In what ways can wood be treated against rotting? When did metal first begin to be used?

The first metals that people learned to work with were copper and gold. The reason for this was the fact that both copper and gold are found in nature not only in ores, but also in pure form. People found whole nuggets of gold and pieces of copper and used a hammer to give them the desired shape. Moreover, these metals did not even need to be melted. And although we still do not know exactly when people learned to use metals, scientists can vouch for the fact that man first used copper around the fifth millennium, and gold no later than the fourth millennium BC.

Around the third millennium BC, people discovered some of the most important properties of metals. By that time, man had already become acquainted with silver and lead, but most often he still used copper, mainly because of its strength, and, perhaps, also because copper was found in abundance.

Having started working with metals, people learned to give them the desired shapes and make dishes, tools, and weapons from them. But as soon as a person became acquainted with metals, he could not help but pay attention to their beneficial properties. If a metal is heated, it becomes softer, and if it is then cooled again, it hardens again. Man learned to cast, cook and melt metals. In addition, people learned how to extract metals from ores, because they are much more common in nature than nuggets.

Later, man discovered tin, and having learned to mix and melt copper and tin, he began to make bronze. During the period from 3500 to about 1200 BC, bronze became the main material from which weapons and tools were made. This period of human history is called the Bronze Age.

Finding meteorites that fell on our Earth, people learned about iron - long before they learned to obtain it from earthly ores. Around 1200 BC, man crossed this barrier and learned to smelt iron. This skill quickly spread throughout the world. Iron has replaced copper in almost all areas. This was the beginning of the next, Iron Age. By the way, during the power of the Roman Empire, people knew gold, copper, silver, tin, iron, lead and mercury.

When was metal first used?

About 6,000 years ago, man lived in the Stone Age. It is named so because most of the tools for labor and hunting were made of stone. Man has not yet learned to make them from metal.

Most likely, the first metals that man began to use were copper and gold. The reason is that these metals existed in nature both in pure form and as part of ore. Man found nuggets of copper and gold and could shape them into different shapes without melting. We cannot say exactly when man discovered these metals, but it is known that copper began to be used at the turn of the fifth millennium BC. Shortly before the fourth millennium BC, gold began to be used.

By the third millennium BC, man had already learned a lot about working with metal.

By this time, silver and lead had also been discovered, but nevertheless, in most cases, copper was the most commonly used metal due to its strength and abundance.

First, man learned to forge useful things from metal - dishes, tools and weapons. In the process of forging metal, he discovered the process of hardening, melting, casting and smelting. He also learned how to extract copper from ore, which was more abundant than nuggets. Later, man discovered tin and learned to mix it with copper to create a harder bronze. From approximately 3500 to 1200 BC, bronze was the most important material for making tools and weapons. This period is called the Bronze Age.

Man learned of the existence of iron by finding meteorites long before he discovered how to smelt it from its ore. By 1200 BC, man had learned to work iron, and his skills were passed on from generation to generation. Iron has largely replaced bronze. This was the beginning of the Iron Age.

By the time of the advent of the Roman Empire, seven metals were known to man: gold, copper, silver, lead, tin, iron and mercury.

When did the first saws appear?

Historians attribute the appearance of the saw to the Bronze Age, when people learned to process metal. Perhaps this is true. The main issue was the construction of ships. All the first ships were wooden. To build a ship you need boards. And only boards. It is impossible to build a ship from round trunks. You can’t tear a board out of a trunk with an ax, and even if you do, it’s a very labor-intensive process. But, as we know, ships were very common in Ancient Greece. They, their fleet, became the basis of the ancient Greek colonization of the entire Mediterranean. The Greeks built a lot of ships, which meant they needed a lot of planks. So, there were saws then. In Ancient Greece, iron and steel tools were already fully used. Since there were swords and axes, it follows that there could also be saws.

The question is - which ones? Most likely, these were hacksaw-type saws, that is, just long serrated knives. And as an option for their development - two-handed saws, for cutting voluminous trunks. You can see what ancient sawmills looked like in ancient drawings or in historical films. One man is on top, one is below, there is a log in the middle, and they are sawing it. The process is labor-intensive and monotonous. Naturally, any monotonous process is easier to automate, and this is how the first mechanical sawmills, driven by water power, appeared. Then, obviously, by steam power.

But the most interesting thing in this matter is the appearance of a circular or circular saw. In the field of sawing, the invention of the circular saw is a phenomenon as important in significance as the invention of the wheel! There is also no exact information about when and where the circular saw first appeared. However, we can assume that these are the Middle Ages, the middle or late Middle Ages, when there was a real explosion of all kinds of mechanical inventions. Until the advent of manual band saws.

The next step in the development of the saw business was the processing of metals using saws. This was facilitated by the emergence of ultra-strong metals and alloys, as well as technologies for fastening diamond cutters and abrasives on the cutting surfaces of saws. Such saws have long been used to saw rails and cut other massive metal volumes. There are also large machines that perform these processes.

How did people process metals?

The first metals that people learned to mine and process were gold, copper and bronze. Metalworking was carried out with impact tools, the so-called cold bending method. Cheese furnaces were used to produce many types of metals. In order to give the parts the correct shape, the ancient craftsmen polished the workpiece with a stone through long, hard work. After which a new method was invented - casting. Detachable and one-piece forms were cut out of wood or stone, then the alloy was poured into them, after which the metal cooled, the finished product was obtained.

To make shaped products, a closed mold was used; for this, a model of the product was sculpted from wax, then it was covered with clay and placed in an oven, where the wax melted, and the clay repeated the exact model. Metal was poured into the void, after complete cooling, the mold was broken and the craftsmen received a product of complex shape.

Over time, new ways of working with metal were learned, such as soldering and welding, forging and casting.

Today, new technologies have emerged that make it possible to process metal much faster. Machining is carried out on lathes, which allows you to obtain the finished product with high precision.

Turning is the most popular method. It is produced on special metal-cutting machines, which are configured to perform work from a given type of metal. Lathes, in automatic and semi-automatic mode, are used for mass production of products with a rotating body shape.

Numerically controlled machines are also used for metalworking. These machines are fully automated and the operator's main goal is to control the operation, set up the equipment, install the workpiece and remove the finished product.

Milling work is a mechanical process for processing metals on universal milling machines, requiring an experienced specialist with in-depth knowledge in the field of metal science and metal processing methods.

To perform high-quality milling work, it is important to use high-precision equipment. The degree of milling directly depends on efficiency and productivity. Therefore, inaccuracies and errors in this matter are simply unacceptable.

Sources: otvet.mail.ru, potomy.ru, esperanto-plus.ru, operator-cnc.ru, www.protochka.su

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Until the 19th century, most buildings in Russia were wooden. Considering the flammability of this material, as well as the fact that open fire was constantly used in everyday life for cooking and lighting the house and streets, it is not surprising that fires occurred frequently. The fire took entire streets and even settlements: ways to quickly extinguish the fire had not yet been invented, and the flames, driven by the wind, quickly spread from house to house, and they flared up like matches. There are many documented cases where fires destroyed the most important urban buildings and entire cities:

in 1331, the wooden Moscow Kremlin burned to the ground;
in 1337, all of Moscow was destroyed by fire;
in 1445 the Kremlin burned down again;
in 1451 the city was attacked by the Mongols, and everything was on fire.

In most cases, the cause of the fire was some accident: an overturned lamp, a carelessly placed candle in a church, a torch placed in close proximity to a dry tree. The only chance of salvation from the destructive flame was folk methods of wood processing and special techniques for building houses. Thus, many preferred to divide the house into compartments, so that in the event of a fire they could quickly separate the burning compartment from the rest of the building. At the same time, a supply of food and candles was created in each compartment in case they had to stay locked up for a long time.

Treating wood with natural materials helped, but only slightly. Such buildings burned as before, but in order for the house to catch fire, an open flame was required, burning for an extended period of time. The following materials were used:

Flaxseed and sunflower oil, which was used to oil wood. Despite the fact that oil itself is a flammable material, as part of wood it was good at stopping the further spread of fire.
Sealing the pores with resin also helped for a short time. The main purpose of the resin was to slow down combustion, and not completely stop it.
Wax coating. In case of small fires, the wax-treated logs smoldered slowly, allowing people time to call for help and work together to put out the fire. By the way, the townspeople of that time quickly managed to put out small fires, but were powerless against a large fire.

In the 19th century, when the production of coal tar was established, the amazing properties of a byproduct of this production, creosote, were discovered. They coated the pillars that formed the basis of the foundations of buildings of that time, and it did an excellent job of preventing fire. However, its use has been limited due to the negative impact on the health of residents. Later, other materials were discovered that could replace creosote. Pentachlorophenol, an oily liquid, helped not only resist fire, but also resist wear and tear. Ammonium copper arsenate, consisting of copper, arsenic and ammonia, was rubbed into the wood and temporarily protected against fire.

Today, the need to use these products has disappeared: various biopyrenes, which turn wood into a non-combustible material, also do their job very well.

Let's look at some options for treating wood with natural substances, which can be very useful in the absence of special ones. means:

* LINSEED OIL (very good for wood)

Linseed oil is a classic method of using natural preparations to treat wood types such as birch to achieve a durable, strong and moisture resistant surface. possible options:

1. Raw linseed oil, undiluted oily drying oil.

application example: Knife handle (or other product)

need to be placed in linseed oil for several days.

To do this, the knife can be placed in a jar with a screw-on lid with a thin slot for the blade, which, after placing the knife in it, must be hermetically sealed.

When the wood is soaked through, it must be wiped with a smooth, dry rag. After this, let it dry completely for several weeks. When the oil evaporates, oxidation and polymerization of the surface occurs, which after some time becomes strong and elastic.

2. Flaxseed oil diluted 50% with turpentine. A liquid prepared from linseed oil, real natural turpentine (do not use substitutes!) in a 1 to 1 ratio.

With the help of turpentine, the time for wood drying and oil oxidation is reduced.

Application: (see 1). Drying time is 1-2 weeks.

3. Linseed oil with tar.

The addition of 50% tar gives the wood a red-brown tint. (apply see 1)

Use only natural tar; after use, thoroughly wipe off any remaining oil with a soft, smooth cloth.

WARNING: When using linseed oil, there is a risk of spontaneous combustion of rags soaked in linseed solution. Therefore, discard with extreme caution so as not to cause a fire!

* WOODEN PRODUCTS CAN BE WAXED, here is one of the varnish recipes:

LAC. COMPOUND:

wax - 100h

rosin - 25h

turpentine 50h (parts are indicated by weight).

Grind rosin and wax and melt, mix, then remove from heat and pour in turpentine, mix thoroughly. Coating recipes are different and here you can and should try different compositions. Another method of such folk varnish is rosin dissolved in turpentine.

The chopped log does not require processing. The rounded log is treated to prevent cracking, rotting and darkening.

* SEVERAL OLD RECIPES OF CHEAP AND DURABLE PAINTS FOR WOODEN SURFACES:

CURD-LIME:

Equal quantities of fresh cottage cheese and slaked lime are thoroughly kneaded. A white, quickly drying liquid is formed.

It must be used on the same day because it spoils quickly.

Ocher and some other paints can be mixed into this composition. In this case, it is necessary to consume as little water as possible, as it negatively affects strength.

The paint dries very quickly and does not leave the slightest odor. Therefore, you can cover the surface with two layers in one day.

To make the paint more durable, after applying two layers it is polished with pieces of coarse cloth.

STARCH-PAINTING:

From 10 parts by weight of wheat starch, poured with cold water, a composition is obtained whose consistency resembles thick sour cream.

Stirring constantly, add boiling water until the composition reaches the desired thickness. For greater strength, you can add 1 part of alum or borax to the warm paste.

To prepare the paint, add zinc white and any colored paint, vegetable or mineral, to the still hot paste.

Then zinc chloride is dissolved in water and a small amount of tartaric acid is added to it.

Before use, mix the first mixture with this solution. The amount of material and proportions do not matter much. The paint is applied in the usual way. It is not flammable, is not afraid of dampness and cold water, but can be washed off with hot water and soap.

POTATO PAINT:

Take 1 kilogram of potatoes and boil it. Peel while it is still hot and add 4 large mugs of water. After this, you should mash everything into porridge and rub through a sieve so that there are no lumps left. Add 1.5 kilograms of powdered chalk, which is pre-diluted in 4 cups of water. The result will be about 8 mugs of grayish, durable, well-covering and very cheap paint.

All these paints have been tested and give excellent results.

* PROCESSING OF WOODEN (etc.) PRODUCTS:

1. To prevent the wooden product from cracking and crumbling into pieces, it was boiled for 1-2 hours in a solution of ash alkali. After this, they dried it, and, if necessary, continued processing of thinner parts.

ASH LYKE is an ancient recipe of our ancestors, used both for washing woven products and for processing wooden products.

The lye is made simply - wood is burned (birch is best) to the state of white ash (ash). Ashes (ash) are filled with water, into which, during soaking, all alkaline groups of substances pass.

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Currently, genuine leather products are considered symbols of prestige and quality. The mechanical treatment they undergo during tanning makes genuine leather a truly strong material that is resistant to environmental influences. Have you ever wondered how leather was treated before?

As it was

Since ancient times, pieces of animal skins have been the most popular material for making shoes and clothing. Thousands of years ago they were processed with stone scrapers, or even simply dried and put on without any processing. But such skins quickly hardened and became oak, so people soon learned to soften them by beating them with stones or sticks, and then kneading them in their hands for a long time. This is how the first leather tanners appeared.

A little later, people noticed that it was much easier to knead oily leathers, and before dressing the skins they began to treat them with oil or fat. In Japan, rapeseed oil was used for this, in the Caucasus - oil, in the North - the yolks of birds' eggs, and in North America, the Indians rubbed skins with a mixture of clay and buffalo urine.

According to historians, people learned to process leather even earlier than making pottery. For example, to store water, a bag was made from skins - a waterskin - which was convenient to carry with you. Leather treated with tannins completely changed its qualities, becoming susceptible to dressing. Such substances were the juices of various plants and trees.

How did it happen?

At the moment, the most popular method of processing leather is chrome tanning - it is considered the fastest and most economical. However, the best and most expensive leather is still tanned by hand using plant extracts.

Wood today, as before, is considered one of the most durable and environmentally friendly materials, which is widely used in construction and repair work. Due to its decorative effect, many people want to decorate surfaces with it.

Wood is one of the most durable and environmentally friendly materials, which is widely used in construction and repair work.

But, as a rule, wood is considered a living material, and therefore requires mandatory processing that will prevent rotting and damage to the surface. Today there are two types of wood treatment against rotting: folk and synthetic.

Wood processing using traditional methods

Let's start with processing with folk remedies. Such methods have many advantages over synthetic compounds. Firstly, such treatment costs much less, and secondly, absolutely all folk remedies are environmentally harmless and hypoallergenic, which is very important for human health. Now let's look in more detail at several of the most effective methods of treating wood against rotting:

Copper sulfate heals and disinfects cracks in the roots of branches and trunks.

Wood processing using a mixture of propolis and regular sunflower oil. To do this, take oil and propolis in a ratio of approximately 3:1. Everything is thoroughly mixed and applied to dry wood that has been previously cleaned of dust using a soft sponge. It is necessary to thoroughly saturate the wood with this composition. The good thing about this method is that it is the strongest in protecting against rot and microorganisms. But there is a big drawback in this method. Impregnated wood will ignite very quickly. Therefore, learn this and think about whether it is advisable to use this impregnation in your particular case.
Impregnation with copper sulfate solution. For this purpose, a ready-made solution of copper sulfate is purchased and mixed thoroughly. After this, a soft sponge or cloth is dipped into it, and clean, dry wood is impregnated with it. This is an ideal option for a round log, since in material terms it is not too expensive, and its efficiency is high. With fairly strong impregnation, the wood will last a long time without causing any inconvenience. The only negative is the drying time. The wood impregnated in this way must be thoroughly dried in the open air, but so that the sun's rays do not fall on it. It is advisable to make a canopy specifically for this purpose. The wood can dry from a week to a month - the longer the better.
Another option is to use hot bitumen on wood. This is a very good method in terms of efficiency, but from an environmental point of view it is not completely safe. After all, as you know, bitumen tends to release some harmful substances when heated. Therefore, it is not always recommended to use it.
Automotive oil is also not a completely pure environmental material, but is widely used for wood processing. Oil perfectly protects against mold, rot and bark beetles, but will not prevent fire, but will make it even faster and stronger. Therefore, it is not always possible to use this remedy.

Processing using the Finnish method

Automotive oil provides excellent protection against mold, rot and bark beetles.

A separate method of wood processing is processing using the Finnish method. It consists of using flour, salt, iron sulfate, water and dry slaked lime. The method is harmless, but most often it is advisable to use it for processing wood for fences and for roofing. The composition is selected in such a way that it lasts a long time and is not quickly washed out with water.

To prepare the mixture, the components are mixed to form a paste in the form of sour cream. Moreover, the main part of it consists of water and flour. Once you have thoroughly mixed everything, heat the mixture over low heat and then apply it to the wood while still warm in two layers. In this case, only after the first layer has completely absorbed and dried is the second layer applied.

So, the main folk methods of treating wood against rotting are considered. But there are also unnatural synthetic products that are also widely used. They are also called construction antiseptics. This is not to say that they are all equally harmful or effective. Therefore, it is advisable to understand them in more detail.

Types of water-soluble antiseptics

Antiseptic agents are best used if the wood has already rotted.

The first type of wood antiseptics is water-soluble antiseptics. They perfectly protect the wood in conditions of constant contact with water, but are also easily washed out. Therefore, periodic processing of wood using such methods is required. These substances are usually classified as:

Ammonium and sodium silicofluorides. These are odorless white powders that become transparent when in contact with water. Therefore, impregnation with their help must be carried out very carefully so that the compositions completely penetrate all the fibers. Ammonium silicofluoride, in addition to protecting against fungus, also provides the tree with additional fire resistance, which is very important in modern conditions.
Sodium fluoride is a very strong antiseptic. This is also a white, odorless powder. It is easily washed out with water, so wood treated with this method must undergo such treatments periodically. But this substance has a big advantage: unlike the above-mentioned silicofluorides, this substance does not cause corrosion of metal that may be in wood.
Various imported substances, based on mixtures such as zinc, chlorine, sodium, potassium, borax and many others. Such mixtures are much more expensive, but protect the tree to a greater extent. But from an environmental point of view, it is not recommended to use them for residential premises, as they can release toxic substances.

Pastes, organic and oil antiseptics

In addition to the described groups of antiseptics, it is also customary to distinguish between antiseptics in the form of pastes, oil and organic antiseptics. To better understand them and choose the most suitable substance, let’s consider each of these groups in more detail.

Treating wood against rotting with pastes. These substances are mixtures of water-soluble antiseptics, silicofluorides and binders. Due to this, resistance to moisture is achieved, which is why pastes are widely used for treating protruding external wooden structures. But even paste tends to wash out over time. It requires less frequent application to wood than fluorides and silicofluorides, but for better protection of wood structures treated with this method, it is recommended to additionally cover them with a special construction waterproofing film.
The water-soluble group of antiseptics usually includes two main types of solutions: solutions of pentachlorophenol (PL) and solutions of copper neftenade (CNP). Both solutions are lightweight, but have an extremely high degree of toxicity. Antiseptics of the NML type are the most toxic. Because of this, working with them requires special care. Moreover, this type of solution stains the wood green, which can significantly change its appearance. This antiseptic is used only in certain industrial cases. Substances like PL are also very toxic. In their own way, these are even catalysts for oil antiseptics, which are not able to protect wood in all cases. The use of these solutions is advisable when wood must be urgently processed. Again, it is strictly not recommended to use it for domestic purposes.
And finally, another group - oil-type antiseptics. This generally includes all technical oils. Of course, they are also toxic. But still, as a rule, they have the best antiseptic properties: they are not washed out with water, protect wood from almost all types of fungi for a long time, have a pungent odor and a dark brown color. from rotting in this way is impractical in a residential area. But in structures such as piles, bridge supports, utility poles and other structures that will not subsequently come into contact with humans and do not need decorative decoration, these antiseptics can be safely used.

So, the main options for processing wood have been reviewed and you now know how to process wood.