Has anyone seen (or used) this method of soaking wood in hot water to bring out a texture (Ukibori)? The results are amazing to me. It's a method used by people that carve very small items, the Japanese tradition of netsuke. I have not seen it before but it came up when I was looking at some bonsai related art.
Step by step description:
http://www.janeljacobson.com/carving...nprogress.html