r

10/04/2006 7:09 PM

artifical petrified wood for use in furniture

Was wondering if anyone has seen any links or useful articles on
artifically created 'petrified wood' (aka 'glass water wood' or sodium
silicate induced wood I believe) and how to work with the material.

>From my limited understanding, the process involved soaking the wood
and then heating it, I was wondering if wood could be worked or carved
first (say into a stairway endcap) and then treated to this process?

Could logs or other large pieces of wood be petrified as a whole, using
a water removal/liquid injection type of process (imagine log cabins
that the logs do not split!)

Also for musical instruments, as cracking clarinets/oboes joints and
bodies are a major concern.

Thanks!