The oak tree in my yard had seen better days. It had never been a great tree, mostly due to the fact that the jackholes who planted it never spread the roots or unpacked it from its root ball — it was never to be a long-lived tree. So when it blew over a few weeks ago I was not riddled with shock once I found out what had happened. I looked at the now-dead tree and thought it could still serve a useful purpose, other than firewood.
First I cut it to a six-foot length and stripped the branches off, then removed a lot of the roots that had rotted and were not strong. A quick shave with a knife in a strategic pattern produced a nice carved feel that left a little discoloration here and there for effect.
A few coats of shellac and a bit of leather work mixed with a big-ass glass diamond turned what was a sad little dead tree into a great wizard staff for my sister, who is very into going to Renaissance fairs in costume.
It all depends on how you look at things, I suppose. The Mrs. saw a dead tree, and I saw a badass instrument of magic.
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10 Responses to Project: It Just Depends How You Look At Things
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{ Just grind the sides of an extender to the proprietary leatherman shape (actually a flattened 1/4"hex)and you can use standard bits (at standard prices) in... } – May 23, 6:37 AM
{ Oxy-gasoline cutting torch, alternative to acetylene cutting torch } – May 23, 2:53 AM
{ Undeniably imagine that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be at the internet the simplest factor to consider of. I say to you,... } – May 22, 11:55 PM
{ Wow the third design is cool. In fact all of them are cool
. Kinda helped me to generate some ideas. } – May 22, 11:40 PM{ What did you do about the glass surfaces on the limbs? Did you sand and refinish them as well, and if so, what did you... } – May 22, 9:48 PM
Whoa! In those last two pictures, it’s the egg-implanter critter from Alien!
That looks pretty sweet. I would rub some oil or something into the leather to “age” it a bit. Nice job.
Very nice
great idea. It can also be looked at as a sculpture.
WANT!!!!
Gnarly Dude! Love the crystal, makes it look a bit like a Prior’s staff from Stargate SG-1.
Nice result, it’s great to turn old junk into something magical
You shoulda drove two dozen cut nails through it so your sister could use it as a melee weapon.
Just sayin. There are some weird folks at the Renn. Festival.
Someone should have put a skull in the roots before planting te tree. Now THAT would have been a damn conversation starter (or stopper?) at the Ren Fair!
Nice magic staff though! And damn good idea.
Hideous. BTW it was the jackholes at the nursery who kept the tree in too small a pot for too long, who sold it to the jackholes who knew nothing about how to select plant material. This tree was doomed long before it went in the ground.