Laminated wood with embedded wire mesh

I have some very strange pieces in one box. They are the size of 4x4s, I would say 4x4x8, made of very heavy laminated wood with some kind of wire mess embedded between laminations. Any idea what that stuff is or may be for?

Reply to
Ignoramus29604
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Wire mesh or gang nails? Gang nails are sheet galvanized steel that has sharpened tabs pressed out on both sides. Perhaps 1/2 inch long. They are applied between the laminations in place of gluing the laminates together.

Does that seem like what you have?

Paul

Reply to
Paul Drahn

No, the wood is laminated, laminations are 1/8 inch thick or so, and between laminations there is wire mesh at each layer, the whole pie is

4 inches thick.
Reply to
Ignoramus29604

Weird. If the warp of the mesh runs parallel to the grain of the wood it would lend considerable strength to the beam, but it seems an odd way to make a metal/wood composite.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Can't say otomh, certainly...picture might help as, perhaps, would some hints as to where the samples were obtained as might give a klew as to usage domain, anyway...

Reply to
dpb

Could they be wall studs for a Faraday Cage room such as in an MRI installation, or a Top Secret computer room?

I had to pierce a Faraday Cage wall with some coax at the Army's ballistic missile defense computer room in Huntsville AL once. Not a fun thing. Was part of installing a new Cray Y-MP to replace a CDC 7600.

Reply to
PCS

Indeed. And if it were to be used as a beam, it would more likely have a thin-rectangle cross section. A 4 x 4 is much more likely to be used as a post and reinforcing wouldn't help much/at-all with compressive strength.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

Only thing I can think of right now is that the mesh is supposed to keep fr agments from flying in case of catastrophic failure. Like maybe structures hit with tornado or hurricane-force winds. It WOULD help to know where th e stuff came from. Would make hellacious roofing beams.

Faraday cage idea is out, the mesh would have to be grounded or bonded to o ther bits, not embedded in wood.

Stan

Reply to
stans4

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