Evening star., 1936-10-13

lumber stronger and heavier than oak
Is being made out OF cornstalKs. ano
writing paper of superior quality out o!
oat and wheat straws at the Bureau OF
Standards.
Roth processes, the technical details
of which will be announced in the 1orth-
coming issue Of the bureaus Jouihal VI
Research, represent enormous advances
over anything hitherto accompilsneo
with these superfiuous farm products
and may result in conSioeraoie e"-
pansion of farm income.
Corn stalks, it is explained by DR.. W.
E. Emley, chief of the division OF Or
eanic and fibrous materials, nave peen
utilized for some years in making so1t'
light pressboard, such as has had con-
siderable market for insulating material.
The chief change introduced is putting
the wet mats of corn stalk hberS unoer
very heavy pressures, from 4o0 10 ooo
pounds square inch.
The resulting material, is something
entirely new to the building industry.
It is like grainless wood. 1t is probably
about the strongest board known since
it is grainless and has the same resist
ance to breaking under pressure IN al
directions. It's modulus OF rupture, says
DIR. Emley, is from 5000 to 5000 pounos
per square inch.
It is also one of the heaviest lumbers
known. It's specific gravity is signify
over one, so that ordinarily 1t will sink
in water. It is probably suitable, Or.
Emley says, for almost any purpose Tor
which wood is used in the interiors OF
houses except flooring. 1t probably will
not stand up well under continuous wear,
although no data on its wearing qualitles
have been obtained to date.
For exteriors the product probably VIII
prove of little value because OF lts ten-
dency to absorb water. This can be
reduced considerably, 1t Is pointed out
in the Bureau of Standards report, by
precipitatinp a rosin or paraffln size on
the surface of the fiber bundles before
they are formed into wet mats.
The cost of the new material, as pro-
duced in the bureau shop, is from SIG
to sl8 for 1000 board feet. One OF the
largest expense items, 1t Is pointed OUT,
is the original one of suitable press
such as has been developed by the bu-
reau engineers. The cost OF operation
is quite low.
The new product made from Wneat
and oat straws is described by DR.. Emley
as "a good grade of writing paper 1t
also is characterized as a fair grace OF
book paper.
The extent of this advance can be
pa,lged from the fact that the cnleI use
of straws in paper making in the past
has been In the production OF the straw
board" used for paper boxes While TINS
approaches the superior grades OF WOOD
pulp paper. The success is due 10
new process developed by the bureau
chemists. The strength of the purlneo
fibers is preserved by using less drastic
treatments than those usually gwen
wood.
The pulping process involves the re-
moval of incrusting materials with
chemicals. mechanical separation ana
softening of the fibers. separation Oh
large fiber bundles and undlSsolveo M
purities from the pulp, and bleaching.
The incrusting materials are olssoiVeo
by sleeping the straw in water ior an
hour at 100 degrees centigrade ana then
cooking it for three hours IN chemicai
solution.
Test sheets of the new paper prepared
at the bureau show that while all cereai
straws can be made into good proouct,
they vary widely in their qualities. Oat
straw produces paper OF the greatest
strength, but 1t Is the most o1mcult 70