Snag
I don't believe the old forgewoods were soaked in anything during the process. I had many conversations with Bill along the way, heard him give some presentations at the State banquets and I have the viedo he and Dave Doran produced (which I haven't watched in a long time) and don't recall him ever mentioning that one. As far as anyone "knowing" the process there is (or was this was a few years back) a gentleman still alive in the eugene area that worked for Bill and pushed the buttons so to speak during the process. I can not recall his name.
Not long before Bills death he sat down with Dave and I think (not sure) Dave documented the whole procedure on paper. As for the concept of someone re-introducing the process, another of Bills coments was "probably not, it is just to labor intensive and people won't pay the money to make it profitable". And that statement came 15 years ago when the excise tax on wood shafts was only 10% not todays 30%!