About: At this Mardigrass, together with the Northern Rivers Hemp Coop, I am proud to present beads and jewellery made from 100% hemp. Hempstone is made in Nimbin from local hemp fibre, pigments and water and nothing else. So now you say this fantastic, super strong material should just be hemp fibre and water, no glue, resin or other chemicals involved in making it…? Since it’s all super secret…. I will tell you so much: the secret word is Nano-cellulose, a sustainable solution for a long needed circular economy, slowly popping out of laboratories around the world…
Now following sounds easy, but it has been decades of research and development: I wet mill hemp fibres till they are micro, nano small to create a porridge like pulp and doing so, I increase the amount of natural OH bonding capacity between the hemp fibres. I then colour with hemp charcoal and or earth pigments and mould the hemp pulp into shape. As the pulp dries, the nano-fibres entangle and get closer to each other, the OH bonds lock in, and lock in…it shrinks and shrinks and gets harder and harder Once dried it hardens and shrinks to 1/6 of it’s size….maybe I should call it “Shrinkit”. The next step is polishing, followed by coating with linseed oil and Carnauba wax….a piece of art might be created
But if you really want to know more, come to The Northern Rivers Hemp Co-op during Mardigrass and you can learn all about this incredible material.
Speaker: Martin Ernegg, Molecular Sculptor
Bio: Martin’s work and development is an evolving currency. Inventor of the fundamental process used by Zeoform and inspiration to Zelpho-Technology, his core competence in structural materials made from micro-fibrillated plant fibre, product development, engineering, production, feasibility and viability projects for structural materials from renewable resources. Martin has more than 20 years experience across multiple disciplines in nano fibre fusion technology and is committed to supporting visions becoming reality for a more sustainable future.