AusBonsai

Hey guys,

Just popping in a photo of my first attempt at carving into stone. This was collected in the Blue Mountains and is what I believe to be coal (wasn't far from an abandoned 19th century coal mine). Please correct me if I'm wrong on my rock I.D.

Hope you enjoy

Very nice job there DaveL, what is the meaning of the lettering ??
James

Thanks,

In Japanese it is 'jin sei'. English translation being 'life'.

very nice Dave

what did you carve it with? it is very neat! is it a soft stone

jamie

Thanks Jamie

I used a diamond tip ball shank. It is a reasonably soft stone and I now have coal in my mouth and nostrils . I think finer detail may be easier on a harder stone but i'm keen to find out.

awesome Dave

i might have to give this a crack

jamie

Off topic, but I have to say that I'm really chuffed to have found this site, it's great to know other people in Australia share a passion for bonsai, rocks, moss etc.

Hunting for more stones today and possibly yamadori. Should be a good birthday

Happy birthday Dave.........good luck with the hunting...

Your quality rock carving is A grade....keep it up
Cheers Gott

Happy Birthday Dave have a great day.

I love what you have done to that lump of coal

Great work mate! Happy b'day too!
Will definitely be trying it out soon!

What a wonderful idea. Looks great

Happy Birthday, enjoy your day out

Thanks everyone for the well wishes,

It was a great day of nature, chilling, food and some good rocks but unfortunately no yamadori.

Ahh one year older! I think some wrinkles have developed over night Anyways here are a couple of rocks I found and will be carving, I think I will be needing a larger diamond bit. I have a diamond wheel for my 4" angle grinder and does anyone know if there is something similar but in a 1/8 stem for a dremel? My searches haven't come up with anything, imagine a terrier/termite bit but diamond tipped?

Just reflecting on this thread, I believe that you may have a certain market for handmade carved rocks out there. You are obviously skilled and the rocks look great, I could see them in my bonsai garden adorning posts, shelves, etc. I would myself purchase one for..... $25 immediately, perhaps $30-50 if I found the rock intrinsically appealing, perhaps more.

Are you any good with wood? I would imagine so, given the skills applied. If you were to mount these rocks on a timber setting they would suit the mantle piece of many homes. Although they would not technically pure un-touched suiseki, beautiful none the less.

If you have an ebay account (or even if not) why not throw a couple up and see what response you get. My bet is they would sell well.


Something like this...

Whoa thank you very much Mitchell,

Yes timber work is where i first learnt how to carve (mostly with hand tools, picked up the dremel for my birthday last week).

I'm definitely looking at making some timber "viewing" posts with the hand carved rocks adorning them. The two big ones I have will be placed in my pseudo Zen garden. Then i'll have a look at making a few for sale in which case i'll keep people posted.

cheers,
Dave