03-02-2015, 01:04 AM
I worked 47 years at a local company that made oceanographic research instruments, and one of our products was pressure chambers made from 16" naval gun shells. These were 9 1/2" internal diameter and would go to 10,000 psi or with modifications 15,000. We also used these to test our own instruments. For a short time my brother worked there also, in the pressure-test department, and he got the idea of carving wooden whales and shrinking them in the test chamber, which you could do if you put it in a plastic bag to keep it dry. He made one, shrank it enough to fit through the neck of a bottle, then soaked it in water to expand it again. The whale looked a little the worse for wear after all of this, since it tended to shrink more in some grain directions, but it worked well enough to puzzle people as to how it got in there.
