phoenix graft help

Aberael

I just found a nice stick I'd like to graft a tree or three onto. Thing is though, is that I have no experience in this and I'd like some help.

I'll post the pics and if you guys could help me with some suggestions/virts it'd be great.

the branch is off of a river red gum. Behind the stick is a 30cm ruler.

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Aberael

and the side shots

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eeiko321

hang on i dont quite get what your asking

maybe its just me...but clarify....

u foung a dead twig/ branch...its dead...gone.... and u want to graft something into it?

tachigi

Its you eeiko .... trust me

Abe, you picked a tough one for your first go. The idea being that you are carving a notch to do an inlay of your grafting material. Well by the looks of it that hollow is mighty deep and may cause you a fit. What type of material are you planning on using?

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Tom

Shady Side Bonsai
Bonsai Vault
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kingkong

By the looks of it, it will make a dandy stone crab claw cracker. Yes it is a nice piece of wood and your wheels are spinning. Things to consider.
Will the wood be durable enough to last.
Do you have the proper chisels or grinder-router to do the job.
Do you have experience with carving wood.
Is the piece of wood you selected pretty enough to warrent the work ahead.
What look are you shooting for.
What plant material is conducive to this style of growing.
Do you have health insurance...hand surgery is expensive.

Eaglion

Dear Aberael,

This message is not meant to discourage you or insult your wood. I just want you to think about few things.

The purpose of making phoenix (Tanuki) is to make a small and unintresting tree look intresting, big and old. Having said that;

Your wood is really a stick and boring. The only part that happen to be intresting is the bottom part and that part had already been decayed. You need to carve out that part which makes the stick more boring.

Your candidate tree will grow as thick as that wood with in a few years. If you start correction wiring now to keep the trunk straight it will look like the wood you have. So you do not need use that wood to achieve it. Phoenix is considered as a technique that down grades the value of the tree. Why you will need that just to earn a few years. There are lots of techniques for creating old trunk feel that that wood will not add age to your tree, either.

When you find a piece of really large, unusually shaped deadwood, it will worth your efforts.


The wood is thin and long.

Unless you want to create an ancient and tall cypress or cedar, such pattern will make no use. If it was a real tree most of us would want to chop it down to 1/3 of its lenght. As i said before, maybe not a cedar but a cypress can reach that size in a few years.


So, you can still try it. But just for practice. Do not expect a high quality look with that material.

Regards,

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Taylan Benker
Eurosia Bonsai Club-Turkey
www.avrasyabonsai.com

FlyBri

Gday Aberael!

Nice stick - truly worthy of Nonsai (or a really well ventilated didgeridoo).

I'm not really sure what type of advice you're after here, so I'll just give you what springs to mind when looking at your bit of timber.

First, on the technical side:

• Redgum is a very hardy timber, but it appears that your stick has at least some rot/insect damage in the hollows. Your first mission should be to remove every bit of damaged timber from that stick, and apply a preservative of some description. (It may require some time and experimentation, but try to find a preservative which will not discolour your wood or alter the surface sheen.)
  
• While your stick displays good taper, you will still need to add an artificial base to help balance it in its pot (until such time as the tree's roots are strong enough to take over the support role). I chose to use 2-part epoxy resin for my most recent Tanuki attempt. While there are no pics of the process, I can tell you that the new base for my stick is a disc of resin about 20cm wide and 1-2cm deep. (The tree in that thread is long-gone, but that's another story.)

Now, on to the aesthetic side of things:

• There is nothing I dislike more than Tanuki where the 'scion' tree is simply wrapped lazily about the 'stock' wood (actually, cascade-style trees which are propped up by stones or the edge of the pot annoy me more, but only just...). The best Tanuki are those where consideration has been given to the direction and feel of the deadwood. When choosing the route(s) for the live vein(s), try to follow the natural flow of the grain - in some places it may be necessary or desirable to exaggerate the curves and angles. I've done a few quick sketches to show where I'd place your live material.
  
• I might be tempted to reduce the top portion of your stick to just below the point where the hollow ends - this will give it a more squat, robust appearance, and it may make carving choices easier at the top of your stump. Once again, try to be sympathetic to the existing wood when carving the top of your stick.

Sorry if I've repeated what others have said: I started my reply last night. I hope this helps to give you some direction with your very interesting bit of wood. Do you have a species in mind to add to this trunk?

Thanks and good luck.

Fly.

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naturesart

While on the conversation of Tanuki, I seek some information about it. I have Juniper material that I want to attempt a Tanuki but I was told you cant attach Shimpaku to Juniper stock it will not hold to Juniper wood ? Anyone know if this is true?

kingkong