# Root from hell...!



## robutacion (Jul 29, 2012)

Hi everyone,

A couple of years ago, someone living nearby have dumped a trailer full of stuff, on the back of my house where is an open paddock of about 3 acres or so.  Mostly was cut off's from some bushes and some roots from various types of plants, trees, bushes that have obviously been dug-out from someone backyard, either to built a big she or put a swimming pool down, not sure.

Anyway, I had a look and saw 3 roots that I could use, the problem was that, still attached were the trunks and the roots were covered with wet silky mud with plenty of stones on it.

Got the chainsaw with some old chains, cut it all up and took them home where I spend a considerable amount of water and time to wash it all out with a water pressure gun...!

The only species that I could recognise was the Grevillea, 2 of the 3 bushes/roots were it but the other, I couldn't recognise but I kept anyway...! 
Yesterday afternoon, I need to store some wood and this strange root was precisely where I needed to put the other wood so, I got the root out.

Looking at it on the ground, I got "itchy" pretty bad, not because I was having an allergy reaction to the root wood but because, I started to wonder what I could do with it, instead of finding some other place to put it...!

I put it on top of my bandsaw table, got the camera and took some pics, as I knew that I had a fair a bit to cut/clean on it, before I would have any place where to mount it on the lathe.  Even tough fairly clean, after the first couple of cuts on the bandsaw, the blade was blunt.  The amount of sparks coming out of it, surprised me as I thought that didn't have that much sand inside/in it.

Bandsaw down, was time to introduce the small chainsaw that after a few cuts here and there, got a place where to put a flat plate and a hollowed centre (spade bit) to put the tails stock against.

Low speed and carbide tools, had a hard time to cut through that wood, that thing was like cutting trough stone...!
Needing so much to remove on 2 sides, I decided to used the chainsaw again to trim the excess wood while mounted on the lathe and when then when I started to thing of the shape, after I saw what I would have to deal with from that point on...!

After I got the outside shaped as I wanted, I started to mark and cut the inside (hollowing) while the tail stock was still assisting but about less that 1" in, I realise that, going any further, I would be loosing the piece as the way the wood was entangled, it all would full apart. 

Being late (nearly 11:00pm) I though that would be great it I could fill all those spaces with resin and let it dry overnight, the problem was that, by this time the piece was nearly round (ball) and the crevasses were all around so I tough that, If I would do half each time, it would be OK...!

I got the epoxy tubes (2 of them) half a dozen of hot glue tubes/sticks, some Pearlex powder that I wanted to use on the resin and started to fill the deeper holes with the melted hot glue, as that would all come out with the hollowing, and mix some epoxy with the Pearlex to match the resin colours as I was going to fill the edges of the cracks so that the resin would leak out on that first half...!

I really though that the hot melted glue has sealed all those gaps inside the root to stop the resin to escape to the other side as I knew, I only could do one half each day.

Mixed 1 litre of resin, poured it slowly, seem t hold OK so, I pour the rest when, all of a certain, resin started to leak from the bottom...!
It was cold so, the resin would take a good 45 minutes before it would start to gel so, I was in troubles...!

Grabbed a plastic container (4 litre ice cream container) and put the whole thing in it so that I wouldn't loose any more resin, the bandsaw table was covered with newspaper but the resin was starting to run everywhere...!

Stick hands, sticky everything, is not a fun thing so, I though that unless I would thing of something fast, I would loose the whole litre of resin...!
Went looking for a plastic bag that was just the right fit, the idea was to insert the ball in there pour the resin back in, plus some more that I needed to mix as this time I had to replace the resin that I lost of the floor but also, the fact that, I was going to try to fill all the wholes in that root, while I was putting it in a plastic bag.

The right size bag was never found so I grabbed a normal grocery bag that looked to have no holes on it, put the ball in there and start to tape (masking tape) the bottom part of the bag, trying to mold the plastic to the root shape so that I would waste too much resin to fill the bag right to the top.

When I had that done (with great difficulty due to the sticky hands...!) I pour the spilled resin from the ice cream container into this plastic bag, and started to mix another litre of resin, as that was all I though I would need.  By the time I comeback with some resin mixed, the damn think was leaking badly from within the masking tape so, I grabbed another bag, and started tapping it all over again. 

I used a full roll of tape on this second attempt as I need it to seal as the more I squeezed the bags into the wood with the tape, the more pressure I would create, forcing the resin to find tinny holes to come out from...!

I was fighting pretty much a loosing battle, as the first lot of resin was starting to set and the other litre needed to be used so, I kept at it, using every swear word in the world, in the process...!:redface:

By then, nearly 1:00am and I was starting to get tired and my hands were hard to open and close from the resin so, I persisted to the end, pouring the other litre in and tapping the whole thing, around, and around and around, once more.  Put it inside of another plastic bag so that if leaked would mess my pot inside.  Yes, that's right, I was happy to leave it like that and let it set by its own, I decided to put it in the pot at 100PSI, hoping that the outer pressure would keep everything together...!

Now, what do you thing has happened this morning, when I went down the shed to get that ball from the pot and put it outside in the sun...????? (was sunny then, not more though...!)

To be continued...!

I will leave you with the 4 pics I took of the root, just before I started working on it...!

Cheers
George


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## desertrat (Jul 29, 2012)

Now that's just plain mean!!!


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## Talfalfa33 (Jul 29, 2012)

Well, one of a couple things. One could be that all the resin still leaked out or the pressure from the pot pushed the resin in all the tinniest cracks and crevises and it blew apart. Or it could have turned out just fine.


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## sjt (Jul 29, 2012)

I'm going to subscribe to this one, can't wait to see the finished result.


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## robutacion (Jul 29, 2012)

Well, it worked quite well, considering...!

The resin seem to have been pushed in, and under such pressure over night, the larger holes had the resin a little "sucked it" that was more noticeable, after I remove all the plastic layers (3), where the first one was where I had to get.  

In between each plastic bag used to try stop the leaks, some resin got trapped in that, was useless and had to come out, was after all those layer off and when I reached the first plastic and have it removed that I saw, that I would need to some some more resin, if I wanted to have the resin/fillings areas, level with the wood but, and after cleaning up the piece roundness, I decided to keep it as is...!

That will require that the walls will have to a thicker but, that doesn't bother me the slightest...!:wink:

I've done a little more work to it, after the outside was cleaned up and back to smooth, the allowing is on its way and I only can say that, glad that I have supper jumbo gauges, made for these type situations, as the inside is a cobweb of twisted wood and grains from a wood that seemed to me one of the hardest things I ever turned, it would put Mesquite and other identical dense woods, to shame, believe me...!

From its original size/volume, this root piece is now about half that size however, it will turn out OK...!

To be continued...!

Pics of this afternoon attached...!

Cheers
George


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## GaryMGg (Jul 29, 2012)

The first couple of pics made me think it's elephant tree.
It's got the shape and color of a pachyderm.


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## Gary Beasley (Jul 29, 2012)

Bois D'Arc wood will dry down iron hard like you describe that doing. Think you might have found some of that?


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## thewishman (Jul 29, 2012)

George, you have more patience than i do. I would have chucked the whole thing out after all of that trouble. Looking forward to seeing what it will become.


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## CSue (Jul 29, 2012)

I'll be interested to see what this all turns to.  Very interesting piece of wood!  I can see why you're determined.


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## robutacion (Jul 30, 2012)

Hi peoples,

Well, the piece is how hollowed, sanded and put a light coat of sanding sealer, jut before dinner.

I will going tom the shed soon to rub it off with some 0000 steal wool and if looks dry enough, I will give it my first coat of Floorseal and let it settle overnight.

While there are no mosquitoes at night at the moment due to the cold weather, it should be about 10°C in the work-shop so, I like it a lot wormer for spraying but,  will do with what I've got...!

I would say that, it will need a second coat in the morning and maybe a third coat tomorrow evening.  The wood being so hard/dense, with the sealer on top may just be enough with the second coat so, will see...!

The only think that I can say at this point is that, looks pretty OK...!

Cheers
George


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## robutacion (Jul 31, 2012)

*Finally done...!*

Hi peoples,

Well, I got it done and put a way in a shelve, together with many others that are filling the house, everywhere...!

Unfortunately, I was unable to, the Floorseal as top coat as the contents of the 1lt can have gelled, since the last time O used it about 1 month ago, about 1/5 of stuff left so, didn't loose too much however, I wasn't able to use that product as planned and any other finishing varnish I had was far from being what I wanted but, I use what I had and that was some clear acrylic spray can...!

I had sealed the whole thing with a fine coat of sanding sealer, rubbed with the steal wood, that was the right prep for the Floorseal but, didn't turn out being to good for the acrylic varnish.

Anyway, I got it sprayed, 1 coat last light and another about lunch time, being a fast dry stuff, I was able to handled it for the pics a few hours later, just before the sun would be too low...!

Measuring @ 8" X 5" 1/4 and a whopping 1.8kg in weight, this thing is 3 times heavier that most other woods the same size.  Off-course, there is a considerable amount of resin in it and that doesn't help...!

Interestingly, the "wrinkly" effect of the larger resin filling areas, is quite difficult to achieve if deliberately planned (but doable) however, as soon as I removed all the plastic bag layers, I knew, I was going to use it as a feature in the piece.  As mentioned also, that would make the piece structure to become very unstable, if I would try to get the wall thickness cut too far so, I saw no purpose is risk destroying the whole thing, most of what I wanted to expose from its strange formation, colours and grains, was on the outside...!

So, this challenge is over, we will see what I will come up with next as I don't pane anything in advance, I only "react" when I spot something that causes me some curiosity and a high degree of difficulty otherwise, I will have no interest...!

The same goes when I can see things nearly finished, to the point that I already know exactly how it is going to look like, I loose interest then but, I ALWAYS finish what I start..! 

Well, I like it, the wife likes it and, if anyone out there likes it and has 100 bucks to invest + freight, you can have it too, the wife already has more, than she know what to do with..!:wink::biggrin:

Hahahaha, I "betcha" you didn't expect that, huh...!

Cheers
George


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## Papa mark (Jul 31, 2012)

A whole lot of work, but quite impressive. Good job.


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## Tim K (Jul 31, 2012)

Very cool!


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## JD Combs Sr (Jul 31, 2012)

That has got to be the, well the, .... well I don't know, the only word I can think of is "organic" looking piece of work I have ever seen.  It reminds me of an oyster for some reason, not the shape but the coloring.  I guess that's the reason it looks so organic.

Regardless it is an impressive piece of art and I am sure it will start all kinds of conversations.  Would be nice to see more of the same, maybe in some other colors.


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## sailing_away (Jul 31, 2012)

Most impressive.  I really like it.


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## robutacion (Jul 31, 2012)

JD Combs Sr said:


> That has got to be the, well the, .... well I don't know, the only word I can think of is "organic" looking piece of work I have ever seen.  It reminds me of an oyster for some reason, not the shape but the coloring.  I guess that's the reason it looks so organic.
> 
> Regardless it is an impressive piece of art and I am sure it will start all kinds of conversations.  *Would be nice to see more of the same, maybe in some other colors.*



Are you kidding me...??? have you had a look at the first 4 pics of this thread....???

Nature wouldn't give me more like this one, nor I think that I would like to do another one, not for a while, as this one fixed my cravings well and good for now...!:wink:

I have more small roots, packed a side somewhere, I maybe don't want to thing of another root, until probably I have to be looking for something and   getting my hands on another just by accident..!

I had a quite fair size one that I cut the bottom half and sold the root material to a friend turner in WA, a few months ago.  This one was the biggest of the 2 Grevillia's I found dumped on the back of the house, where the one I turned also come from.

I done some considerable trimming of this root blank before I sent it to him but, I didn't know that he was allergic to this type of wood so, when he received and started to work on it, he develop a very serious allergic reaction that nearly killed him.  Hospital and doctors were necessary and over a week in bed, suffering pretty bad...!:frown: 

I know that he has taken some steps to protect himself from such type of dust but, I doubt that, he will ever touch it again...! Shame because, I reckon that root had to be one of the most beautiful pieces of Grevillia wood I ever saw...!

PS: The third pic, is then root I used above...!

Cheers
George


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## kevinh (Aug 1, 2012)

That is completely AWESOME!! Great job, great story.


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## Bob Wemm (Aug 5, 2012)

*Am I game?????*

That root ball is still sitting on the shelf wrapped up safely and waiting, waiting for me to get the courage to tackle it again. Although this time I know that I need to take the appropriate precautions. The pain is still very real.
You have done a really good job George, congratulations. I'm sure that I would have diced it long before it was finished.
Bob Wemm.


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## marksman (Aug 5, 2012)

That is a pretty amazing piece of work! Question is, would you do it again? Just kidding, I think I read your response to that question above. Great job!


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## Fred (Aug 5, 2012)

Beautiful finished piece. However, all of the beginning pictures reminded me of some very grizzly, and often upsetting to the tummy, forensic autopsy pictures that I have had to view.

Any way, you did extremely well with this monster ... quite well indeed.


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## robutacion (Aug 6, 2012)

Thanks everyone, appreciated...!:wink:

What can I say, I'm a sucker for punishment...!:wink::biggrin:

Cheers
George


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## Dai Sensei (Aug 6, 2012)

Blo_dy amazing George


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## philb (Aug 15, 2012)

That's a stunner!!

How did you manage to get a piece that big in pressure-pot? Or are you casting without pressure? Seems that all the little cracks are full, so I'm guessing there's been something pushing the PR in!?


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## robutacion (Aug 20, 2012)

philb said:


> That's a stunner!!
> 
> How did you manage to get a piece that big in pressure-pot? Or are you casting without pressure? Seems that all the little cracks are full, so I'm guessing there's been something pushing the PR in!?



Hi Phil,

Well, it was a tight squeeze but, being in a plastic bag with something I could hold on to, from the top (as pic shows) did help considerably.  

I could have had it slight bigger but, I knew that I needed to pressurise the resin in so, I made it so that it would just fit...!

Even, being inside a 3 or 4 plastic bags with miles of tape all around, did not stop the 100PSI pressure to push the resin, while still in liquid form (before setting), into every single small crevasse in that root piece, the fact that I left it there overnight under such continuous pressure, had assured that the resin would be pushed in and set firm before removing from the pot, simple really...!:wink:

Cheers
George


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## McBryde (Aug 22, 2012)

Stunning piece George! Was it hollowed out to begin with when you put it in the pressure pot, or was it still full of wood material?

E


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## robutacion (Aug 23, 2012)

McBryde said:


> Stunning piece George! Was it hollowed out to begin with when you put it in the pressure pot, or was it still full of wood material?
> 
> E



G'day mate,

I would not be able to have done what I did, if I tried to hollow any further than what I did, shown in the first pics, the root material was twisted and in separate roots that entangled each other in many places so, the root would completely disintegrate if haven't manage to "squeeze" the resin in all the crevasses and allow it to stay there/set hard and transform the root in a firm, solid piece...!

Cheers
George


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