badlad52

I personally would not use wire on something this thick. So I'll try to explain what you need to make, because sadly my digital camera is not working at the moment...

Go to Home Depot and buy a 1x4 oak board, as long as you think you will need (based on how many curves you want in the trunk...). While you are there, grab some 5" eye bolts, threaded the entire shaft, with some washers and wing nuts. Get two eye bolts for every bend you want to make. Grab a couple feet of 1" rubber tubing, too.
When you get home, cut 45 degree angles out of the oak (you are making 4" tall triangles), so that each peice has a 90 degree angle on the top, and 45 degree angles on the left and right sides. Drill holes about 1/2 inch from both 45 degree side, parrallel to a line drawn from the apex of the 90 degree to the middle of the two 45's. Make the holes a bit larger than the eye bolts, because the wood swells when it gets wet, and they could get stuck!

Now, using pliers, and brute force, bend open the eye bolts so you can fit them over the trunk of the tree, and push them through the holes in the oak. Put on the wahers, and thread on the wing nuts, and you are ready to go!

You will need a peice of tubing for each place the tip (90 degree) of the oak touches your trunk, and for every eye bolt. I also found it useful to sand down the sharp 90 degree point, so it's not so hard on the trunk.

Now, with the whole thing put together, push the eye bolts over the trunk, making sure the 90 degree point is touching the trunk too. If I explained this well, tightening the wing nuts should pull the trunk DOWN againts the 90 degree point, leaving you with, eventually, a 90 degree bend.

And before I go on at all, "Does that make any sense at all?"

Later,

Lad