LillyPilly from shrub to trainer

[siddhar]

Alpine! Well done mate.. this will be a ripper tree in no time

[Bretts]

Looking great Alpine. I was suprised how long it has taken for the buds to get going on mine but seems not far behind yours. Now If I can just keep the dog and kids away from the important buds

[alpineart]

But Alpine, remember your bad back. That will be way to big for you I will come and pick it up for you next season so you wont be tempted. Failing that i will swap you for a very old Ulmus procera

Hi Bodhi , mate the back , she don't hurt the legs taken over . Its gunna be a big mother that's for sure .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Alpine! Well done mate.. this will be a ripper tree in no time

Hi siddhar , over 15 years ago i could style the damn thing ,just created some movement then slapped it in the garden as a landscape tree. Naked it looks good ,cant wait to see it fully dressed .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Looking great Alpine. I was suprised how long it has taken for the buds to get going on mine but seems not far behind yours. Now If I can just keep the dog and kids away from the important buds

Hi Bretts , I was a little surprised how long this one took to shoot , the mini lilly pilly trunk shot weeks earlier. .I have actually severed the 4 stay roots 60mm plus thick around the base .While they are way to far out i will rip into them with the sabre saw when i'm up on my feet proper . It had about 60 shoots most of which were at the stubs , this prompted me to carve it back so if the sprout again they will help heal the scars now . I did fertilize with Rustica plus quite heavy being a big trunk , and its just had another dose so it should continue to power on hopefully in the right places .

Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

This was selectively trimmed 3 weeks ago ,all the unwanted shoots were rubbed off ,

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now it will need another going over and a basic wire job .

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I will grab the sabre saw and trim the roots back another 200mm from the base , hopefully it may slow this bugger down . Definitely no reason to apply any more fertilize to this mother .

Cheers Alpineart

[Steve Warren]

Hello Apine,

I was wondering if you treated your cuts with anything. I have a Syzgium Paniculatum and a Acmena Smithii to carve (no where near as big as yours) and I am a little daunted by the process. Getting some new cutting tools for chrissy and will have a go then.

[alpineart]

Hi Steve W , I didn't treat the carved area's , they turned a nice brown bark colour . No bleeding or sap loss either .

Cheers Alpine

[bodhidharma]

Coming along nicely. Another Five years will make a big difference i reckon.

[Luke308]

with the 100mm angle grinder fitted with 3 tungsten tipped blades , makes for a mighty fine carver with more power than a die grinder .

Is that safe?? It looks like you have removed the guard from your angle grinder, is that correct? I like the look of the cuts you have got using that tool, so I googled it, only to come across horror stories of the dangers involved. I'm glad you didn't severely injure yourself

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) has recently investigated a number of serious incidents caused by using cutting and grinding discs on hand held power tools and air tools. Common injuries are amputated fingers, severed tendons and deep cuts to the face.
Multi-cutters

Most incidents have involved 'multi-cutters', which are tungsten tipped saw blades with a diameter of approximately 100mm. Photograph 1 shows a multi-cutter blade fitted to a 100mm angle grinder.

These discs were originally designed to be used on small power saws, not angle grinders. The injuries that can result from using multi-cutters on angle grinders are very serious. These injuries are more serious than those associated with conventional fibre re-enforced cutting discs, because:

multi-cutters cut through materials at a faster rate
multi-cutters are more prone to jamming and 'kickback'
the tungsten tips are sharper and generally cause a wider, deeper, and longer wound, and
the tungsten cutting tips can fly off the blade at high speed when the multi-cutter is used as a grinding tool – due to the side loading applied to the blade.

[alpineart]

Hi Bodhi , its growing great guns , will get into some wiring today , just cant break another bone or take another fall .Old bones don't heal as quick as young ones . Cheers Alpine

[alpineart]

Hi Luke the safety guard is ON , i never remove guards , during my apprenticeship a saw many a tradesman wire the guards to save time and held many legs and arms in place racing them to hospital . Not too many Ambulances way back then .Look closely for the thin metal strip around near the grinder body , its on and its original . Mate i mow my lawns with ear muffs and eye protection . With 3 fine teeth tungsten blades there is less kick back or danger than an arbour cutter . With these machines i DON'T use gloves as they increase any risk or danger , tell that to Health and Safety , by the look of that quote they must have done a University Coarse to know that blades cut quicker faster AND are sharper than grinding wheels .

I use the blade as a shaver/planer on all angles rather than a cutter and plane the material off . If i need to severe something i use a chain saw or Sabre saw .

Cheers Alpine .

[philf555]

Hi Alpine,

Great looking Lilly Pilly. I've got one in my backyard which Ive been eyeing off but thought it was too big, my mistake you have a great eye for detail, i kept looking through the before and after photos and still couldnt see how you saw the tree in there . Great job. Now...... ive just got to convince the wife that her lilly pilly would look better as a bonsai

[alpineart]

Hi philf555 , mate even a stick in a pot has character if you bend it , cut it , or simply trim it .Take your time , it doesn't happen over night . Just over 15 year ago i couldn't make a trainer out of it .All my plans on collection change for some reason or another .Die back , broken branches , re-think . . If you cut it back by 50% then look at it for a week , cut back by another 50% and you will see something different . I hook in because over time i have learned and still continue to learn from looking at other specimens , i don't critique other members tree's but i certainly see something much different than they do , as i'm sure others do with my stuff . We are all artists in some shape or another and Uniquely different , Thank God .

Cheers Alpineart

[Dario]

Hi Alpine, this is coming along beautifully and I really like the natural movement in the two lower branches!
Look forward to its development!
Cheers, Dario.