kscans

Chapter 129 - Particle Board 1. Prototype

Vaguely thinking about a substitute for the scarce lumber, Yuri remembered particle board, which he had seen often in his past life in Japan. It was like sawdust solidified with adhesive. It couldn't be a complete substitute for wood, but it was still used quite a bit for furniture, and depending on how it was made, it could even be used as a substitute for torches. He didn't have a suitable adhesive on hand, but he could manage that somehow with his `Wood Transformation`. However, he had almost no sawdust itself. The idea of getting some the next time he went to Laurenzen crossed his mind, but explaining it would be a hassle, and it wouldn't solve the immediate problem of the lumber shortage, so he decided to ignore it for now.

However, the idea of transforming unusable wood chips into usable material was a good one. He had saved such scraps with the intention of using them as firewood. In fact, he had also purchased some as firewood in Laurenzen. Yuri was thinking that he could use them in a pinch, but then a second revelation struck him.

"...Wait, I still have the leftover kenaf, right?"

He was cultivating kenaf, known here as Kenfa, as a raw material for paper. In truth, only the bast fiber was used for papermaking, and a considerable amount of what was left over was just taking up space in his `Storage`. The reason he hadn't quickly turned it into actual compost and returned it to the fields was because,

"...I think... the description said that the core material can be made into particle board without adhesive if you heat-press it with steam... I feel like that was written somewhere..."

He had completely forgotten until now, but apparently, he could make particle board from the leftover Kenfa after taking the papermaking material. With the `Wood Transformation` and `Wood Reinforcement` skills he had now acquired, he could probably obtain even stronger boards. The technology to make particle board shouldn't exist in this world, so he couldn't use it in conspicuous places. Also, even if he could strengthen it with magic, it was still just particle board, so it probably couldn't be used for structural materials that required strength. However, even just using it for siding in inconspicuous places could save a considerable amount of wood. If he could apply a veneer to the surface as a decorative material, as was done in Japan in his past life, he might be able to make it indistinguishable from a regular board at a glance.

"I can’t make veneer, though. That’s made by peeling a log thinly and then laminating the sheets."

Unless he could create a tool or magic to peel a log, reproducing veneer would be impossible. That's what Yuri was thinking, but...

"...No... wait a minute? I might not be able to make veneer itself, but couldn’t I at least stick wood shavings from a plane onto the surface of the board?"

To cover the surface of a wide board, the plane shavings for it would also need to be wide. He didn't have such a wide plane, so if it became necessary, he would have to make one himself. But he could at least try it by making a board as wide as the plane shavings he could currently make, couldn't he?

Unfortunately, the planes in this world, or at least in this country, were Western-style push planes, not the Japanese-style pull planes Yuri was familiar with. However, fortunately, the body of the plane was made of wood. With that, it seemed he could alter its shape with `Wood Transformation` and change it into the familiar shape of a pull plane. All he really needed to do was change the direction of the blade.

"...It’s different from the shape I’m used to, but this should work as a pull plane... yes, it’s fine. I can use it somehow."

His technique was nothing to be proud of, but he somehow managed to plane a board and get some reasonably nice plane shavings. He would stick them onto the particle board...

"...no, wait, I haven't made the particle board yet."

He was getting ahead of himself, but he hastily chipped the Kenfa core and applied heat and compression molding along with steam. Fire Magic and Water Magic were doing a good job again today. He felt like he could form it with `Wood Transformation` alone, but he decided to try making it according to the description first.

"...Yep. It’s just regular particle board."

Before him was a particle board with a surface like thick cardboard, with no wood grain or anything else. Just by looking at it, one probably wouldn't be able to tell what material it was, but it was certain that no one would answer that it was wood.

"But if I stick the plane shavings on this... huh? It's not working well. It’s warping and wrinkling... ah, it tore..."

He tried to do it by hand and failed, and at the end of his rope, he decided to stick it on with magic. ...He should have just done that from the start.

"...I feel like... someone, somewhere, just criticized me... anyway, at a glance, it kind of looks like a wooden board... maybe?"

As Yuri said, looking at the flat surface alone, it didn't look unlike a regular piece of lumber. However, looking at the side of the board, it was obvious that it was not a regular board.

"But... it’s a hassle to make plane shavings just to stick on the sides... For now, I’ll just use it in places where it doesn't need to be disguised."

Incidentally, the `Woodworking` skill remained un-unlocked.