JBP Question

[wiggs]

If previous owner has cut a brand and left long enough to make a Jin can it be done even if an older hardened/deadened off branch




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[Phil Rabl]

There are plenty of people out there who know more about JBP than me (I have gone out of them now), but I am sure they will agree that you can carve an old dead branch at any time. If it is dead you can't strip the bark like you can with live wood or form a jin by tearing the wood at the tip with your jinning pliers. You will need to use a dremel or what ever carving tools you have. Or you could remove the dead branches completely.

[shibui]

Well said Phil.
Of course you can use an old dead branch for jin. That's what happens in nature but it takes years for the bark to fall off and the wood to rot to an interesting shape. We just speed up the process with tools.
Dead bark is really stuck on. You will need to scrape and cut every last piece. That's why it is easier to start with live wood in the growing season when the living bark is only lightly attached. At that time the bark will come off like banana peel.
You may still be able to tear the wood to make the end look natural but wen the wood is older and dry often bits just chip off instead of tearing down the length of the jin. Carving and cutting tools may be needed to make the jin look realistic.
Start with the jin a bit longer to allow for practicing the techniques on that wood. If it works well just reduce the length to suit. If your efforts end up looking less than ideal you can reduce the jin a little or remove it completely.

It is a bit hard to see the first branch under your red box but it and some of the other branches look a bit straight to me. Generally branches match the trunk because the same environmental influences that caused the trunk to bend and twist are also influencing the branches as they grow. We expect to see bendy twisted branches on a tree with a bendy trunk and straighter branches on a straighter trunk. I think it would pay long term to try to put some movement into those branches.
Still a lot of development for this tree but it has good bones and potential.

[wiggs]

Thanks guys.

Shibui, you probably articulated your answer way better than I asked the question so appreciated.

Yes there is 3 dead branches in this area and I wasn’t keeping all of them or any of them necessarily it was more to know if I did for aesthetic reasons one of them is it possible.

Yes your answer makes sense and why I asked the question the ease of live wood vs outcome of dead wood Jin option.

The left bottom branch you mentioned I have bent much much more to remove the straightness of it, only recently acquired to I’m guessing 3 yrs or so before it starts to even start to look how I envisage.


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[Greg F]

Hi Wiggs looks to have plenty of potential. I hope you keep us updated.

Greg