I made a mini root stand!

jeanluc83

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Here is a little stand that I decided to make, mostly for the fun of it. I am considering starting to make some larger stands so I wanted to get an idea of what I would be getting into.

The inspiration came from a pot I picked up from a trip to Nature’s Way Bonsai. It is really too small to do much of anything with but I couldn’t resist it. So I figured why not make a stand for it.

Height is about 1 3/4", width is about 1 3/8" carved from white cedar.

IMG_20180718_184627.jpg

Over all I’m happy with the way it turned out from a learning standpoint. It gave me a chance to go through the process of carving a stand without any real time commitment. I only spent about 2.5 hours on it and most of that was sitting in front of a TV.

The actual stand is not bad for a first go but there is a lot that needs to be worked on.

First off it is far too clunky. For the size the "roots" are far too large. It would be okay for a stand that is about 4x the size but at this scale it doesn’t really work.

The quality of the finish is not all that great. I slapped on a couple of coats of Polly Shade to give it a bit of a finished look. More prep work would need to be done on the wood to smooth out the "fuzz" from the carving. It also needed some sanding between coats.

All the carving was done with a knife. A small burr might have allowed me to get into tight spots easier. For a larger stand power carving would be a requirement.

The cedar carved pretty well. It was easy to carve and the grain was tight enough to allow for some detail. But it is also a little brittle so it would likely split easily.. I have a larger section of white cedar that may become the basis for my next stand.
 

jeanluc83

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The carving was pretty straight forward. I started with a short section of white cedar. It was the remains of a branch that was cut off a landscape tree last year. It had an entire year to dry so I’m not really concerned about shrinking or checking. Most large root stands appear to be made from sections of logs or branches. I’ll need to look into ways of stabilizing the lager sections so that they don’t split as they dry.

IMG_20180716_180324419.jpg

After striping the bark I drilled holes randomly thorough the piece. For my next one I will be a bit more deliberate with my placement of the holes. I also found I needed to drill the holes closer to the end of the piece. The thick top is part of what makes the final stand chunky.

IMG_20180716_181243061.jpg

I used a carving knife to enlarge and connect the holes to form “roots”. A small burr might have worked better here.

IMG_20180716_193227536.jpg

Once I had it as far as I could really take it before ruining it I sanded everything down to even out the edges. Then it got a couple of coats of Polly Shade.

IMG_20180718_184742.jpg

I think I learned enough to be willing to tackle a larger stand.
 

Tidal Bonsai

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The carving was pretty straight forward. I started with a short section of white cedar. It was the remains of a branch that was cut off a landscape tree last year. It had an entire year to dry so I’m not really concerned about shrinking or checking. Most large root stands appear to be made from sections of logs or branches. I’ll need to look into ways of stabilizing the lager sections so that they don’t split as they dry.

View attachment 201738

After striping the bark I drilled holes randomly thorough the piece. For my next one I will be a bit more deliberate with my placement of the holes. I also found I needed to drill the holes closer to the end of the piece. The thick top is part of what makes the final stand chunky.

View attachment 201739

I used a carving knife to enlarge and connect the holes to form “roots”. A small burr might have worked better here.

View attachment 201740

Once I had it as far as I could really take it before ruining it I sanded everything down to even out the edges. Then it got a couple of coats of Polly Shade.

View attachment 201741

I think I learned enough to be willing to tackle a larger stand.

Wow! I can't believe you tackled this without a dremel!!!
 

jeanluc83

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Wow! I can't believe you tackled this without a dremel!!!

It actually wasn't too bad. I've done a good amount of whittling so this wasn't all that new for me. The tough part was getting to the inside to smooth. The tip of the knife was just too big.

For the next one I'll break out my die grinder for bulk removal then switch to the dremel. I actually haven't done a lot of power carving. One of the reasons to start making stands is to just get more experience with the tools.
 

Starfox

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Very cool, my wife burned all the little logs I was saving to try doing this. I guess I didn't hide them well enough.
I have a couple of small bits left so it's good to see posts like yours. Thanks for sharing.
 

TomB

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It actually wasn't too bad. I've done a good amount of whittling so this wasn't all that new for me. The tough part was getting to the inside to smooth. The tip of the knife was just too big.

For the next one I'll break out my die grinder for bulk removal then switch to the dremel. I actually haven't done a lot of power carving. One of the reasons to start making stands is to just get more experience with the tools.

A reciprocating saw, if you have one, is useful for shaping the overall external form of the stand. I then use the die grinder then the dremel.
 

jeanluc83

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A reciprocating saw, if you have one, is useful for shaping the overall external form of the stand. I then use the die grinder then the dremel.

Good suggestion.

Do you generally carve the wood green or dry?

Green wood just carves so much easier. My main concern is checking when the stand dries. I have been looking into the different methods used by wood turners to stabilize wood. So far boiling and microwave drying look like they have the most promise. Denatured alcohol drying looks like it works well but I would rather avoid chemicals if I can, even if it is just alcohol.

West Bay Woodturners - Drying Wood
 

TomB

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Good suggestion.

Do you generally carve the wood green or dry?

Green wood just carves so much easier. My main concern is checking when the stand dries. I have been looking into the different methods used by wood turners to stabilize wood. So far boiling and microwave drying look like they have the most promise. Denatured alcohol drying looks like it works well but I would rather avoid chemicals if I can, even if it is just alcohol.

West Bay Woodturners - Drying Wood

I buy my wood kiln-dried, or use wood I know to be very dry. Checking and splitting are a serious problem, I've lost projects I put a lot of work into because of that. Using quarter-sawn wood rather than cross-section logs helps with the problem a bit.

If you must carve green (which is easier by hand but not with power tools IMHO) then remove about 80% of the material first, especially heartwood, then dry it out, and finish the piece some time later. I've had success in doing that on very small pieces, but I wouldn't risk it on a large piece.
 
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