I'm about to venture into the wonderful world of making a sound post from scratch, for learning purposes (and don't worry I have a violin for experimentation so nothing of value will be lost if I screw up), and I remember once hearing/reading somewhere that you can put the wood for the sound post in a microwave oven for a few seconds before carving it because... I don't remember, to make sure it was completely dry? To make it harder? Has anybody heard of that and/or used that trick?
I got the basics down I think: Make sure it's the right size, right angle, grain facing the right direction, completely dry wood, sharpest of tools. Anything else a novice should know about it?