Best logs???

[Jester]

Hi there crazy kids!!

I have noticed , as I am sure most of you have that sometimes. nurseries and / or souvenir shops in country towns sell stands made of sawn flat pieces of wood from old logs. They are varnished and look particularly good as bonsai stands. Some however look better than others as the grains and lines stand out and often offer a wide variety of colour and patterns. I would like to start making my own. Can anyone therefore suggest any types of timber/ trees that are suitable for this.??

Many thanks
'
'John

[Watto]

Yellow box and Red box are best.

[Jester]

Thanks Gregory!!

[kcpoole]

Mallee root would be pretty special
Lots of twisted swirling knots
Redgum too would be cool

Ken

[Jester]

Thanks for that Kenny

[TheNumber13]

I like to construct using wood I collect myself locally. I love the concept of using what you find to make something awesome.

Just go for a stroll in the bush and see what you can find that you like. As long as it's from a eucalypt, or has a nice dense, heavy weight to it, it should do fine in the long run; especially if you plan on treating/varnishing it. (an ironbark fencepost can last 50-100 odd years with no treatment.)

[Jow]

You dont want a log you should look for burls. You often can buy slices from wood working shows.

[Magzy]

Depends on what type of stand and how big, if you are looking for cheap timber Camphor laurel is very readily available and is quite popular with a lot of people because of its yellow,brown and red heartwood. Burls are very nice but the big ones are worth a lot of money as Jow said woodworking shows are a good place to have look for some good deals, i used to make burl clocks and picked up a few good caps and slices off ebay but the weight of them makes postage a bit pricey. Myrtle, Jarrah, Mallee are my favorites but i'm not sure on the stands you want to make and what they look like, i have seen a lot of burls slices made as display stands if thats what you are after otherwise visit a timber yard that sell slabs that have had one face dressed and look for features such as fiddleback, birdseye and quilting. Hope this helps in someway.

Mark.

[Jester]

It sure does mate, that's a great help and thanks to everyone who responded to this post. I'm excited!!!

[kcpoole]

Post some photos when you find something

ken

[Jester]

I actually have an old log at work from an old Callistemon but I don't know how that will go Kenny. There are rings in it of different shades and I'm thinking, if I cut a few slices and give them a few coats of marine grade varnish it might work. My other big dilemma in embarking on this kind of project though is, (and depending on the type of wood) , how long I should let the wood dry for before I even start treating it with anything. This is totally unchartered territory for me. I mean (for eg) what happens if I think the wood is dry but there is still in fact moisture trapped in there and I then give it a few good coats of marine varnish? Will there be side effects down the track? will it perhaps start to go milky Dunno Dunno Dunno I sppose though if each piece is say a max of one inch thick, a few weeks out in the sun would get rid of any moisure you would think

John

[Andrew F]

Im going to try with a lopped canfaloral (spelling?) and rich red stain/lacquer ill post pics once ive finished.

[Magzy]

Using wood that has not dried properly can have servere affects on your project, if there is to much moisture in timber you will get a lot of shrinkage and movement which will cause warping, bowing,cupping and splitting, gaps will also appear if you have used joints such as mitres and tenons. Drying timber properly takes a long time and is mostly done by air and kiln drying methods. With your log i would not cut slices to thin because if still green by the next day they will most likely be twisted and putting them in the sun for a week will warp them also. Try and cut them at about one inch or more and stack on strips, each slice on 2 dry sticks and then put something very heavy on top of them all. Cover with a tarp to keep it dry and every few days pull it off for two or three hours to let air into them, a bit of sun is ok just keep the weight on them. Keep one or two slices as you test pieces and see what they do, putting varnish, lacquer, ect on geen timber will not go milky, lacquer will always go a bit yellow over the years but none will stop movement in wood. Epoxy resin is used to fill cracks and holes and can be used as a coat also and is another option. As i said keep a test piece and in a couple months try again but it may take up to a year to get the moisture down if its really green still. Good luck

Mark

[Jester]

Wow !! top advice, thanks a lot for that Mark. Can't wait to get started


Regards


John

[smithb]

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.