AusBonsai

Gday Team Oz!

Having recently acquired a load of young Junipers, I am now searching for interesting bits of dead wood for the purposes of Tanuki. Ideally, the bits of wood would be under 30cm in height/length.

Is anybody aware of a source (legal, of course) of interesting, twisty dead wood?

Thanks in advance.

Fly.

Try an aquarium shop they usually have some wicked pieces, I have access to stuff like this below, its a dead coastal plant but the woods fairly soft, the aquarium shop stuff is harder.

Hey Fly Bri, there was a bloke at the AABC Brisbane convention in May, he had some fantastic stuff small to XL nice and clean for not bad $ trouble is I lost his card Can anyone else remember his name?

In Sydney, there is Bonsai Environment at Vineyard (near Windsor) and from memory I'm pretty sure they have a range of similar deadwood to the photo above. That's about all I know about deadwood stock..

There is a range of 'driftwood' available at present called 'Himba'. Check out the products on http://www.piscesnaturalproducts.com
The wood is available through aquarium suppliers and some bonsai nurseries also have it. Lee Wilson at Bonsai Artist Tree had some when I was in Sydney the other week. Also Tess Simpson at Bonsai Northside had stocks at the Brisbane AABC Convention. All pieces are different, the wood is from northern Namibia and really evokes imagination.

Good luck

i know this may sound strange but after a king tide is a great time to go walking down a beach for deadwood, when i lived in darwin king tides use to bring in fossles so i can't see why some dead wood wouldent find it's way to a beach

somthing to do in summer

Give Tim at A-Z a call, i am pretty sure he has a pile sitting down beside the shop.

The king tide idea is great though they would be salty!

Mallee wood is one of the best as it can withstand the amount of watering a bonsai gets. Supplies are limited these days but a lot of bonsai nurseries will carry some pieces. Woodwork shows can have a stallholder with mallee. Go on the net and see if you can track any suppliers selling mallee. In SA it was used as firewood because it is so hard and burns slowly and they have basically near burned the supply out. Good luck.

Salty... so soak the piece[s] and keep changing the water until the salt is removed. Easy peasy!!!

i got some large interesting stuff fly that needs further carving its yours if you want it.

Check the tide charts, should be the biggest tide this year in a couple of days.

JayC

Fly, as has been stated Mallee is the way to go. I have a tanuki that was created in 1990 it is still weathering no rot.
I first used it in an aquarium for 10 years so I would say it will last. Mine was from an aquarium shop. Pup

Fly,
The best Australian deadwood available is stored in the big white building on top of the hill in Canberra .

Talk about long lasting, some of it will never go away it seems.

MM

hi guys, the driftwood from the coast can have the salt boiled out of it, may need to change the water a few times but it works great. same for stones that may come from a coastal area. another way of finding some interesting pieces, is to go wherever anybody is removing trees & shrubs, or pushing up timber for clearing, look at the roots & you will very often find some interesting shapes, just cut them off with a saw & presto. I have acquired some great pieces from farms where trees have fallen over years ago, get permission from the farmer & away you go. cheers, dave.

heyFly, I have some interesting pieces the size your after. I live on a farm that has lost many trees over the years from natures wildest. Been collecting pieces for a while, bound to be something there youd like. Unfortunatley i dont know how to do the downloading thingy, all i know is how to send pictures via email. Petra!