 651 days


posted 217 days ago

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!)

View dennis mitchell's profile

dennis mitchell

3785 posts in 1193 days


posted 217 days ago

Now that could get under my skin!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

View mcoyfrog's profile

mcoyfrog

735 posts in 473 days


posted 201 days ago

Sweet

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

View JonJ's profile

JonJ

105 posts in 718 days


posted 146 days ago

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

View Napaman's profile

Napaman

3416 posts in 955 days


posted 146 days ago

wow…

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

View jerryz's profile

jerryz

109 posts in 157 days


posted 117 days ago

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”

View a1Jim's profile

a1Jim

15549 posts in 455 days


posted 116 days ago

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

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

View wildfire's profile

wildfire

19 posts in 188 days


posted 105 days ago

You boys scare me at times:)

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

View Sawdust2's profile

Sawdust2

1168 posts in 966 days


posted 49 days ago

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.

View cabinetmaster's profile (online now)

cabinetmaster

7999 posts in 436 days


posted 49 days ago

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

View MadBear's profile

MadBear

25 posts in 472 days


posted 11 days ago

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."

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