Some of you may know that I am a materials nerd. Technically I am a Material Science Engineer, but I am comfortable with my nerdiness. Materials are so crucial to the development of mankind that entire chapters of our history are referred to by the material advancement of the time. As far as I know there was never a period of time referred to as "The wooden age". Probably because wood has been around as long as we have been making stuff.
It's kind of hard to find something new made out of wood, either wood doesn't have the right properties for the use, or someones already done it. None the less, here are few new products made out of on of our oldest resources. (I've excluded things whose price, availability or design make them more of a novelty than a consumer product, like laptops or cars.)
Shwood Sunglasses
I have seen wooden faux wooden sunglasses, or wooden embellishments, but to the best of my knowledge these are the only somewhat mass produced wooden frame sunglasses on the market. Fortunately they also look good.
I-pod case
The price of these varies a lot. If your going to pay $100 then I would suggest getting one off
ETSY rather than a designer wooden case. If you are looking for a $40 wooden case, then
VERS seems like your best bet.
Skullcandy Holua
I really like skull candies products, and I was honestly impressed by these when the came out. But like many wood items the price tag is a little higher than a similar item not made out of wood.
Flash Drive
Of the items on the list this is probably the longest running, but I thought I might as well throw it in there. If you can find a good price on a polished one, they make good business and father's day gifts. They range between $10-$100.
Ipod speaker
i.dear also has several other wooden products, this mini speaker is approximately $30
Flashlight
I like this one because even though most things that have hard plastic casing could have a wooden casing, I never would have thought to make a flash light out of wood.
mp3 player
Don't fear the price tag of 500 won, it's only about $45. If you are afraid of buying something made in korea on a website that isn't in english, then you might have to wait a few years for someone to steal this idea and sell it in the US.
While researching all of this I came along several other very cool things including the
electronic ruler and the
wooden ipod. But as many of them were home builds, or concept products they didn't make the list. Maybe in the not to distant future (before we have flying cars) man kind will once again make things out of wood besides paper, and interior paneling in luxury cars.
