AusBonsai

Hmmmm, had'nt thought of that but for the volume I need to process time and manpower may be a problem but thankyou for the suggestion regardless

Best wishes


John

smithb wrote:I prefer to construct some sort of log I collect myself though I have to work with stuff I could get locally. I really enjoy that part where I build something out of nothing and see how the concept pans out from there. You can just go for a quick walk around the bushes and you will surely be amazed by the number of loose pieces of wood you can find and you can just join them together, really.

Can you post some photos of the results and the process? Would like to know more on this

Ken

Hi John,
For timber it is one year per inch to dry and as said earlier you need to keep some weight on the timber to stop warping.
The best method would be to look up people who do timber slabs who also kiln dry, they also have a range of different types of timbers all that are great for the project yo are doing.
I tried this but time and freight costs are the killer. If you have a ute and drive yourself, pick up a heap to make the trip worth while.

Mick

Hi Mick, . 1 inch per year makes a lot of sense and gives me a great way of quantifying what I will need to do. Thanks for that suggestion mate.

Regards

John

Hi Kenny, I will definitely get some photos but my biggest dilemma at the moment is finding time to source the timber etc. regardless, I will keep you posted mate as soon as something develops

john

kcpoole wrote:

smithb wrote:I prefer to construct some sort of log I collect myself....

Can you post some photos of the results and the process? Would like to know more on this

Ken

It's not exactly what is being discussed here, but this is a table I just finished. It's made from a eucalypt we chopped down ~5 years ago after it was struck by lightning. I saved some of it from becoming firewood this year.
Two bits of wood, chainsawed to size. Plane and sand the top, decking-oil them, a few bits of big dowel to join em with some liquid nails. I might need to seal some of it. I've been thinking something like this, with a straight skinny stand, and slightly tidyer round top, might be well suited to displaying our natives.

Wow, what a ripper!!!! I love it

Thanks Jester.
It's only my first attempt at building such a thing, so I'm really happy with how it turned out. After it's success, I think i'll move on and continue constructing.
I really just wanted to get an image in here showing what can be done, without too much work, with collected local wood.

How did you cure the timber?

My dad had a large gum tree come down in a storm and we cut it up ourselves.
I cut off several slabs, but they all just split in the first few months. Kept them under the house out of weather and sun but no good?

Ken

This is just a first-trial, so am unsure of longevity.
The wood was sitting in big pieces in the paddock for ~ 5 years, so had done some decent drying out there. The cracks grew noticably when the table-top was first cut-to-size.
I've just slapped on old decking oil every few days, and the cracks don't seem to be growing any more. We'll see how it does in full-sun now.