Carved Root Stand

[lieuz]

The blasting won't give you a "smooth and rounded" appearance. It will give you the fibrous, kinda muscular appearance of real roots. You can build a small set up with a decent 20+ gallon compressor. You will be limited in the amount of blasting you can do, but for small jobs like that will be enough using a hand held media blaster.

This is good to know!

 

[Pitoon]

I think even a baking soda blast will make it look like real roots vs sand. Nice job, I am yet to dive into making one of this, but it is on my to-do list for sure.

When SB was mentioned I though crushed walnut shells would be a good media and shouldn't be that abrasive.

 

[Maiden69]

When SB was mentioned I though crushed walnut shells would be a good media and shouldn't be that abrasive.

The problem with crushed nutshell is that they will "bounce" against wood, creating dimples instead of weathering away the tissue the way a mild abrasive would. I have used it for removing paint off plastic trim pieces and bumpers. Now there is the new dry ice blasting method... I have seen a lot of good results in auto detailing, but I have no first person experience with it.

 

[FrankBud]

I started this project with my bonsai group and during the heat of the summer when things were slow, we decided to attempt and auxiliary project during the small down time.

One of the group members have a fantastic wood workshop and that was where it all started.

Here is the beginning stages. A solid block was drilled with a wedge cut and plethora of holes o creat reference points for root cavities.
View attachment 408119

The holes were widened and the also curves were softened.View attachment 408120

Some holes were connected to create natural cavities to draw the eye away from circles.
View attachment 408121

Here is where the stand was left off for a few months.View attachment 408122

Picked it up a few months later to remove the base and the residual blocks within the bottom. A few roots broke unfortunately. View attachment 408123

Gave it a few hours today to start a rough sanding to get rid of burrs and jagged stuff.View attachment 408124

Here's the final machine sanding product. Next step is to hand sand it.View attachment 408126

Might actually get to stain it now that I can probably just sit anywhere and hand sand it with some sanding paper wrapped around my finger or chopstick.

Great creativity and carving. Would you mind stating the dimensions? thank you

 

[ABCarve]

try these.

3M Scotch-Brite Radial Bristle Discs and Brushes | Foredom Electric Company

 

[czaczaja]

Did you ever get to post the final finished version?

 

[Mjfoto]

I started this project with my bonsai group and during the heat of the summer when things were slow, we decided to attempt and auxiliary project during the small down time.

One of the group members have a fantastic wood workshop and that was where it all started.

Here is the beginning stages. A solid block was drilled with a wedge cut and plethora of holes o creat reference points for root cavities.
View attachment 408119

The holes were widened and the also curves were softened.View attachment 408120

Some holes were connected to create natural cavities to draw the eye away from circles.
View attachment 408121

Here is where the stand was left off for a few months.View attachment 408122

Picked it up a few months later to remove the base and the residual blocks within the bottom. A few roots broke unfortunately. View attachment 408123

Gave it a few hours today to start a rough sanding to get rid of burrs and jagged stuff.View attachment 408124

Here's the final machine sanding product. Next step is to hand sand it.View attachment 408126

Might actually get to stain it now that I can probably just sit anywhere and hand sand it with some sanding paper wrapped around my finger or chopstick.

Im new to the group and just saw this post of your root carving. Very nice, would like to see the finished product. I made a large tumbler for wood and I had pretty good results. Would be happy to discuss with you sometime. I see we live near. I'm just outside of DC. Email me if interested.

 

[vancehanna]

Why not leave it 'natural' in a semi polished lighter colored wood. Possibly just a very light 'warm grey tone'....

 

[Dabbler]

Great job!