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Hello,

I am currently working on an extremly rough piece of Petrified wood, of which I can't identify type. I do not believe it to be Morte. It has a reddish dust that comes off the places where bark remains, the outer shell apears to be black and the interior White and orange. There are many different colors in the wood including what looks like quartz. I have pictures of it on my myspace which is also my web address link. If any one may know something I would love to know.

I am making very slow progress on it, by using water with diamond bits. In about 10 hours of work I may have made it a quarter of the way through. Unfortunatly I have no access to a miter saw, table saw, band saw etc, etc. I'm working mostly with hand tools and an electric hand drill, until I can buy better tools. Any advice on tackling this beast would be appreciated. My neighbor gave me the idea for water which for some reason has made the work much easier, and that doubled the productivity.

Hey Aaron,
(if you dont have access to machinery)If you know someone who has a tile saw, I would think that would be the most effective for rough shaping. Also , clamping it down and going at it with a rasp should help quite a bit in the shaping process. Ive only worked with pertrified wood in small quantities for furniture and box inlay, but I have worked with Hippo tusk and i find it very similar in hardness. Good luck.

"Petrified Wood" is stone, unlike Morta, which is still basically wood that has been submerged in water for a few thousand years.

From Wikipedia: "Petrified wood (from the Greek root "petro" meaning "rock" or "stone", literally "wood turned into stone") is a type of fossil: it consists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the wood. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen. Mineral-rich water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's cells and as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay away, a stone mould forms in its place."

A pipe made from Petrified Wood would presumably smoke similar to an onyx pipe, or a soapstone pipe, or a catlinite pipe, I would think. Should have nice colors if polished and buffed.

That's not morta, or bog oak of any kind. Morta is black or dark gray in color. It works like wood, albeit a very hard and open grained wood, and can dull tools due to its mineral content. It is not, however, petrified. It is only partially petrified.

What you've got is truly petrified wood. I'm sure it will make a very interesting pipe, however. Please show pictures when you're finished.