# Turn driftwood into petrified wood:



## northtexasfossilguy

There are several processes that people have come up with in order to create artificial petrified wood. The process involves these steps:

1. Entry of silica in solution or as a colloid into the wood.
2. Penetration of silica into the cell walls of the wood's structure.
3. Progressive dissolving of the cell walls which are at the same time replaced by silica so that the wood's dimensional stability is maintained.
4. Silica deposition within the voids within the cellular wall framework structure.
5. Final hardening (lithification) by Drying out.

Hamilton Hicks has patented a chemical solution for rapidly petrifying wood. The solution consists of three components:

(1) commercial sodium silicate solution (the chemical known as "water glass", Na[2]Si[3]O[7]),
(2) "natural spring or volcanic mineral water" having high content of calcium, magnesium, manganese and other dissolved metal salts (this solution can be spiked in the laboratory with clay to increase metal ion content), and,
(3) an acid (citric or malic acid are recommended).

For artificial petrification to occur, there is some special technique in mixing these components in the correct proportions to get an "incipient jell condition". Some mixtures are suggested. One example of the new solution, on a volume basis, is given for 100 gallons of mixture as an example:

5 gallons of saturated mineral water as obtained from washing a large quantity of clay,
50 gallons of sodium silicate solution containing at least 15 percent sodium silicate in dry form, by weight,
45 gallons of highly mineralized water, such as spring or volcanic water,
1 ounce of a dilute acid having a pH of from 5.5 to 4.0.
Hicks writes:

Briefly summarized, the present invention is a sodium silicate solution adapted for application to wood and comprises mineral water and sodium silicate acidified to an incipient jelling condition. When applied to wood, the solution penetrates the wood.

The mineral water and sodium silicate are relatively proportioned so the solution is a liquid of stable viscosity and is acidified to the incipient jelling condition to a degree causing jelling after penetrating the wood, but not prior thereto. That is to say, the solution can be stored and shipped, but after application to the wood, jells in the wood. When its mineral content is high enough, the penetrated wood acquires the characteristics of petrified wood. The wood can no longer be made to burn even when exposed to moisture, or high humidity, for a prolonged period of time. The apparent petrification is obtained quickly by drying the wood.

The amount of acid in the solution appears to have a critical effect on the production of the jell phase within the cell structure of the wood. More acid induces jell formation.

The unique jelling of the solution, when penetrated in the wood, can be attributed to the fact that due to its acidification, the solution is almost ready to jell, and that when in the wood, jelling occurs due to further acidification by the acid or acids inherently present in wood, although evaporation may play its part. Wood thoroughly impregnated by this new solution as by repeated applications or submersions in the wood, after drying has all of the characteristics of petrified wood, and even its appearance.

From:
http://www.creabel.org/index.php?id=156

About Coloration in the wood:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Petrified_wood
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Petrified_wood


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## northtexasfossilguy

SO... what is a method to do this for our driftwood:

It seems that we need:

1. Buckets for the wood
2. "water glass", citric acid, etc...
3. time

This would make it possible for driftwood sculptures to be made, and we wouldn't have to worry about the darn things floating or degrading over time. The downsides would be that some primarily herbivorous fish are said to need cellulose fiber for their proper diet. Java moss and java fern might not attach readily to rock. I can't think of much else.


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## Apaa

I have patented the putrified driftwood process. Seriously though, this is a cool concept.


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## northtexasfossilguy

The only problem I see with doing this is either years worth of time or extreme pressures that are not really DIY unless you use some kind of home-made piston and steel pipe... (IDEAS ANYONE?)

I don't think I could achieve 30 atmospheres at home without blowing up my apartment... but there is probably a reasonable pressure to aim for, maybe 5 atm, and a month or two. Or there are the large storage type bins similar to what they use for culturing live rock, and a year or so of tap water / silica water.


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## TAB

northtexasfossilguy said:


> The only problem I see with doing this is either years worth of time or extreme pressures that are not really DIY unless you use some kind of home-made piston and steel pipe... (IDEAS ANYONE?)
> 
> I don't think I could achieve 30 atmospheres at home without blowing up my apartment... but there is probably a reasonable pressure to aim for, maybe 5 atm, and a month or two. Or there are the large storage type bins similar to what they use for culturing live rock, and a year or so of tap water / silica water.


5 atm is only ~ 75 psi. ( ~ 15 psi per ATM) you could easliy produce that presure by creating a sealed container then using a air compressor to presurise it.


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## northtexasfossilguy

TAB said:


> 5 atm is only ~ 75 psi. ( ~ 15 psi per ATM) you could easliy produce that presure by creating a sealed container then using a air compressor to presurise it.


Yeah, I was saying 30 atm is over the top unless you have steel pipe and a piston or pump of some kind. That was what they said produced the wood in a couple days. Its totally possible for someone to build a small factory for the stuff if they can get the colors right and achieve adequate pressures. I might try, but I'm also experimenting with DIY filter media right now.


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## bamboosharkbark

any new ideas for utilizing this method? would be so cool!


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## flashbang009

I have a veneer vacuum press that utilizes a bag to apply pressure to the veneer. The vacuum at last check could achieve near 30 atm. The bag we have is 6 foot by 3-4 ft, but the only problem is the height of the bag (at most 6 inches)


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