Making bulletproof wood

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Back in 2020, I read a paper that claimed that bulletproof wood might be possible. The moment that I saw this, I felt that I had to test it myself and I spent the next 3 years working on it.
References:
•The paper that this video was based on: www.nature.com/articles/natur...
•Premier Body armor photo: premierbodyarmor.com/blogs/pb...
My transparent wood video: • Making transparent wood
CodeBullet: @CodeBullet
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Nile talks about lab safety: • Chemistry is dangerous.
Music in credits (Walker by SORRYSINES): / walker

[@chaschuky999]

RIP the dream of Nigel owning a “nugsmasher pro” would’ve been a truly legendary piece of lab equipment.

[@average_super_jew1234]

I was thinking the same thing 😂😂😂

[@EddieBurke]

lol if he smoked he could get good use out of it, too bad it was aluminum since it was cheaper than the other option.

[@doughnut1107]

He has a Nugsmasher Ultra. More power, more pressure, more nug smashing!

[@dwp8200]

Wewd!! ❤

[@-dystopic-]

I really want one so it would have been cool to see one in use!

[@HimanXK]

I love that we get sentences like "It hit me in the head and I was genuinely really surprised" in the classic Nile Red monotone.

[@blasttyrant3228]

Timestamp?

[@neogmz]

@@blasttyrant3228 29:59

[@johnsmith-jq1uc]

do you think we can get him to send these to demolitionranch?

[@delbrooke7655]

As well as “i then got rid of the gun I probably shouldn’t have been running with” That made me lose it 😭😭

[@MrFailman552]

My favorite is "And again, after fifteen hours of work, I was left with a wet block of wood." at 25:08 I don't know why it cracks me up so much lmao

[@burtlux3736]

Code Bullet randomly appearing in Nigel's video might just be the most Code Bullet thing I've ever seen

[@jagunreal7419]

Yeah

[@masterpiece1817]

Yeah I had to stop what I was doing because Code Bullet was the LAST name I expected to hear during this.

[@michael9433]

Honestly I think the most cold bullet thing is that his solution to the rig falling over was just grabbing a random wet piece of wood and slapping it up in the back.

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

@@michael9433 He didn't had his Artificial UnIntelligance to think for him!

[@robertdascoli949]

Also, codebullet appears on the only episode where bullets are actually being fired. What's the odds.

[@sljk]

4K Hydraulic Press-Nah 6K Candy Shaper - Take my money

[@andyfriederichsen]

Why do you think he lacks the money to buy a hydraulic press?

[@azraellie_]

​@@andyfriederichsen read those numbers again, slowly this time

[@andyfriederichsen]

@@azraellie_ You're the one who needs to read the numbers again.

[@MELON_CATTO_]

​@@andyfriederichsen no UR the one

[@timothygregg8504]

Hey Nile! I used to work as a Materials Engineer in body armor manufacturing, and what you've experimentally found are some of the core principles of the materials science behind high-performance ballistic armor! Towards the end you mention that you could likely make something half the thickness and still stop a 9mm; take a look at the construction of NIJ level II or level IIIA soft armors: what you'll find is that they are *remarkably* thin. Turns out, high tensile strength is pretty much the number one reason that poly-aramids (Kevlar and the like) are such great armor materials. What I think your pressed-wood plates would serve a better function as is as an up-armor for level II or level IIIA soft armors. This is usually done with a ceramic plate that provides the compressive strength to the initial impact zone that the fibrous soft armor is able to absorb as tensile load, but the densified wood could serve as a great substitute! If you want to get really deep into the armor classification side of things, you can also take a look at "back-face deformation" tests that are done to classify/test armors. Drop me an email if you'd like and I can answer any questions! I'm not in the armor space any more but I have a ton of knowledge built up from the time when I was, and I would love to put it to good use somewhere :P Edit: Someone made the great point that my email isn't super obviously available; it's on my channel (or here: [e-mail]) if anyone wants to reach out. I can't promise a prompt response, but I'll try! Also someone pointed out I should have said "Level IIIA soft armor" not "Level III", thanks for the correction, I've edited above!

[@DSlyde]

Ever thought of making a few videos yourself? I'd love Armor Material Science 101

[@gertrude1585]

great explanation, but i never trought i would see a body armor expert in a chemistry video comment section XD. anyway, have a wonderful day

[@johan0220]

cool

[@dakotareid1566]

Make your own videos on armour

[@MrSonnyfy]

​@@DSlydeagreed

[@lewistaylor863]

If you fancy revisiting this, try carrying out the first chemical wash step under vacuum. The wood contains lots of air, and the presence of the air within the cells prevents the chemicals penetrating through the whole cross section of the piece (thats why the centre looked dry). When pulling a vacuum, most of that air is removed. The vacuum can then be realased forcing the chemicals deep into the piece. In order to remove the chemicals, you can then place the treated piece under vacuum again to help draw out excess chemicals before washing. This is basically how they pressure treat timber with wood preservatives.

[@GlazeonthewickeR]

You explained this so well that I feel smarter now, even though I know I’m not

[@sachiko6530]

yeah I thought the same, vacuum would help to make the chemicals penetrate fully, also help when drying too

[@dereks1743]

This is the way

[@pingugames9942]

@@GlazeonthewickeR you're better than that!

[@nahusomega1007]

i was about to comment that in a less well explained way... i like watching videos where mashmallows go brrrr under vaccum, yup

[@GhostoftheSnow271]

We use Sodium Nitrate to wash salmonid eggs at the fish hatchery I work at. It used to clean off bacteria, viruses, and fungal spores without killing the developing eggs. This year we used hydrogen peroxide on pike and Muskie eggs (bad idea), and milk for walleye eggs.

[@aaronalbertson8670]

"Taken months to find land that I could legally shoot at" Damn. That is a wild sentence to hear as an American lmao

[@leojennings2438]

Nile: *spends $5000 on a press* Also Nile: "WE GOT PINE BECAUSE IT WAS THE CHEAPEST"

[@plotwok]

he didnt have money left to buy anything else than pine lmao

[@crazynthree]

Haha. Someone get this man a bottle of titebond

[@mothgirl326]

Dont forget the US$1,556.37 at 33:52

[@Nadiki]

He’s gotta save money _somewhere_

[@CubeNinja07]

You gotta realize that they could sell or use that machine in the future, aswell as the fact that they were buying the actual machine for more money than the material because they wanted to proove that even the bad wood could turn bulletproof

[@pacenal_18]

He started this project almost 4 years ago! That's insane. People underestimate how long these chemistry videos take

[@MusicAddictMAD]

It’s what makes me truly appreciate his videos when they come out because they are years of work just for internet strangers, but because he is passionate about his subject the videos are always amazing.

[@KakavashaForever]

This was just barely a chemistry video honestly.

[@dyvdwastaken]

@@KakavashaForever this guy probably dont even know was dihydrogen monoxide is, and thinks NaCl is a dangerous chemical

[@jimmykrochmalska3501]

@@KakavashaForever all in all you gotta appreciate the effort

[@klausklebbi3772]

@@dyvdwastakenYou don‘t need to go around telling people you have a small penis

[@iamnotgonnatellyou]

I love how Nile narrates opening the crate with the exact same tone of voice and cadence as he does for narrating very serious chemistry stuff.

[@charles71629]

Thanks NileRed, the video is very informative, and I can learn your persistence regardless of failures.

[@user-uz1ky5fp8y]

hong kong

[@lucam8758]

I'm happy you tested a control experiment with normal wood, it really puts the strength of dense wood into perspective

[@dieSpinnt]

There was a wrong assumption from the beginning on (several times mentioned, like after 24:00 ): "Not hard enough", "Hardness", etc. This feature does NOT stop bullets. The ability to completely take up an IMPULSE force and to equalize it over a big area, in contrast does.

[@lucam8758]

@@dieSpinnt correct me if I'm wrong: a very hard material could be brittle and be unable to stop a bullet, right?

[@DNVIC]

​@@dieSpinnt Webster definition of the word hard: "not easily penetrated : not easily yielding to pressure" I'd say hardness is a fine word to use here. Hard itself is a fairly vague word, and stuff that's hard on for example the Moh's scale might not be hard when judged by a different metric. Given the definition for the word hard says "Not easily penetrated" and he's testing to see if a bullet can penetrate it, I don't see any problem with using the word hard or hardness to describe the situation.

[@timothymiller6426]

An hr long NileRed video? Best Halloween ever.

[@wagnerramosmidichannelabso514]

[insert blank comment here]

[@MayeulVarin]

Yup😊

[@vinvin_2lit]

@@wagnerramosmidichannelabso514shut up NERD

[@lachlanbrown3112]

It's not Halloween for me

[@welltoastybread8838]

Um technically it’s 59:37 ☝️🤓

[@rizu-kun9687]

So glad to see you got a mold machined. I did a very similar process while I was in grad school to make particleboard out of sisal fiber and waste carpet. The diagonal lines you were observing in your earlier attempts were likely shear delamination due to the wood slipping as it was compressed. And as others have pointed out, the Poisson effect causes materials to expand in one axis when compressed in another. It would be interesting to see the densities of the boards compared before vs. after using the stainless steel mold. And kudos for highlighting one of the most frustrating aspects of reference papers: not enough detail on their actual procedure that would let you repeat it yourself.

[@Chimchimchiree]

Man. The dedication is both super impressive and appreciated. That is the most I've enjoyed a KZbin video in years. Cheers

[@nexdemise4182]

So here's the thing. This is something you will see with weaves like carbon fiber or kevlar where a single layer will splinter, a double perpendicular will hold. You could significantly improve this by using thinner pieces and just stacking a bunch of them together because the impact has to keep changing direction instead of just cleaving through lines that line up behind it. So if you ever want to revisit this project, take a bunch of thin boards (the thinner the better, like you can break it by looking at it wrong thin), treat them all, stack them in your press going horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, squish them all together, cook them, and try shooting it. Squish them all together to basically make them stick together on force alone. L3 plates are like 1.5 inch thick which is basically what you should be aiming for as the higher bound on thickness, and who knows, maybe it'll work. Another thing you should do with the bigger blocks you've treated is to take a hammer and chisel and break one of them apart before crush/cook (or you can shoot it with your pellet gun to make a hole down) and see if it's actually wet inside, there's a lot of different non-water liquids that can still stay behind in wood and judging from the dark color you might've been pushing out resin especially in pine that's known for holding a lot of it and crackling in fire because of it. If that's the case you didn't really have treated wood, you just had a weird hotpocket of treated wood with filling of compressed wood.

[@ruolbu]

hotpocket of treated wood Man you got ways of putting it. I agree with your suggestions though. This is really interesting to me and I would love a revisit.

[@Lasershark666]

Underrated comment, honestly best advice I’ve ever seen in a KZbin comment

[@seanmoran9406]

This shit would work. It’s straight up what he’s doing but using the logic of grapheme and Kevlar as your discussed. The layers splintering and dispersing the weight evenly. W comment

[@ascendantindigo271]

I think the problem is he's not heating/cooking it while compressing it.

[@ians5337]

Perhaps taking several of these panels made as you described, and stacking them with an elastic contact cement. Spread the energy out further with the same principal as ballistic glass

[@cybercat7851]

Let’s applaud the real chads here: the delivery guys who brought the heat press inside.

[@MeltedMask]

Jack Pallet, is hes name. True Chad, made of steel. For the friends he is Pallet Jack Lifter of half ton.

[@davidgarner7948]

Had to have used a pallet jack

[@lonelyredgiant]

That was the first thing I thought when he received it.

[@justinmckee2256]

@@MeltedMaskthere’s half ton ones? The pallet jacks we use are good to 5500lb

[@dearthofdoohickeys4703]

No way they didn’t use a jack

[@user-zl9ws4tp9c]

the honesty in your narration made me stay and eventually subscribe, in case you wondered or no one else had given their reasons for subscribing. absolutely great content!

[@starvesurvivor4223]

I love how Nile always says "carefully" then goes on to swing away with an axe.

[@mercylessplayer]

Code Buullet doing literally anything besides being productive is hilarious to me, love the vibes of that man

[@NbNgMOD]

Litterly no one asked about cb: never mind didnt watch the video fully sorry

[@Rev_Erser]

does he show up at all i'm only 22 minutes in @@NbNgMOD

[@Teh_Random_Canadian]

I am absolutely shocked Code Bullet was in this video lol, how TF did that even happen lol

[@Rev_Erser]

40:17 there he is!

[@Rev_Erser]

ok anyways shut up this is a public comment section@@NbNgMOD

[@MikeT]

I saw the inside of the wood being dry from the start of the video. I do a lot of woodworking and have stabilized wood before which is kind of the same concept of what you were trying to do. You have to completely submerge the wood and pull a vacuum until it stops bubbling, then let it sit still submerged so the liquid can replace where the air came from in the wood.

[@fakinyamo]

Indeed. Probably he would have ended with a much stronger single piece of wood if he had applied vacuum.

[@frankthechemist]

Came to say that exact same thing. I would even go further and suggest to do a few cycles of vacuum to atmospheric pressure, or even higher pressure if possible. Considering that the timing of the reaction is important in order not to remove too much lignin, it is important to get the caustic soda and sulfites inside as fast as possible. Same thing for the rinsing afterwards.

[@StoneAndersonStudio]

I was going to leave this comment, with the caveat that pulling a vacuum on it will make the water boil, and having a solution of boiling sodium hydroxide under vacuum might be a little dangerous/impossible depending on the kind of vacuum pump.

[@alextoppen]

What about pulling a vacuum through the end grain to draw the chemical bath through the wood continuously.

[@downstream0114]

I was thinking thinner plates of wood.

[@joshinya42069]

So according to Nile’s gun permit he’s 8’2 😂😂

[@TheGuyWhoComments]

He used the chemicals to make him taller

[@CameronLarson330]

It’s also worth noting that you shot the wood with a 9mm PCC witch has a significantly longer barrel than a handgun, meaning that it had a lot more energy than a handgun. You did better than you thought. 👍🏻

[@bradleysmith9431]

Yep, 9mm out of a 16" barrel gives the 9mm as much knock down power as a .357 mag. The longer barrel drastically increases the speed of the projectile

[@joshl90]

@@bradleysmith9431omg knock down power hahahaha. That fake term is still being thrown around? Is this 2005?

[@DashsChannel]

At first my brain couldn't wrap around the idea that a longer barrel would give the bullet more energy, since it's the same amount of energy being put into the bullet. But then I realized a longer barrel means more time for the propellant gases to expand and impart their kinetic energy to the bullet.

[@CameronLarson330]

@@DashsChannel Exaxtly right, and that’s the appeal of PCCs. It allows you to get a full powder burn and utilize all that the round have to offer.

[@Epsilon2042]

​@@joshl90haha lol, everybody is ignoring you 🤣

[@Eihei]

I can't believe this video was almost 1 hour long. It felt like 15-20 minutes. Never felt bored at any point.

[@peterobinson3678]

I dunno... there was the 15 mins i was , like, 'put 2 at 90 degrees opposition!'...

[@jbjb679]

​@@peterobinson3678cool

[@lemonke8132]

@@peterobinson3678 the whole time i was pissed cuz he would let it boil overnight where the psi dropped to 0. Obviously that means water left gaps and there's more room to squish it...

[@elwynalderman3356]

@@lemonke8132pfp says it all

[@MysticMinis-ol3co]

Was on the edge of my seat with this one! Amazing content, would love to see this revisited with improvements and cross testing (like how it performs against other commonly used ballistic stopping materials)

[@MrScorpnok]

If you decide to revisit this, i think adding a layer of strong fabric or some foam between the wood layers might make it so that even 2 layers would be enough - my thinking is that something flexible/ soft absorbs the shock better than having 2 hard materials back to back

[@spudhead169]

You used a 9x19 carbine. The longer barrel will allow the bullet more velocity than a pistol, so the wood stopping it was even more impressive seeing as most armor ratings for 9x19 is based on hand-gun velocities.

[@mistyslee7962]

exactly i was thinking that so even tho the first time he used a gun it blowed the back it actually didnt do so bad because its not a hand gun or a small gun

[@Calysto929]

I think he should try 5x thinner layers and go 10x layers and laminate them similar to Kevlar.

[@SirBilliam96]

I was going to say the same thing! So he stopped a 9mm at what is basically the maximum energy (or penetrating power if you prefer) that you can expect out of the caliber. Very impressive!

[@eyesonthekingdom]

you'd think it would but longer doesnt always mean better.. in fact the 9x39 mm optimal barrel length is around 7 1/2 in. anything more you start to lose velocity to friction on the barrel rifling due to the gunpowder being used up prior to bullet leaving barrel

[@sat_homeless]

Yeah I was gonna mention that. I was really surprised.

[@karet2490]

i like how his script always makes him sound like hes reading off a chemistry procedure paper this will be the most thorough explanation of opening a box you will hear in your life

[@theshanamaster]

he shouldve used walnut, and along the grain, rather against the grain

[@jupiter_adept]

He has such a particular cadence to his speech; I feel like you could set your watch to his pauses and upward lilts

[@karet2490]

@@jupiter_adept his voice is so intriguing he made a video about it

[@siqi1790]

@@karet2490what video?

[@karet2490]

@@siqi1790 I don't remember thr name

[@atzepengbar]

Exceptional dedication and persistance. Congratulations!

[@user-ni1ow7xi6x]

I am on a road trip and your vids are the only thing keeping me entertained😊

[@OverwatchPlaysGames147]

I'm really surprised that Nile didn't use a vacuum chamber to help saturate the wood with the chemicals. I think that if the entire block was saturated, it would help with the layers bonding and causing less splitting when shot.

[@wiliestrogue2924]

When he cut the wood and it was dry in the middle...this was my thought. A vacuum chamber would make this process far more reliable.

[@chrisguest5528]

Either that or pressure cook it

[@thexguard9492]

I saw this process being used to pickle cucumbers within like a minute

[@gearhead1302]

My thought exactly. Like the pickle from Action Lab

[@SoranDK]

So fun coming to write a comment and finding exactly the same already here and even citing the exact same pickle video I was thinking off when he cut the side 😛

[@CXensation]

Your experiments made me think you should try using several even thinner wood plates stacked with alternating fiber directions. Besides that you should find a forum where you could submit a factual report on your findings. Any serious contribution like yours to life saving methods should never just be forgotten. 😊

[@redactedredacted5478]

Me and my dad both have the same exact gun. Beautiful choice :) you are an informed consumer in all aspects, including firearms and I respect that.

[@zackbryans4982]

Just casually inviting code bullet to shoot some condensed wood in a random forest is the most NileRed thing. The crossover none of us knew we needed.

[@Avruthlelbh]

I have not once cared about celebrity appearances in shows or anything, but the moment I saw Code Bullet on a Chemistry-based channel, I actually jumped out of my seat a bit.

[@KamielDV2]

The collab of Heroes we needed

[@Thugshaker_thequaker]

Have you discovered safety third podcast yet?

[@apollocosmic3780]

Evan was the last person i expected to see on a nile red video ngl

[@BobbieTheFish]

Brings him to the forest like "wait I thought you were a shooting channel"

[@miomip]

Finally, we know what Code Bullet has been doing, shooting wood in the woods with Nilered.

[@justsomekidthatsinfinitely7090]

This is somehow weirder the further it goes on

[@watch_nana]

Now we know why he never uploads. He's just too busy helping Nigel test how hard his wood is.

[@j.m.ematthijsse6251]

Together with Emplemon and Barely sociable

[@satiric_]

Code Bullet, now with real bullets.

[@enkays_den]

I am not familiar, but looking at their gaming channel, I presume this is a joke because their name has bullet in it. I will return if an actual gamer appears in the video to shoot the wood.

[@tymeless8827]

Dude, that was so f#@%ing cool. I'm so glad you didn't quit in the early stages

[@ibie27]

The Collab we never thought we wanted, but we needed.

[@caittails]

Nile really takes peer reviewing to a new level. 😂

[@frandurrieu6477]

Peer reviewing the shit one of those shitty srticles would focus on

[@Jbrimbelibap]

peer rewewding

[@vrdev4714]

I'd have a few things to say to the team that wrote that paper, after spending weeks troubleshooting...

[@TheReKinn]

I love how in chemistry there seem to be so many moments where you proceed in the experiment based on "Color changed. Things happened. ONWARD"

[@EmiStar070]

I f-cked around, I found out, I'm recording it, and now let's kick it up a notch!

[@TheMichaellathrop]

Just remember that stuff is in fact a technical chemistry term

[@dominikbeitat4450]

@@EmiStar070 "Remember kids, the only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[@EmiStar070]

@@dominikbeitat4450 it's science if you record it!

[@mariannatatarska1140]

well that's basically how it works colour changed so chemically something happened (probably)

[@penguin_king2759]

This is my first time watching your video and was very surprised seeing code bullet

[@leonardomelo8378]

What helped its the waves (circles parts) are straight paralel to the ground, not tilted

[@fadhilyudistira8819]

nile went from precise chemistry into alchemy into ballistic research and now he's going back to alchemy next

[@waleedabdullahkhan5706]

lol some months later nile would say so we are testing if my wooden bunker can a bomb

[@LuisSierra42]

And then to construct an atomic bomb from apples

[@shaurmiath6719]

My favorite thing about your channel is that you show and discuss your failures. I think a lot of our society is geared towards avoiding failure or even mention of it, and that's a shame. Failure is an extremely important part of science, and life as a whole. Often, an important part of finding out what works involves finding out what doesn't work. You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't think about them and try to improve your process, and from a viewer's perspective, it makes it much more satisfying to see you succeed when we see how many times you tried things that didn't work like you expected. I appreciate that.

[@Noober_king]

Sorry but i aint. Reading. Allat.

[@camonangeland676]

@@Noober_kingYimzzz

[@genius171]

ong

[@Everythingz127]

​@@Noober_kingdon't worry your low attention span is just what you should work on. You got this babe

[@ManHeadRambo]

Well said

[@a_random_tire]

Do to having the most hated teacher in the school for the last 4 years, I have disliked science. This channel (and nile blue) have made me enjoy science again. This is awesome

[@coltonforsman7749]

It makes me so happy to know that I watched you and code bullet and you guys are friends😂

[@FullPounder]

After 12 years of school, I didn't think it would be possible for me to sit through an hour of chemistry without zoning out. I stand corrected.

[@dylutant]

Most academic things become fun and interesting once you're out of compulsory education. I was finishing up my masters (physics) around the same time when discovering that history, get this, is captivating as hell and twice as metal if not told by a pompous old bag that regurgitates dates. Now I'm 35 and if I could, I'd drop the job and transcend from weekend hobby into full-blown classics study in a heartbeat.

[@pedroamerico9992]

@@dylutant Yup history is pretty fucking brutal and i hate my teachers for not showing me that

[@MaskedDeath_]

@@dylutant Hard agree. I hated lots of subjects back in school, but I love learning about topics related to them now. I think that the worst problem is that most of education focuses on memorization and not actual learning and building critical thinking skills. I understand that some basic knowledge is required, but what the education system tried (and is still trying, university isn't much better) to force into our brains is superfluous, and a waste of time and energy that could be spent on building actual skills.

[@thezipcreator]

@@MaskedDeath_ cos the primary point of the education system rn is to churn out workers, actual education comes second

[@stirfryjedi]

Thank you for the PSA that this is nearly an hour long lol

[@aneko31]

I was 100% sure the dry middle part was going to be foreshadowing for some critical issue that would fix everything but it just, didnt get mentioned at all 😭

[@Ace-nq4cp]

yeah, I actually wonder if it was a big thing though. Makes me wonder if the wood in the study was well seasoned and dry first. IM gonna do a google search on getting stain to penetrate all the way through wood. Also were the depth dimensions he used the same as the study? because that could change everything, because even if the outer shell is fully treated, he's then potentionally mixing that outer shell with the untreated inner shell, and that could throw off the whole chemical fusion aspect. the water is assumedly the only thing in the treated part by the time he was pressing, so it's not transfering over the first solution he used while pressing even. I wonder what would happen if he cut it into thin strips adding up to the same depth of starting wood, and then pressed them like that. One time with all the grain going the same direction, and one version with them criss crossed(even though that's not what was cited in the study, we might get some data from that)

[@thebakedchef]

I absolutely think it played a good part kinda a weird oversight

[@Preston241]

I wonder if drilling very small holes through could help disperse the liquid through the whole block. I imagine it would affect the structural integrity of the final product but it would be worth a shot if the idea is revisited someday.

[@Ace-nq4cp]

@@Preston241 It might not, considering the fusing process it is supposed to later go through when compressed/heated. You might be on to something!. Space the hooles a little less than the distance he observed it soaking through when he cut it? i think you're on to something worth trying.

[@cantthinkanameup]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠I also thought about the pressing process eventually permeating deeper into the wood, however, since the wood was washed several times and soaked, the solution would not remove the lignin and hemicellulose deeper in the wood. I think a reasonable solution would be to pressure treat the wood, instead of soaking it. Or prior to that, attempt soaking it for much longer. Or perhaps soaking/pressing multiple thinner layers, gluing them together with the grains reversed until a net desired thickness is achieved, and then try shooting it! I would also say that since wood glue is designed for wood and not designed for densified wood, I would also experiment with different types of glue if issues continued to persist

[@DermalDeviations]

Appreciate the subtle nod to Bobby Dukes Art.

[@TheHephaestus05]

Superwood! Wow that is incredible. Just think of all the possibilities for construction alone. Seems pretty straightforward and could easily be scaled up with large industrial machinery. Best part, its a renewable resource, unlike iron, aluminum, and steal! I have high expectations for this "super wood"

[@Qoride]

I have no idea why but seeing security footage of nigel just running into a box on the floor over and over again can't make me stop laughing

[@gardenthefermentingsound6218]

It looked like he was hugging it at first 😂

[@bradzulick69]

And his friend just stood there, watching, waiting...

[@arrrghr]

The only KZbinr who can make an hour feel like five minutes. Thank you Nigel for the awesome and engaging content.

[@TylerMusgrave9]

Dang! I didn't even realize this was an hour-long video!

[@TecMlt]

Same here.

[@minmogrovingstrongandhealthy]

yes when I keep skiping it XD

[@BetoVickers]

I thought it was only 20 minutes.

[@RogerLiem]

don't forget Primitive Technology

[@seti48]

You put a lot of effort into this. Very interesting. Thanks.

[@yeet1966]

I love the Bobby Duke Arts wewd shirt. It makes me happy to see creators support each other! These videos never fail to amaze me

[@peekitty]

Thanks for doing the comparison against normal wood at the very end.

[@theflyingwhale5778]

I just want to thank you for not cutting the failed experiments, all of them are genuinely interesting to watch

[@ZorakiSassan]

Yeah seeing all the steps and reasoning after each successful or unsuccessful experiment is the best part

[@brotherin]

frfr

[@harpintn]

Failure and trying something else is a big part of science.

[@Kauppamopo]

its a hook to keep you watching

[@Digimastertwo]

After the first test I was just mentally screaming "Use a form in the press!" And I am so glad you did.

[@agent57]

Haha, I was screaming that before he even pressed the first piece.

[@lysdexiar31]

me too!@@agent57

[@BobWidlefish]

Same! Obviously the press is tilting dramatically I don’t see why he struggles to see that. Each crank of the handle shows clearly a tilt.

[@nicholas31415]

I really had hoped he was going to use a puck press to not allow it to spread out in any direction. Plus he could have easily used a hole saw after soaking the wood to make it perfectly fit the mold. If I were to do this experiment, I would have tested the impact strength of different thicknesses of the glue lam wood plus the strength if one of the layers had the grain pointing towards the bullet. Adding a table and graphs would have been borderline ready to publish his findings. But yeah, it looked like quite a tedious boiling and pressing process, so I can see why he is kinda done with it.

[@ww-pw6di]

Also would make sense that if compressing the wood 5x makes it 5x stronger (denser), then why wouldn't 10x do the same just 10x stronger? There's probably an upperbound for how much lignin and hemicellulose can be removed, but just the fact that it could be compressed from 5x by 10% more, what we're seeing probably isn't that upperbound yet.

[@jacobroussin5484]

bro code bullet is one of my favorite creaters

[@nathanielfuggers]

I feel like a way to improve the cooking process would be to dry the wood before cooking it in chemicals, seems that the excess water that is being stored in the wood is not allowing the chemicals to be completely absorbed into the wood, preventing it from being 100% treated. I bet if it were dried out the chemicals would be able to make their way throughout the entire piece allowing it to dissolve the lignin and hemicellulose in the middle of the wood, allowing for the center to become much more dense and fused together during the pressing process, further improving strength. I would love to see more on this project in the future it was one of the more entertaining projects to watch you do!

[@Dhepburn634]

The fact that code bullet and Nilered are friends makes so much sense

[@aero8921]

he's also friends with Michael Reeves

[@Vector_vr.6]

Wouldn’t be surprised if he is freinds with vsause :/

[@definitelynotanAIchatbot]

Unfortunately, he's also friends with notorious child predator Carlos the Frog. 😒

[@TheManudo00]

He is friends with javrils too

[@morbrakai8533]

​@@Vector_vr.6 Or is he? 🤨

[@notredonsnek]

As a woodworker, this is incredibly fascinating.

[@JJFX-]

The first thing I thought is I totally want to turn a cheap 2x4 into a fingerboard for a guitar. What's really interesting is the potential to mold the wood as it's formed. You could potentially compress scrap wood into 'hardwood' into a specific contour or add other features at the same time. Hell, I'm curious how it'd look if you just stuck a quarter under the wood in the press.

[@BobbyLovesOranges]

hmm, same, though of turning it into a pickaxe or something, would be kinda cool

[@emissaryofelohim1431]

Try it with Hemp. Henry Ford built a Hemp Composite bodied model-A and demonstrated its durability by shooting it with a .30 cal machine gun. After which, he walked up, wiped the powder burn and fragments off, and proclaimed, "See folks! Not a Dent! And hardly a Scratch!" But then Stanley steel, Standard oil, and Hurst timber, made sure ol Henry, "got with the program."...

[@emissaryofelohim1431]

#HempCrete #HempCeramics

[@emissaryofelohim1431]

I wonder what ol Henry's recipe was.

[@Magicoalby]

I would recommend vacuuming the wood with the chemical compound so that the wood lets air out and allows more liquid to enter deeper.

[@Mariana-xk3bp]

I love how you speak so matter-of-factly in your introductions, saying stuff like "before this, the idea of bulletproof wood had never crossed my mind, but when I heard about it, I decided that I had to make it." You pretty much read the article, got excited as hell, and decided you needed to make it, lol.

[@Ocer.]

The Code Bullet collab was HIGHLY unexpected! Cool that you guys are friends

[@fallen_angelmemesforlife9172]

dumb shit coding and dumb shit chemistry. Now those are two things I never thought would become related.

[@hidennarror3952]

what i love is taping the wood to the block and propping a stick behind it is so a Code Bullet idea

[@GeckyWecky]

Hm I wouldn’t call it a collab, more like a cameo.

[@gusmalone2005]

Code Bullet was on the Safety Third podcast which Nile is usually a host on. I can't remember if Nile was on that particular episode though, he hasn't been hosting as regularly recently.

[@beardsntools]

Idk who this is, but he is very handsome, unlike the dude running this channel.

[@ast_rsk]

Forgetting the amazing bulletproof aspect, imagine a floor made of tiles of this wood, it looks downright manageable and beautiful.

[@mikealbrecht3990]

But cutting it would be hard on blades.

[@NoahSteckley]

Yeah! Might not stain

[@MegaBrokenstar]

Scratchproof hardwood, in literally any shape… holy shit.

[@StarBigBang]

@@MegaBrokenstar Hexagons, hexagons are the best-agons,

[@MegaBrokenstar]

@@NoahSteckleyyou could pre-stain the wood before densifying it, or stain it during the chemical treatment which would likely result in a perfectly full-depth stain. Alternatively, the results of processing are already pretty beautiful and highlight the grain nicely. I’m actually kind of excited about this material as hardwood flooring and especially as trim and shoe moulding. Not to mention tabletop, workshop, and kitchen applications. Imagine an entire dining room table that is usable as a cutting board without the slightest trace of damage. The idea of a relatively cheap to manufacture scratchproof and dentproof wood product is tantalizing.

[@corditesniffer8020]

I love NileRed videos And I very much appreciate he only very briefly mentions his sponsors at the very start abs then gives a full showing at the end after all the actual content of the video is finished I appreciate that What I don’t appreciate is the unskippabke ads ranging from 15 to 45 seconds long 😢 those suck ass

[@jamestrickington9032]

If the inside of the wood is still dry, maybe you should try using a vacuum to suck all of the air out of the wood while it is submerged in the chemicals so that when the vacuum is released, the holes from the air are filled with the solution. This process is often used to stabilize wood by filling it with a resin which hardens with heat.

[@kellerbailey4353]

I had the same idea

[@Glenn_Rainwater]

I used to work in a treatment facility for power poles and this is exactly how our process was. The wood would first be placed into a tank under vacuum to remove moisture, drained, then the tank would be filled with chemical and pressurized to force the chemical deep into the wood.

[@noobFab]

Exactly this!!! The pressure pot is commonly used by knifemakers to make much harder knife scales (the wood handles) by drawing the air out of the tubes in the middle of the wood allowing it to be replaced with the hardening liquid. This experiment also needs to be much more scientific with a non-soaked, non-crushed original, a crushed, non-soaked control, and maybe a second option like epoxy used on pre-densified but untreated wood and also on un-crushed wood before crushing - this probably wouldn't work as well, but that's what experiments are for!

[@AdamRapW]

That would require a much more complicated setup. Pulling a vacuum on a heated, frothing, caustic liquid would surely make a big mess and kill your pump rather quickly.

[@karlpron]

Was looking for a comment like this. Totally agreed. Wood would not just soak in chemicals. @@Glenn_Rainwater

[@simpli_A]

It’s so surreal that this guy and code bullet are friends… completely different energy

[@Stillcrown239]

CODE BULLET!?

[@dylanmccormack5600]

WHAT

[@YourPlaywright]

Like… Code Bullet is a chaotic Australian and Nile is textbook stereotypical polite Canadian… how did that happen?? I need to know all the details of how they met and became friends because that sounds like an awesome story

[@shakes.816]

They aren't "friends" it's a Collab

[@WalterZombie69]

​@shakes.816 how is it a collab if code bullet provided almost nothing for the whole video

[@vaibhavjain5227]

This is what cybertruck should’ve been made of

[@verven999]

would recommend putting it in the first step where you leave it in the chemical put it in vacuum chamber so all air from inside the wood goes out and then slowly add air back so the wood under chemicals solution goes to the wood more and wait maybe repeat vacuum few times and then do the rest like you did

[@chonkochonkaboo6352]

Nigel is kind of like the barn cat that only visits you a few times a year and makes you very happy every time

[@jiquerez]

Absolutely underrated comment, imo.

[@superstar5123]

What are you even trying to say

[@TheThiccestChungus]

​@@superstar5123he's kinda like that barn cat, ya know.

[@SweatiestToes]

he got dat barn ket in him

[@Daavaloscxv]

Literally just saw the same comment under a wendigoon vid

[@menofscoobistherepublic7660]

i swear these videos have better plot twists and story arcs than 96% of TV shows

[@SaffronTheBat]

thats cause unlike tv these stories are real and unpredictable lol

[@SaffronTheBat]

also nile the goat

[@fadedlight8596]

@@SaffronTheBat yes

[@block4976]

,,It went right through."

[@v.k.mensah2093]

Bro, for real!

[@gibblesthegothgf]

honestly I feel like if you started with thinner pieces to begin with and made super thin hardened plates you could laminate them like plywood. that mixed with the kevlar layers that surround plates in modern body armor would probably go crazy

[@7thsluglord363]

If you ever want to do this again, try impregnating the wood with resin after the final wash before you crush it, and glue the layers together under the extreme pressure, and alternate the grain diagonally rather than 90 degrees each time. Could also add a layer of fiberglass between the wood layers.

[@squidikka]

The biggest shock here was that he knows Code Bullet. Absolutely not the crossover I expected!

[@ValeBridges]

My jaw genuinely dropped when I heard that.

[@antonliakhovitch8306]

They were both at that big event that William Osman organized, so they probably met there if they didn't already know each other

[@bob-hacking6027]

And his face

[@Bobbias]

@@antonliakhovitch8306 Yeah that's a good point. KZbinrs meet each other both just through discords, mutual friends, etc. but also through events like that.

[@marksalot5035]

no doubt ..... code bullet is legend

[@joeljennings8621]

You were correct that your solution was not saturating the center of the wood. You can use a vacuum to get it to penitrate fully.put your whole soaking set up in a vacuum and hold vacuum for the same length of time it takes to remove all air from the wood

[@NorthBus]

Won't that make the vacuum solution boil off?

[@RADMAN5240]

@@NorthBus you can always pull a light vacuum so the pressure drops to encourage air out of the wood, while also being higher than the boiling point of the solution.

[@JoFreddieRevDr]

I was thinking the cooking stage in a pressure cooker would help with penetration, maybe soaking in a vacuum then cooking in a pressure cooker.

[@user-sm6lt9pd4n]

This wood is FUCKING RAW

[@maxximumb]

Use pressure to drive the solution into the wood?

[@benda18]

Really glad to see the null hypothesis at the end

[@ChopsticksMcguffin]

I work with a lot of wood. That four dimensional press was the idea. Also, the grain structure matters alot. You should try this with Ash or White Oak.

[@Michblack0000]

Nile, have you looked into how they industrially pressure treat wood? Pieces are placed in a giant vacuum chamber and heated to reduce moisture content and then placed in a pressurized chamber filled with the liquid chemicals they want to force into the wood pores, also at temperature. I think if you added some vacuum drying (to encourage the wood to soak more liquid) and pressurized chemical cleaning you would get the chemicals to penetrate considerably deeper into the wood grain.

[@derpmaster2732]

I feel like that would be out of his budget.

[@Nebulaofthenorth]

@@derpmaster2732 yeah but i think thats how the paper made the test

[@LavaDonuts]

​@@derpmaster2732 eh, you can make a vacuum chamber for relatively cheap and adding a hot plate shouldn't be the hardest addition. For the small sizes he's working with it shouldn't be super difficult or expensive

[@juliofoolio2982]

@@LavaDonutsI am looking for some plans for a relatively cheap vacuum chamber, got any hot tips? Thanks.

[@funkstrong]

For the initial step you could use a similar setup woodworkers use to stabilize wood. Pull a vaccum with the piece of wood in the solution, the vacuum will pull all of the air out and the solution in. Not expensive at all.

[@animosity9197]

Love that when Nile was talking about setting up the grain of the two pieces of wood perpendicular to each other, I was nodding along because that's what we do in sewing when we want to make sure a flat-lined piece of fabric is as strong as possible. Scrolling to the comments to see people in other industries chiming in about the same thing being useful in other types of construction and armor is delightful!

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Yup. Thats how plywood works and why it's stronger than the same cut of homogeneous wood. Also when stacking pallets or loading trucks you use the same or principle to make the load far more stable. One of those simple but incredibly useful buts of knowledge. I didn't realize it applied to sewing, so you taught me something today. Thanks!

[@MrPicklesAndTea]

I also didn't know it applied to sewing, but epoxy/fiberglass bullet proof armor is made the same way, also, carbon fiber bikes which is just epoxied carbon fiber, applies the same principles tactically, depending on the stress points.(continuous fibers are strongly circumstantially)

[@minimaster0328]

this idea is used in many different things, like plywood for structural strength, or kevlar for strengthening actual bulletproof armor another fun fact, kevlar is actually a fabric and is easily cut by scissors

[@CustomcrowdMitroc]

All house framing timber in Australia has been treated and pressurised the same way so it meets out timber framing standards as it makes it so much stronger

[@crazyman8243]

This is probably the best video I've ever seen.

[@mertbince6582]

Huge thanks to nile for showing us his very hard wood ❤

[@hello-qw3mw]

HELPPP

[@juicyouioui4432]

Ong he's so generous

[@SupermotoZach]

Lmfao 😂😂 I couldn't help think this the whole video tehehe

[@lovell8983]

that's what she said

[@yourlocalflacofiero]

let him cook

[@iffyspeak]

Wow. A CodeBullet cameo. That's oddly kind of awesome. I love seeing all the youtubers I like combine in weird ways.

[@voltagevictor5765]

I was thinking the same thing. The collab we never thought of but appreciate.

[@shivers5718]

yeah when i saw CodeBullet i was like "holy fucking shit"

[@xPainZzx]

For the chemicals to soak all the way through, maybe dry the wood beforehand so the internal moisture is as low as possible. Additionally maybe use a pressure cooker, I'm not sure what pressure industrial pressure treated (PT) woods use, but it could help.

[@2tipsy4you86]

When you did the cross section of the wood and the middle still wasn’t treated with your solution I suggest placing the wood in a pressurized changer to force the solution inside the wood.

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

It's actually impressive how easily that 22lr went through the first compressed wood. It's almost like you made it less bulletproof.

[@dylandenton7576]

I see what you mean lol mybbad

[@ThePapino134]

he made it harder but it was so thin it just made it brittle what you want isnt hardness but tensile strenght. youd probably get an even better result by somehow infusing that pressed wood with some resin or other polymer

[@TrentR42]

Long grain is one of the weakest sides

[@georgenichols1638]

Now shoot some high carbon steel to see the victor! But seriously, good job. Very interesting video.

[@SDSypher]

@@georgenichols1638 shut your mouth

[@apirateoftheair]

This video is a really great demonstration for why replication studies are important. Lots of important details were captured in this video that did not seem to make it into the original paper!

[@Michaelonyoutub]

As someone who has to read papers all day long and figure out how to apply them for work, a lot of papers need to be clearer on exactly how they do thing and with what kind of setup.

[@siggyincr7447]

I get the impression that if a process might have practical applications the papers are made as simplified and misleading as possible without actually lying in order to maintain some value to their expertise in the process.

[@dsp4392]

@@Michaelonyoutub Tbh papers should come with all the processes documented via video. Cameras are cheap. I know some people are already doing it, but it's far from the norm.

[@cate01a]

researchers need to start vlogging

[@oldcowbb]

​@@cate01a "Yo whats up IEEE, ... if you liked the video don't forget to cite"

[@SuperOverlord666]

One thing you should try is end cuts.. sandwich 8x8 pine or oak treated the same way.. and then also glue three layers.. wood is dynamic and is different from end grain to profile.. you may be surprised..

[@acorona4ever]

The orientation of the grain in the wood is impacting when you press it. The more parallel the grain the better chance of it not cracking or rolling over its self. Also on last test shooting untreated wood only you didn't use the glue. would have liked to see the difference with and with out glue. Great job on the video. Extremely entertaining!

[@matejlaskomulej]

Amazing video, thank you. I can think of four suggestions to potentially enhance it. 1. Grain orientation The pine you used was from a younger tree or cut closer to the center of the tree. If you buy higher quality wood it should have all layers more parallel and straight. 2. Deeper penetration of chemicals While soaking the wood in the solution you could use your vacuum chamber. Then before repeating the same but with water, you would blow pressurised air to blow in the end grain to replace the solution with air (over a sink or preferably in the sanding chamber). 3. More but thinner layers Not accounting for any other factors but using 2 layers with perpendicular grain orientation being 5x stronger, extrapolates to 2.5x the strength when cutting a single piece in half (by height) and gluing back perpendicularly. In general using more thinner pieces is vastly better than a single piece of combined thickness. Coincidentally, this would also help with chemicals reaching all the way through. Also note why using 3 layers is so vastly superior to using only 2. It's because the thirds layer's orientation prevents the second layer exploding in the bullet direction. Hence the bullet expands and destroys only first layer which has the freedom to break towards the shooter. 4. Replacing water with epoxy I'm the least confident how the water would affect this one but here it goes. You should obviously keep repeating using water until satisfied, but before the big squeeze, you could blow the water out again with pressurised air and then back to the vacuum chamber with epoxy instead. You will end up destroying whatever container you use for this last step. You will also need to saw off the epoxy around the wood so it's best to pay a visit to a local woodworker. I'm also curious of - How the squished and dried wood layers would stick to one another without the glue? - What is the density of the finished product and how does it compare to current military standard vest inserts? Is it lighter? Even with epoxy? - If it would be optimal to use many many alternatingly perpendicular layer as close to thin as paper as possible? - Is alternatingly a word? I see an hour long video and think "no way am I gonna watch through it all", but you keep me glued to the phone and fill my head with answers to questions I never head and questions I might never get the answers to. For all your effort, thank you.

[@oriontherealironman]

I think a pressure chamber instead of vacuum would be more effective. It's not so much air that's the problem, it's the fibers in the wood. Or perhaps pulling a vacuum and then increasing the pressure would work best. Removing any possible air and then forcing the chemicals into the wood.

[@jackrabbithmb]

@@oriontherealironman It seems like its a similar process to making stabilized wood, in which case you really do need a vacuum chamber, you pull the air with the vacuum chamber then when you release the vacuum its replaced with the chemicals

[@hhn2002]

the vacuum chamber would very much boil the chemical solution so that would not work.

[@benedict6962]

I think he should compress the pieces together instead of using glue. Will the heat chemically bind celulose from separate planks? That way, he can do a four or five layer block without being more glue than wood.

[@megahellreaper]

Man, now I'm scared he won't ever get back to this project. I'd be so disappointed.

[@rothandre6497]

Great video! Couple suggestions. Looks like you're not using fully cured wood. Meaning, the virgin wood still has a lot of moisture left in it, preventing the solution from fully saturating. A few things to try: fully cure the wood by kiln drying it, and testing with a moisture meter. Also, it might be helpful to submerge the wood, then apply a vacuum (to remove any air trapped from inside), THEN apply heat. Also, as someone else suggested, using thinner virgin wood then compressing the layers together in the press en mass, could potentially achieve a overall thinner product with the same (or similar) strength profile. Think hyper-dense plywood.

[@Impostleable]

100% this! The untreated bit in the middle was probably due to water not being displaced by the chemicals. Looking at the splintered wood it shows the inside is pale which implies untreated. Would be really interesting to see wood which was treated all the way through.

[@enque01]

Yeap! My thoughts too! Self-sabotage with too thick pieces. Except I don't think it was water in the middle - it was air! So a vacuum chamber would have solved it. But regardless, the chemical treating would be made much easier with thinner pieces. So prioritize thinner pieces over using a vacuum chamber. But there's another very important benefit too! Since the wood splits along the grain, alternating the grain directions results in the the force of the impact being spread over a much larger area. Since the bullet-stopping effect comes from how much area of the wood that is made to absorb the energy, having many thin layers of alternating directions should improve this material by several hundred percent!

[@Netherdan]

You already said everything I wanted, so have a like and a comment to bump it up

[@vjaceslavsavsjaniks6431]

Maybe saturating the wood totally in vacuum chamber

[@ikxalenull7]

in practical application, i feel like wood like this would be best used overtop of thin metal basically in the same was as ceramics.

[@natashaadams8115]

AHH nile wearing the wewd merch makes me so happy

[@WolfBPrince]

Great video man, keep it up.

[@texasranger24]

Some ideas for future improvements: -use thinner pieces of wood to get complete penetration of the base to dissolve all lignin and hemicellulose -use a completely square (or SAPI shaped, lol) steel cage to crush them -add multiple of the thin plates alternating and crush them together to have one glue-free plate (hence closing off both sides to avoid crushing o both ends) alternatively you can look at different solution methods like organosolv (methanol at ~180C and 30bar) or ionosolv ([Et3N][HSO4] at ~130C and 30bar).

[@lit_for_20]

also: composites! if this is intended as armor, he could incorporate a thin metal sheet - the wood absorbs and breaks up the bullet, the metal stops any fragments from exiting

[@jonathanbates9928]

Something to also consider is trying to keep the grain on the wood as symmetrical as possible. That will help with even pressing the wood. It might also be worth using a pressure vessel to treat the wood. The extra pressure would force the chemical deeper into the wood. That has common wood as treated. It's also how resins are forced into wood. A final note, pre spread the wood glue, to prevent air pockets.

[@chriskerwin3904]

@@lit_for_20 yeah a piece of abrasion resistant steel or titanium would help a lot

[@multipotentialite]

​@@jonathanbates9928pressure or vacuum?

[@Scott_C]

ALSO! he should "Stabilize" it. A process that uses resin and a vacuum chamber to turn soft objects hard.

[@justinrussell878]

The trick would be to use multiple layers of thinner wood with each layer having their grain perpendicular to each other. Don't use glue to bond them together, use the press to add several layers at a time, just using the pressure to bond them. Also even though the wood doesn't expand as much perpendicular to the grain direction, you should have the wood enclosed on all sides, especially if you do alternating layers of wood.

[@Doorisessa]

And the thinner layers of wood would be penetrated more completely by the chemicals, too.

[@justinrussell878]

Also it may be interesting to try alternating layers of different wood species, and make a sort of composite armor.

[@kingjojojo1]

but if it's enclosed on all sides the liquid cannot get out

[@kylekinsey2624]

​@@kingjojojo1leave it open at the corners

[@i.m.2391]

​@kingjojojo1 Leave a few small holes, the liquid will pressed out.

[@aera3502]

Only recently found your channel(s) but have been enjoying it so far! Also was not expecting the random Code Bullet.

[@ryanbird5142]

A few other notes. Backface defirmation like you saw in the 2 ply piece, is acceptable for most body armor. Theory being I'd rather have a few broken ribs, than a permenant wound channel in my liver. You also were firing these rounds out if long barrelled rifles, which would have actually increased the velocity. Better testing would have involved a chronograph, and properly measured distances, as well as bullet weight, etc. I doubt this would have stopped an intermediate cartridge like a .223, but for what you had, I think a 2 ply version would probably rate at NIJ lvl III or IIIA, pretty good job man!

[@allmight1612]

5:15 MICHAEL, DON’T LEAVE ME HERE

[@MrFishperson]

you did a really good job at making the scientiffic process genuinely interesting to watch. i can only imagine how tedious it was to squish all those pieces of wood by hand like that

[@cda32]

Not sure about that, feels like this lacked any scientific process at all.

[@silvory7021]

@@cda32 Nigel consistently explained the thought process used to hypothesize what could fix issues he observed, which is the cyclical hypothesis-experimentation-evaluation loop that is seen in the scientific method. The edges of the wood still expanded -> maybe there's something wrong with how it was compressed? -> evaluation of video footage leading to discovery of the top plate shifting -> maybe center it better and use larger block to keep it more stable? -> worked a bit better, but it still expanded a bit on one side -> maybe use a steel template to prevent the wood from expanding? -> the wood didn't noticeably expand

[@MrFishperson]

@@cda32 the process of trial and error is the scientiffic process. you test a hypothesis, record the results, then you try again improving the process each time. this is how we end up with wood armor one day lmao. maybe not, but still an interesting project to me at least